6.14.2012

Ode to Spray Paint

If you know me, you know I love spray paint. There is little in this world that can't be made better with a coat of spray paint. Okay, maybe that isn't true, but for many of my favorite thrift store finds a little scrub with a steel wool pad and a coat or two of spray paint were all that it took to breathe new life into a drab piece.

One of the first things we noticed about the new shop space was its need for new light fixtures. We knew right away that we wanted to go with chandeliers in every room. Most of the shop light is natural so we don't need anything too bright, just enough to supplement the early evening light in the winter months. We try to buy used whenever possible and if we buy new we try to stick with the most environmentally-friendly option available. We bought the chandelier in the front room of our current shop from the Habitat Restore (a thrift store that benefits the Habitat for Humanity in our area) when we remodeled the current shop so that is where we headed for the new lights. Lucky for us, suburbia is full of houses with boring chandeliers that are quickly replaced with other light fixtures making the ReStore a haven for boring, barely used chandeliers. We get to scoop them up cheap and reinvent them. We have two brass plated chandeliers in this style, this one and the one that is hanging in the front of the current shop. After researching ways to deal with the top of another chandelier we bought, I came across several pictures of spray painted chandeliers and decided that is the direction we should go with these. No special preparation is needed simply clean, prime and paint- that's it. I have three colors picked out so each one will be a little different, but in the same basic style. I found several images where beads or chandelier crystals were added to embellish the finished project, but I am not sure that is where we want to go with these.

First of the three basic chandeliers- cleaned, primed and painted. Total cost: $22.


Now a word of warning- Spray painting is easy, but it does take a little practice to get drip-free, even coats. If you have never spray painted before, you might want to check out this quick tip guide. Also, if you are interested, I used Rustoleum Painter's Touch for this project as well as the shop rocking chairs. I love the range of colors and finishes that it comes in, the coverage is the best I've seen in a spray paint and the can is designed to be used at any angle without splattering. If this paint proves to hold up over time it will be my new go to paint.

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