apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The easiest way would be just to take all the crystal things off, clean it well, prime it and spray it in several very thin coats. Your first coat of paint shouldn't even really cover it, just dust it with paint. Let it dry and keep doing that until it's covered. Also, if you want glam, it should be metallic paint. A flat paint inside a chandelier like that will defeat the purpose of all the earrings on it, as without the refelection of the brass, you'll lose the twinkle effect.

Alternately if the brass is in good condition, you could polish it to a brilliant shine, and maybe change the crystals to something colored, or do a bunch of different shapes and sizes.

Painting will make it look cheap and plastic-y - and will be hard to remove when the glam-rock chandelier "phase" is over, which it will be in another year.

Just clean it, polish it, and find other things to accessorize your space.

I'd suggest replacing those fake white candles with some metal tubing. Brass curtain rods, for example are available in the same diameter I believe.

I'm with jackie, don't paint. if you neeeeed color, you can get colored swags (?) or lengths of colored crystals which can be draped around the arms or whatever (sellers on ebay have these in every color, or go to lower east side lighting stores if you want it NOW ).

A chandelier this size needs a little distance from the ceiling, so don't hang it too flush - if your ceilings are too low for it, it's not going to look nice anyway.

To make it more casual you could add colored shades that clip onto the bulbs (although if yours really has this many arms it might look cluttered). Another fun look I've seen are italian chandeliers that use colored crystal fruit (I think they have versions at ABC Carpet). You could probably get some of the fruit on eBay.

Hi Sarah,
Your room with the dark blue-green walls sounds gorgeous! If you are wanting to add in some plum, I agree with other posters that some colored crystals might do the trick. Whenever I go to to flea markets I always see somebody selling chandelier crystals at great prices. I believe that the last Brocade Home catalog I got in the mail had some chandeliers with amethyst-colored crystals and the color was gorgeous. Olive green crystals might be another good color to use in a dark teal room.

Sure- the glamrock chandelier phase will be over soon enough- but unless this chandelier is a family heirloom having considerable personal value I don't see the problem with revamping it with some really schmaltzy spray paint. (I do agree with the thin coats- you don't want those ugly drippy marks...)

Of course- take all the crystals off- they probably could do with a good cleaning anyway.

I say a rich matte gold spray paint would be beautiful-and would look really sharp next to the wall colour you mentioned. And as long as it's mattee and not glossy it shouldn't look tacky.

speaking of chanddeliers...

http://danwho.net/mp/index.php?id=snl_chandelier

Hi there;
I have been coveting an eighties style chandelier at my local goodwill and plan to try the flocking technique listed below on it. Now if only the goodwill would consider dropping the price to something a bit more reasonable I could give it a try.

http://www.wish.ca/decor/slideshowarticle/10/
Hope the article is of some use to you!

Squidface - I think that sounds like such a fun project. I can't remember where I saw a flocked chandelier but it was very cool. Have you asked your Goodwill store if they are willing to come down a little bit on the price or when they will be having a sale? The thrift stores near me have items with different colored tags and on different days of the week they will have different colors marked down.
If you do the project you should send in before and after pics - I would love to see it!

I suggest that you "boxed" the chandelier in a plexiglass cilinder. I saw a Restaurant Makeover episode that modernize the existing chandelier by building a box or cilinder around them. Looks beautiful and modern and you can choose a plum tinted plexiglass.... Has anyone seen this concept?

Yes -saw that boxed chandelier and thought it cool and modern...love the plum plexi idea - also painting it gold gets my approval....purple and gold is regal and it rocks, too! Maybe do both!
"Too much is never enough" !

this reminds me of post war decorating books that suggested things like updating a classic oak pedestal table by cutting the pedestal short and painting it a color.
why not use sheer plum shades for a sexy updated look, that can be changed at a moments notice, instead of a paint job that is permanant.

I'd like to suggest using a chandy shade. I just spent two months in Europe and saw them everywhere, and they are marvelous. My favorites were the accordian style in black. You could see the chandy through it, but only the silhouette of it and the glow of the light. Lovely.

me-
that clip is great!

Hi Sarah,
if you follow this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anaguy/sets/
this is what i did with a trio of very unattractive chandeliers in my home. An inexpensive alternative without actually altering the origianl fixture.

re: painting or not. I painted our dining room chandelier (all pure white) and don't regret it at all. And I can't ever imagine regretting it, because it orginally was so ugly that I can't ever imagine liking its original finish. Great "bones" though, so I love it now.

Just another thought to add:paint the candlesticks! I painted mine a soft purple for a brushed nickel chandelier and love it. Not as big a committment as painting the framework, and easy enough to change later. Now I'm looking for some amethyst crystal beads to hang from mine to glam it up some more.

For a chandlier as good as this one, you would ruin it. It's perfectly fine and elegant the way it is now.
PLEASE DON'T PAINT IT. You will, actually, destroy the resale value. And, it will look terrible.

Just clean it and don't hang it up too high...if your ceiling is high enough, and your space is big enough,think of the 1/3/, 1/3, 1/3 rule.

You know, the tubing for the "candlesticks" is easily replaceable, so, why not funk them up with the hotfix Swarovski crystals? Create some funky pattern or go online to T-Mobile's website and copy one of the patterns they use for their Sidekicks. Again, it's a way to add color and easily be able to revert back to "normal mode". After reverting back to normal mode you could always reuse the crystallized tubing for something else, say, combined with ribbon to create an unusual picture hanger, or something like that? Just a thought! :) Have fun! P.S. How about a matching cord cover to pull the color upward and maybe a single replacement of the ball at the end in some specific coordinating pattern?

I actually just re-did my basic, brass, ugly chandelier. Like this: http://www.lampsplus.com/Products/s_brass-chandelier/Finish_Brass-@-Antique-Brass/page_4/00320/
I used Rust-o-leum silver spray paint. And, yes, it did come out looking plastic-y. So, to fix it, I used silver-leaf. I left some parts of the silver spray paint exposed, to create texture. I then used an antique varnish, to dull the fakeness of it all. It came out pretty cool.
I just wich there was another step to make it look even better. I prefer a more modern style. Any further suggestions?

I HAVE AN EXISTING LIGHT AND I WOULD LOVE TO HANG SOME CRYSTALS FROM THE ARMS. WHAT IS THE PROCESS FOR DOING THIS