I Give this Ten a Ten
Best ten bucks at Goodwill ever spent.
This little chandelier was begging for me to take it home. Because after it got down on it’s little brassy knees and convinced me that I indeed needed this light fixture, that it was worth salvaging from this place of cat figurines and stuffed animals that smell like real animals (only deceased ones) and posters of wizards zapping what looks like planet Saturn’s moon, I shelled out the ten bones to the checkout lady. I did. I spent hard core cash on this bad boy. So it gets this award.
Although I have to admit, my darling boyfriend didn’t agree at first. He just didn’t see the potential.
The plan? Oil Rubbed Bronze spraypaint (or ORB as Sherry puts it).
The hard part? Taping each little window pane…that’s 8 on top and 8 on bottom – both inside and outside – for a grand total of 32 windows panes.
We hung up the fixture using an old hanger and Will’s swing chain. Yup…he still hates it so he didn’t mind.
I used Rustoleum brand – it looks most like authentic oil rubbed bronze to me. And I’ve tried a few other ORB spraypaints…and they come out looking like dark brown or too black or too silvery.
See how it shimmers just a smidgen? That is what makes this so authentic to me.
Sorry Mother Earth.
And here she is after my spraypaint job. It took several days because I would spray the outside, then let it dry, then turn it upside down to spray the inside (hey gravity is a great assistant and I need all the help I can get). That’s coat one. And I did two and a half. Also, when I took the tape off, there were some areas that peeled the paint off the brass part too…so I used Kate‘s cap trick. Basically you just spray some paint into the cap and then use a little tiny brush to touchup any mistakes.
I also knew exactly where I wanted to put my ten dollar fixture…
yup…this is the little hallway between the master closets…complete with hanging boob light. Must have been a breastfeeder 
And now it looks more, well, expensive than a saggy boob. You can quote me on that.
You may also notice that there is a ceiling plate now…whereas my fixture didn’t have one before. We had a spare white one in our stash…so I just gave that a good coat of spray paint too.
My favorite part is the fact that the arched glass top mimics the arch of the doorway. Small pleasures people, small pleasures.
Another small pleasure? Turning the light on. Specifically the way the light refracts onto the ceiling.
Firework ceiling. Makes me wanna sing Oh Say Can You Seeeeee?!?! Thank goodness this isn’t a vlog…because let’s face it, my singing skills are close to my speling skils.
So that’s it folks…a quickie light fixture switcheroo…all for ten buckeroos.
So what’s the best ten greenbacks you have ever spent at Goodwill?
update: Laura asked for a before/after shot – and of course, I am to please….sometimes….
LOVE it! I’m going to pay extra close attention to all of that brass at the thrift stores now!
That is absolutely fantastic! I must admit, I was with your boyfriend on this, I didn’t see the potential. Now I want to invest in a bunch of spray paint and paint every brass thing I can find! And since my house is full of 90′s brass I have lots of possibilities =)
There is hope for my foyer fixture after all! Thanks for the inspiration….one less ugly light fixture in a landfill somewhere!
Katie, you all-bower-powered that light’s behind! It looks amazing! I’m going to my goodwill at lunch to see if I can riff off of you
Katie–I have an addiction to BowerPower! Thank you for inspiring me to actually USE the craftiness God gave me! And to learn my CanonRebel and USE it. I am getting there (sort of). I, like you did, dream of being a real photographer one day. So, be prepared if one of these days I get proactive and ask you how I should get started! BTW, your sweet family is precious.
I LOVE that light! It looks awesome! Here is my favorite $10 find – http://mycoveredbridge.blogspot.com/2011/07/trash-to-treasure.html
I love it! How do you always stumble on such great finds? Every time I step into Goodwill I just get overwhelmed and want to leave. But mostly I had to commiserate on the boob light! We have one too, and I call it the exact same thing, and my husband thinks it’s hilarious. But seriously! It looks. like. a. boob. Ours is extra special, in that there’s other light in the room that causes it to cast a boob shadow on the wall. So… special.
Haha…a boob shadow. Love it
xo – kb
holy cow this turned out gorgeous! wonderful! it is so amazing what a can of spray paint can do
Isn’t it amazing what spray paint can do? Love the transformation, it looks amazing!
I want that in my apartament! It looks great. Nice job KB
I love crepe myrtles. Loved climbing Stone Mountain- espcially when the Krispy Kreme down the road had the sign on and we could snack on those before or after. I grew up in WI- whenever we had ticks, my dad would light a match, blow it out, and then put the hot head on the back of the tick until it backed out of the skin. Then use your choice of disposal.
{you probably have 50 comments on the tick but I didn’t read them all.}
And dern if I didn’t click on the wrong comments!!
Katie, that is genius. That’s 10 bucks VERY well spent!
Wow! Good job!!! Love it…
I have something REAL SIMILAR to this in our entry way and I have been shopping to replace it only that is NOT in the budg. I have a can of this stuff in the garage…hmmmm I might be copying you soon!
The light looks so great! And the molding (moulding?) in your house is to die for. I think I would have bought the house just for that alone. Who can afford to put that kind of money into trim???? Perhaps now we know why the house was in foreclosure…they went broke trimming it out. At least you guys get to enjoy it though!
gorgeous, what a transformation!!!
That looks awesome! They always have nasty gold/brass fixtures like that at goodwill. Now I need to find one and find a spot to hang it in my house!
This is phenomenal! Adding “amazing gold light fixture” to my thrift store look-out list.
Dear Katie,
Love this project! My fiance has a brass light fixture for his dining room, and after hours and hours of looking for a better fixture I’ve just decided to repaint it. My fiance detached the fixture with part of the cord. Should I tape the cord up too and not paint it? I know to cover up the light sockets, but for the rest I’m not sure. What do you suggest?
Sincerely,
Angela
If it is part of the cord that is exposed (like it’s looped in the chain below the ceiling mount) I vote yes. If not (like it is the part that gets tucked inside the ceiling plate, then no. Happy painting!
xo – kb
I got two light fixtures similar to this and wanted to try this technique. I went to home depot to get some spray paint. What type did you use? I know its Rustoleum but it is flat black,textured. I didn’t see any that said oil rubbed. Any suggestions?
Hmm…interesting. My can says oil-rubbed bronze
xo – kb
I read this last year when you initally posted it (huuuge fan of your blog by the way, it’s #1 on my google reader!! I love me some humorous diy, anyways). When I was in goodwill this morning I noticed an extremely similar lantern in brass… so I bought it because I thought I remembered you doing a kickass makeover on one. I got it for $1.50!!! What?! It’s 40in tall too. So dreading the tape work though. Thanks!
Try using an xacto knife for the outside and one of those super short razor blades for the inside. It helps
xo – kb
Nice job! My husband and I decided to do this on a similar one. Thanks for posting.