An Upcycled Chandy, Oh My!

Well folks, the time has come.  The upcycled chandelier is this.close to being complete!  I have everything primed, painted and ready to hang.  Before we get to the after pictures, though, if you missed any previous posts about the light, you can catch up on them here, here, here, AND here.  :)  Clearly, I've been working on it for a little while...since last Tuesday to be exact!

Now, may I have a drum roll, pweez?  :)

So, what do you think?!  I am certainly lovin' it.  :)  And before we waste anymore time, let's get on to the details behind how I transformed this bad boy.

The Process

Step 1:  I removed all the bulbs and candle tubes (the cylinders between the bulbs and the base).  I knew I wanted to paint the candle tubes bright white, instead of the dingy yellow they were originally, so I took them off and put painters tape around the metal pieces and wires that were exposed once the tubes were removed.  Oh, and the candle tubes just pulled right off.  No tools required!  I also taped off the electrical wire and grounding wire that will eventually connect to the electrical box in the ceiling and stuck all of the excess wire in a bag.  I just didn't want to fool with all those wires when I was painting, so it helped keep me a bit more organized.  Here's what it looked like once all that was done.

Step 1:  Complete
Next Step:  Priming

Step 2:  I lightly sanded the shiny parts of the fixture with sandpaper, but I didn't spend much time focusing on this since pretty much anything will stick to the primer I was going to use, KILZ Original Spray Primer.  I sprayed one coat of primer on, left the light hanging in a tree, it rained..and then I wrote this post about it.  BUT, things turned out okay.  I moved the light into the garage and gave it another coat of primer.

Step 2: Complete
Next Step:  Fo' Real Paint  :)

Step 3:  Once I had the final coat of primer on, I waited an hour for it to dry and then began painting on the real color.  I ended up going with the color most of you wonderful readers suggested here, Twilight Meadow.  I'm so glad I didn't end up trying to make an off-the-shelf spray paint color work.  The Twilight Meadow certainly looks more unique and custom.  I bought an entire quart of it in Valspar's Interior Flat Enamel Finish.  Please note that I didn't even use 1/4 of the can!  You could totally get away with just buying a tester pot of paint if you're just painting a small light fixture.  BUT, I have other plans for the rest of the quart...soon.  ANYWAY, I applied the first coat of paint with a foam brush and used a tiny artist brush to get in all the little nooks and crannies.  It worked perfectly.  Once the top coat was on, I let it dry overnight.  The next morning, I did the final coat.

Step 3:  First coat of Twilight Meadow going on over the primer

The supplies:  KILZ primer, Twilight Meadow Enamel paint,
foam brush and artist brush

Step 4:  I used the spray primer to paint the candle tubes white.  To do this, I just stuck long nails in a piece of cardboard and then placed the tubes over the nails.  Two quick coats of paint, and I was done.  Ridiculously easy and such an improvement over the yellow dingy ones.

Step 4:  Painting candle tubes white

So, that's the process I went through to upcycle the chandelier I found a little over a week ago today.  We still need to hang up the light, but first we have to relocate the electrical box in the ceiling.  It's not going to happen in the next few days, so I wanted to go ahead and get some good photos of the finished light up on the blog.  Once we get it totally installed, though, I'll be sure to show you interior house pics.  I also have a plan for covering up the old chain and electrical wires, but more on that a little later.  I'm also going to change out the traditional candelabra bulbs for something a bit more modern and funky (like these from Isabella and Max Rooms).

Now, time for a little more eye candy!  I'm in lurve with this color.

I also wanted to give you the deets on the project cost; I spent a little under $40 total.  NOT BAD for a totally new to me light fixture I love.

• Light Fixture ($30), Twilight Meadow Paint Used ($3), Spray Primer ($6), Sand Paper ($0 - already had), Foam Brush ($0.57), Artist Brush ($0 - already had), Painters Tape ($0 - already had)

So, that's it from me on this project.  More to come once we get it hung and I can get some interior pictures for you.

I hope everyone has a fabulous and safe 4th of July holiday weekend!  :)  If you like this project or have any questions or comments, I would L-O-V-E for you to leave a comment on the blog or over on The Tall Chick's Facebook page.  And send your friends over to look at it, too!  The more the merrier!

If you're a new reader, please also read the next step of this project by clicking here!

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