Friday, January 31, 2014

Rejuvenation at it's best

Lighting Fixture Facelifts


It was a must for me to keep the chandelier that once hung in “ My Boutique II “ , which was one of my last business adventures. Call me nostalgic, wanting to hold onto a faded memory. That same chandelier was installed above my dining room table at home, replacing the builder grade light fixture.  It became apparent that the chandelier did not blend it to it’s new surroundings, a facelift was definitely in it’s future. 

Plain Lowe’s chandelier

Applied Old Ochre ASCP, distressing allowing the original black to peak thru just on edges.  Candelabra sleeves gilded with Modern Masters silver metallic paint. Found these really great burlap lamp shades at Hobby Lobby for only $7~ each. And lastly,  but the most important accent, a Lowe’s ceiling medallion that only cost $20~ was embellished with the same finishes with an exception of  lots more silver gilding to bring out the wonderful leaf like details.  So pleased with the final result, looks as if it were purchased from a high end lighting store. 



Of course, I couldn’t stop there. As I took inventory of other light fixtures in the house, determined to enhance them to their fullest potential one at a time. Next on my list was the kitchen’s awful florescent grade light overhead, that has absolutely no ambiance what so ever. I unfortunately did not take a before shot, was too anxious for it to be removed. But if you close your eyes, I’m sure you can visualize a white plastic florescent light, that will be donated to my local good will store. 

Replaces old florescent fixture

The best part of all,  this happened to be the original dining room fixture that was builder grade installed, that I had replaced. A rust brown simple fixture that I’d saved in my attic just in case I moved and wanted to have it reinstalled (of course taking my favorite chandelier with me). 
Recycled fixture was refinished with ASCP in Coco and a touch of dry brushing with Old Ochre and clear/dark wax, and Modern Masters silver metallic paint. Once again, I choose the plain rust colored ceiling medallion from Lowe’s costing only $10~ applying same painting techniques. 


Before…Above Bar/Island

Final End Result

Surprisingly the expenses spent rejuvenating these fixtures…were less than $150~. And that’s with me purchasing a brand new fixture from Lowe’s for $50~ to replace light above bar/island area.  Retouching new fixture to match it’s counterpart.  Of course, I used existing leftover ASCP from other projects,  just a little of Annie Sloan’s chalk paint goes a long way.


(Small disclaimer…extremely difficult capturing photos of light fixtures hanging from a ceiling with an iPhone that'll do justice.)