Transforming a Run-of-the-Mill Sconce Door Sixteen

We've had these brass wall lamps in the hallway of practically every apartment we've ever rented and never liked them. But Anna from Door Sixteen took her ho-hum Home Depot sconces and transformed them into these stunningly simple beauties.

If we didn't know, we'd never have guessed this is the same sconce!

All Anna did was:
• Clean and then mask off the area around the lamps, as well as the socket (she didn't even take them off the wall).
• Spray paint the brass with two coats of gloss white spray paint (she used Rustoleum).
• Replace the bulb with a soft 40w silver-tipped bulb.

We love everything about this, especially how the gloss paint looks like porcelain — which makes the black click-switch really pop. See Anna's post on this amazing transformation on her blog, Door Sixteen | Sconce Makeover.

Images: Door Sixteen

Comments (16)

Awesome! They look like they were made like that!

this is great!!! i am totally going to do this.

I have that same butt-ugly sconce and have been searching for a replacement that's nice - all in the $200 range! I can't WAIT to do this!!!! YAY! I think I'll paint the hallway around it coral - hmmmmmmm.

Huge improvement over the original. Definitely gonna keep this in mind!

Amazing. I've been trying to figure out what to do with these horrible things in my apartment (I have seven) for more than a year now. I had the painting idea, but couldn't find a globe that would replace the awful frilly one. I'm so glad she found these bulbs and will definitely steal this idea! Thank you!

the 2 sconces pictured above have subtle, but distinct differences in shape. This makes me believe that the before and after are actually not the same sconce. Not that spray painting the first one would be bad, it just wouldn't look like the after photo.

She has a link to a photo of the actual sconces before the paint job on her blog, but not in close up. There's no confusion in her blog post, just in the way AT put the two photos together.

Love, love, love! Marvelous and simple. So well done :)

This is one of the best and easiest ideas I've seen on Apartment Therapy. Great find, and great work Door Sixteen!

I'll be transforming my bathroom lighting this weekend!

I did this today with $1 spray paint and a $3 light bulb, and it turned out great. Such a big change for little time and money.