Thursday, October 29, 2009

before and after: the five dollar chandelier






Here's a little project I completed recently for my girls' bedroom. I bought this chandelier at our neighbor's yard sale a couple of years ago. I'd honestly forgotten about it until we were moving some stuff around in the basement and I stumbled onto it again. I paid a whole $5 for it, knowing that I wanted to give it a little makeover. Here's the "before":


 $5 chandelier BEFORE: Brass...ugly...needin' TLC.

 
So, in the dead of last winter and preggo (of all the great times to choose to spray-paint, that's not one of them) I primed and painted this little gem. I bought new light bulbs and had a lot of fun shopping around on Ebay for just the right chandelier crystals to add to it. (One note of caution: if the crystals you want to buy on Ebay seem ridiculously cheap and too good to be true, they probably are too good to be true. If you read the fine print you'll discover that you are purchasing them from someone in a foreign country and the shipping is about ten times the cost of the crystals themselves. Be sure you actually read the fine print before hitting "purchase" or you will become fair game for your husband's sighs and rolling of the eyes. Not that I did this or anything. I'm just saying.)



Anyway, a few cheap chandelier crystals (and some expensive postage) later, and you can see the result! I haven't decided if I want little shades on it or not. I sort of like the naked look.


Read here if you'd like to see more before-and-afters!

15 comments:

  1. Now that $5.00 was well spent...looks outstanding in the room! Hope you have a FUN weekend!

    Blessings,
    Linda

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  2. What a fun find! I love it when i find a great deal and turn it into something fabulous!

    Thanks for sharing!
    Kate

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  3. It's so cute! O love those card on the wall!

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  4. Great makeover. Found treasure! You did a terrific job.

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  5. What a pretty little chandelier :-) The turquoise crystals add the perfect touch of colour and sparkle :-)

    I like the bulbs naked too. I also really like the artwork on the wall -- a lovely way to learn the alphabet :-)

    Thanks for stumbling across DesignTies -- it's fun "meeting" new blogger friends :-)

    Kelly

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  6. Love the chandelier. It was genius to paint it and put on the turquoise drops. To me I like it without shades!

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  7. i love it! i would love a chandelier in our bedrooms!

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  8. Oh, I know people who have been down that eBay road before. Not me or anything...;-)

    It looks great!! Worth the work and unexpected expense. And those alphabet cards in the background...totally cute!

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  9. Courtney, good to see you around, thanks for stopping by! And that is one pretty chandy.

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  10. Hi Courtney! Good to see you again! Love your new chandelier...I have one that already has its crystals still dangling from it. I can't wait to spray and hang it! I think I am going to hang it in my bathroom. Squeee...that just makes me happy!
    Thanks for the inspiration!

    :-)

    Melissa

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  11. Hi
    I love so many things I see on your blog, so beautiful and creative! Can you please tell me where to find those great flower alphabet cards? Thanks,
    Molly

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thank you for commenting, dahling! I can't wait to hear what you have to say. :-)