Happy Monday everyone! Hope you had a great weekend.
I wanted to show you another project in our No-Money Remodel. Our upstairs has a total mismatched collection of fixtures and ceiling fans. None of them are original and it sort of looks like an odd collection of Home Depot clearance sales and garage sale finds.
My least favorite were two, very brassy fixtures in the kitchen: the main, three bulb light and the ceiling fan. I have searched through literally thousands of pictures going back to 2004 and these blurry shots from 2007 are the only ones I could find.
I’ve apparently tried really hard to keep the glaring brass out of every . single . picture or have cropped heavily. Or maybe both.
My decorator neighbor suggested painting both fixtures with a little bit of liquid magic:
Specifically Sophisticated Finishes paint by Triangle Crafts in Blackened Bronze. It’s a little larger than a bottle of craft paint and is usually found by the faux finish paints at craft stores.
I’ve used this stuff in the past to paint a little planter and cover an old utensil crock in my kitchen, but was nervous about using it for fixtures. However, since Decorator Girl has a straight-out-of-the-catalog house and I paint diaper boxes, I deferred to her judgment.
Because I’m lazy Because I didn’t think it was necessary, the only prep work I did was to clean both fixtures with soap and water. No primer, no sanding, nothing. And since I didn’t have the electrical know-how to mess with removing either fixture, I just climbed up on a chair and got to work.
I started with the ceiling fan …
… covering the main fan housing with a thin coat of paint using a cheap-o foam brush. (I ended up doing three thin coats).
To paint the top of the fan without getting paint all over the ceiling, I stuck a meellion little pieces of frog tape around the base.
A pain in the neck, yes, but easier than having to remove the fan from the ceiling all together.
To paint the individual arms, I removed the bolts holding the arms to the housing …
… and then removed the small bolts holding the blades to the arms. Everything went into a ziplock bag to keep the kids from walking off with the parts.
The arms got a good wash down and then a first coat of paint. Just a heads up: it’s going to look terrible at first. I mean really, really terrible.
My first coat on both the fan housing and the arms looked awful and sent me into full oh-crap-I’d-better-figure-out-some-way-to-fix-this-before-Mr.Thrive-gets-home mode. Thankfully, each coat looked better and five thin coats later, the arms looked awesome. And a little bit like lobsters.
Before reassembling the fan blades and arms, I dipped the heads of the screws in paint and let them dry for an hour …
… then carefully screwed them into position, touching up any scuffs with a quick dab of my brush.
On the opposite side of the blades, the tips of the screws got a quick dab of paint to get rid of that last little bit of brass …
… and all of the blades were reattached to the main housing after everything was dry.
Ahhhhh. So pretty.
The other fixture came together the same way: wash with soap and water, dry thoroughly and paint with a bunch of thin coats.
Painting the top of the fixture where it meets the ceiling was handled the same way as the fan.
So. much . better.
(And I swear to you that this fixture really is clean. I’ve taken these pictures three times and dusted and cleaned obsessively and it still looks like there’s a bunch of dust from this angle. Bleh.)
Using the paint I had on hand made this a great no-cost project for me, but it’s pretty cheap even if you were to buy paint. I think this bottle was $10 at Michael’s before the coupon discount. I’ve painted two fixtures, a utensil jar and a small planter so far and still have a third of a bottle left.
But hey, Rock What Ya Got.
Fixture re-dos like this would also work great with spray paint or another brand of specialty paint in your choice of colors.
So have fun checking around the house, checking your local recycling center or checking the online classifieds for free/cheap paint.
(And if you’ve painted your fixtures, I’d love to see them!)
**************************************************************
Linking up to:
50 Comments
LOVE it! Good job, Mrs. Thrive!!
I also adore the wall color!
That looks so nice!
LUVLUVLUV it! Great job, looks so much better. My fans aren't brassy, but in a very strange green color. I think I found me a new weekend project, after a trip to Michaels. I was going to spraypaint them, but this seems way better.
You rock,
Sue
Love it! What a difference. I have to get that product!
Wow Nike, what a difference a little paint can make! Your fixtures look awesome!
That's amazing! They look like completely different fixtures. Great job, and thanks for the idea!
What a great idea…we have a dining room light that I hate but can't even think of spray painting for another couple months (too much snow/cold) so will have to give this one a shot…do you know if they carry any other colors..like a brushed nickel color?
Fawn,
Yes, they do have several other colors including some sort of a silver/nickel. (Sorry, it's been over a year since I bought it and don't remember the other names very well). Hope that helps!
I'm never seen that product before. I'll have to try to find it here. It would be a great alternative to spray paint since I live in Minnesota and more than half the year it's too cold for spray painting. Thanks for sharing.
oh man! that's such a great idea! i am moving soon and will file this one away, just in case we get a house with fugly light fixtures! i have found that another super cheap way to update a light fixture is to purchase new glass shades. i took an expensive (but 80's looking shades) fan into this century with $8 worth of alabaster glass shades.
Looks absolutely wonderful!! You gotta love PAINT and the magic it can do!!
These look great! You did an amazing job.
I wonder if it would work on ugly gold door knobs and hinges?
Want to come make-over my ugly lamps ?
Looks wonderful. I too have some brass ceiling light fixtures that I hate. I will be doing this. Thanks for sharing!
What an excellant redo! Love stuff that doesn't cost anything but looks like new stuff!
I literally laughed out loud over your "oh-crap-I’d-better-figure-out-some-way-to-fix-this-before-Mr.Thrive-gets-home" comment. Every single project I take on has at least one moment of this feeling!!
Love, love, love this idea!!! I'm bookmarking it! I wonder (hope) if it would work on sink faucets?
Thanks so much for sharing this great tip! 🙂
writingthewaves.com
Christi,
My decorator friend painted her builders grade faucets with this stuff and loves it. She recommended priming and sealing them to help the finish last longer. I'm going to try it on my faucets, too. Good luck!
They turned out great. I need to do the same thing with my fan. I'm your newest follower. Be sure to stop by my blog Monday and add your project to the More The Merrier Monday Link Party.
http://diyhshp.blogspot.com
Love this!! My parents just redid their bathroom and are thinking about painting the brass fixture in the closet and toilet room to match (or buy new ones 🙂 and this would work great!! Thanks so much for linking up to Handmade Tuesdays @ Ladybug Blessings. www.ladybug-blessings.com
Love, love this! I've been wanting to this same thing to my ugly 80s ceiling fan. Thanks for the inspiration.
AMAZING…. boy again you make everything look so easy….
This is AWESOME. My house is FULL of projects like yours to try!
Wow! That turned out amazing!
–Jill
jillmadeit.blogspot.com
wrote this down in my crafting notebook. What a wonderful way to change the look without draining my wallet!!!
Love it! Just wanted to let you know I featured this post on my Sunday Stroll!!
You rocked it, baby!!! Looks great!
Greetings from Southern California
I am your newest follower. I invite you to visit my blog and follow me if you want too.
God bless you 🙂
~Ron
Came over from UCreate! So glad she did a feature on you. So I have a question – are you still just using what you have or do you find your self spending on craft/ DIY for projects for you blog? I seem to be spending a bit more trying to come up with things for my blog though you wouldn't know that by what I have posted!
Looking forward to seeing more of your projects!
Amazing! I cannnnnnooooot wait to do this to all the terrible brass fans we have in our house!
wow! love this….I'm definitely getting some of this paint!!
Wow, very nice! I didn't know they made a product like that….I spray painted mine. 🙂 I'd love for you to come link up at DIY Thrifty Thursday at www.thrifty101.blogspot.com
Paint me impressed!
Thanks for doing this. I just had someone send me here from my blog. I am doing a "Help me Decorate my Dining room" post. I have a brass chandelier in there that I've had a couple people tell me to paint. I had no idea what kind of paint to use. This was just some great awesomeness!
loving your blog. I'd love it if you wanted to link up to my Organizing Mission link party.
I LOVE this!! I would love for you to share it at my Linky Party!
*ENTER LINKY PAR-TAY Here! *
xoxokara
WOW! Those don't even look like the same fixtures – amazing! Love how they turned out. Thanks for sharing!
Missy & Kimi
ificould-ificould.blogspot.com
(newest follower!)
Gorgeous! I've been trying to get the hubby to spray paint our ugly brass black, but I'm loving the blackened bronze color.
Thanks for the inspiration!
I love this. I just stumbled across your blog and I am getting so many great ideas. Thank you! I have a HIDEOUS brass ceiling fan in our living room and bummed that we don't have enough money to replace it. This will be perfect.
Thank you for linking up this great post last week! {Im a lil behind, eeekk!}
Its party time AGAIN!!! xoxokara
*ENTER LINKY PAR-TAY Here! *
I love this idea! Lighting that looks like this is expensive. Cant wait to try it on my own pieces.
I finally re-did my fan. Here is the link:
http://laurascraftylife.blogspot.com/2011/08/refinished-ceiling-fan.html
Do you know that I have been looking at my hideous ceiling fan wondering how to do exactly what you have showed us to do? So glad I found your blog, I will definitely be using this!
excellent job- it made a complete difference. I have to admit I am one of those people that look at things like that brass and say- ah- nothing really wrong with it, no need to change but it did change it and make it look excellent! New perspective – thanks!
Jain Electro Mech offers you Decorative Ceiling Fan which is widely used in homes and offices.
Why not just use Rustoleum Rubbed Bronze spray paint? I used it on my own fan and lighting fixtures and it was easy, and came out great.
Antique Brass Picture Light are not really antiques, they can be state of the art modern lamps housed in brass finished with a finishing process.
Absolutely better than buying a new one. I wonder why you have a lot of ceiling fans and a mismatched collection of fixtures up there? The place is a kitchen, and definitely nothing like storage, but it sure houses a lot of out-of-place stuff. Staci @ BrooklynFan.com
Our upstairs has a total mismatched collection of fixtures and ceiling fans. … kitchen-lightfixtures.blogspot.com
These pictures are amazing! I found some more on this website: http://www.archiexpo.com/tab/ceiling-lamps.html