nice!! like the yellow and white look

I love this! I was not expecting the 2-tone and it's perfect!

Nice patina on the old things, no matter how cheaply they were acquired. I'm a little sad that they were overpainted. Fresh and bright isn't my favorite vibe for the long haul... I could see living with the original material surfaces, though.

I want! Nice.

Wow! Incredible! I want those now!

I love it.

But even more than I love it, I hate the comments from people every single time someone does a before and after.

Just because YOU want to keep something in its original condition and find that to be valuable and beautiful doesn't mean EVERYONE ELSE wants that. It may be a super fancy antique cup holder but if the owner of that super fancy antique cup holder doesn't like the look of it, but loves it's bones, what is so horrible about changing it slightly so he or she absolutely LOVES it now?

I would have taken it a step further and turned those into pendant lamps!

I own an exact set of these, inherited from my grandparents. They are stamped 925 on the bottom. What the DIYer has is very tarnished vintage sterling glass holders from Mexico in a rose and vine pattern, now covered in paint.

Why should they look before they paint? She very obviously doesn't care about who made the cup holders or what the ridiculous "worth" of it is. The worth of this cup is completely dependent on who owns it and how they personally feel about it.

OK. I read the actual blog entry, and the person who painted these does indeed know they are solid sterling silver but "... they were so scratched and tarnished we liked giving them some new life with paint!"

birdablaze, if Apartment Therapy didn't want comments, they wouldn't have this section, would they?

Not that these cups would have tremendous value, but Antiques Roadshow always has people who rue the day they refinished the antique piece they bought, reducing its value by 90 percent.

When valuable antiques are ruined, it just makes the surviving antiques that much more rare and valuable.

BTW, I once bought a sterling silver Tiffany ashtray at a rummage sale for $2.

I don't understand the fighting in the comments. We all have our own opinions and we are responding to the original post, why should we respond to each other and ignite fights?

That said, I think the DIY was done well, but personally I would just buy something new that way if I wanted that look.

They look okay, but in general, I'm really tired of spray painted stuff. Leaving the interior to reflect the candle light would have been nice.

So many of these DIY projects chosen by the AT team are a matter of taste, and some AT:LA bloggers have a really low taste level.

The after is very pretty but I actually prefer the before. But that's because I love vintage looking stuff with character for accent pieces. I actually get a high from finding antique/vintage pieces with scratches and scuff marks and rust! Either way it was the owner's choice to refinish as she pleases and she did a nice job.

"Last year on a DIY blog, I saw a glossy white paint job on an antique dresser that was very similar to ones I'd seen in antique stores for $4K to $6K. The "after" looked like a brand-new $399 Pottery Barn piece. She could have furnished her whole house if she'd realized the bargain she'd scored."

Indeed - I just recently came upon a fabulous and rare 1970's Paul Evans credenza in the Brutalist style that had been painted white and green.

In original or restored condition, it could have been worth @ $4000...
...but painted - The owner will be lucky to get $250.

I love them. They were a $1.50 each plus the cost of paint. Something new would have cost much more and would have robbed them of exercising their creative outlets. Well played YHL. Well played.

Moreover, I'm soooo verrry tirrred of all the bemoaning regarding painted objects/furniture. Go rescue a bunch of treasures at Salvation Army if you so devastated by imbeciles who dare to defile them. Seriously.

Personally, I am very pro-choice when it comes to these matters of home decor. Your object? Your choice.

Palmetto -- please, take your toys and go home. Based on your 'contributions' to the AT comments over the last 3 years, I'm surprised your still a reader. Honestly, take a look at the comments you've posted...NOTHING but negativity about the many great posts and contributors in the AT community. It's almost comical, really. Think it may be time for you to delete the AT bookmark and find a new place to play. you seem most unhappy here.

They look lovely and if she decides to take the paint off down the road, then she has a hidden gem.

Ditto to Black is the new Black.
Taste when it comes to decor/style = preference. Saying someone has no taste in these areas is indecorous at best, just plain mean at worst.

On Old Stuff--stuff that no one cares about and sends to the Salvation Army deserves a second chance at life--even if that requires a makeover! It beats the landfill.

This style of Mexican silver is quite collectible. I have a wonderful pair in this style that were made over a pair of Nestle chocolate bottles. One has a shaker top; the other has a spout top with the original sterling cap -- not attached -- it's miraculous that it wasn't lost long ago.

It's not impossible to remove the paint from the metal. If the owner wants to restore them to their silver finish and even have the cups professionally polished to restore their condition, that's still an option.
I say, enjoy as you will. I love my antique Mexican folk art silver as folk art. Young House Love likes it as vases. Chacun a son gout (sorry I can't make the appropriate french accents.)

I love 'em. Great job, and more importantly -- what an excellent vision you had! They're gorgeous. I'd like a set with chinese red on the outside, gold in the inside. I'll have to keep my eyeballs peeled. thanks for the inspiration. :-)

When I saw the before, I knew I was going to open the page to find them spraypainted white...it's been done to death.

But, the yellow was a nice touch and I love them. I'm inspired.

Well said mattster. One definition for the noun "comment": A statement of fact or opinion, especially a remark that expresses a personal reaction or attitude...

I like raw metal; have a whole collection of silver things. Pain in the a$$ to keep polished. Love the new look of these. Well done!

The Before was classy, but the After is pretty, so the transformation makes them merely different rather than better or worse.

As to their worth...meh. They're vintage silver, but they're missing their original glasses. They're probably not worth anything.

I also have the suspicion that if an edgy, hip designer starting slathering paint on vintage silverware, we'd all be cooing about how transgressive and now it was.

@princessavi -- Don't polish! It's way too much work and besides it wears away the silver. Use the easy method: Wrap each silver piece with a band of aluminum foil, put it in a sink or bowl (not plastic) and sprinkle salt and baking soda over it all. Then pour boiling water over it. Search the web for more detailed instructions. The chemical reaction this sets up extracts the silver molecules from the tarnish and redeposits the silver molecules on the silver piece. The tarnish gets deposited on the aluminum foil. When it's over, you simply rinse off the silver and dry it. Voila!

Thanks AT for sharing so many wonderful ideas, photos and articles with your readers.
I absolutely think a few take themselves way to seriously here...what others do with THEIR property is really not the business of bystanders.
"Beauty is in the eye of the .....", and you are not required to criticize others ideas or creativity.
I am so amazed at the things readers and contributors have shown me through this site. I might not have the same taste, but I can appreciate the efforts of others to make something better out of something old and tarnished.
Leave your criticisms out of the comments, (so negative), but please add constructive observations and words of appreciation or acknowledgment.
I personally like the change and really liked the idea of using them as pendant lights...I think I'll try to find some of these and use them that way! Thanks for the idea!

I was another who thought they would make cool pendant lights. I'd have trouble painting sterling, though -- as someone who has purchased metals to make jewelry, I'd either polish it or (gasp!) melt it down!!! But that's me. But I have seen similar things that are base metal, and THOSE are obvious candidates for paint!

Quick blast with some paint stripper and you have the silver back if their tastes change. Its not like they are putting a hole in it, and it means that something that would have probably sat around unused is now being used and being looked at.

These are clearly sterling silver cup holders. They look to be a larger tumbler size (?) which would make their scrap-value alone upwards of $50 each.

It seems kinda backward to spray paint precious metal, but I suppose it's a good way to camouflage them from burglars.

ha ha ha