AT:SF Reader John Clarke Mills is just beginning to restore his 1890 San Francisco Victorian. One of his first projects was to redo this old chandelier and the AFTER is fantastic. Jump below to check out the finished project and a mini how to:
From John's blog post on the project: When my housemate and I moved into our new place we weren’t thrilled with the victorian-style knockoff chandelier that was in our living room. Our friend recommended we paint it and see if we still wanted to throw it out. So, I took the idea and ran with it. Needless to say, it’s definitely not getting thrown out any time soon.
Thanks for sharing the project, John!
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thanks for the inspiration - on our local Kijiji, i found a chandelier for $10 that needs rewiring. since Minka Lavery isn't sold in Canada, this might be what i need to do!
It glows! Nice job.
I love your sofa! What is it?
oh you've got to be kidding me!
i've just spent the last three months stripping paint off all the brass hardware in my little apartment...and while the archaeological trip through the colors of the 30's, 60's, 70's, and 80's has been interesting, it's a total pain to restore! (which, i suppose, i could've done by drilling a core sample from the plaster.)
now, maybe it was because of my upbringing (never nail into wood, never tape onto paint, and never paint over wallpaper), that i consider in houses older than me, i'm just its steward.
so, never ever paint over wood, brass, or old-timey plastic (especially bakelite).
You're in for some shocks around here Darwin! At-ers are big paint-anything-old-bright-or-white proponents. I myself try to avoid both the 'never' and 'always' camps.
I have also done this, but it was attached so high up I couldn't take it down. I held up a sheet and spray painted it! It worked and looks a gazillion times better. These are tough times, so anything we can do to save a little coin is good.
Every time I see a posting on renovating a chandelier I will gently remind everyone of a less painful, time-consuming solution- kaarsKoker. These are decorative replacement candle sleeves I designed and are available at www.kaarskoker.com. No paint, no glue. Fun colors, patterns and leaving the fixture with its 'charming' patina.
Love it. Love the color and goes well with the green/cream walls!
I think it's ugly.
Sorry, it just looks cheap. The flowers don't help.
I dig it - the flower pattern brings more life to the fixture - which is usually missing from modern painted pieces.
More important to me though is where did he get that couch - WOW! love it
it's fabulous!
YES!! Please, where did you get the sectional?? Love it! Anyone know?..
Thanks all for your kind comments, well some of you at least ;). As I mentioned in my post, I hated the thing and it was going to get trashed. Opposed to some of the original chandeliers in the house that are over 100 years old, this was probably added later in the 20th century. So, rather than throwing it out I decided to do this.
Oh, and the couch is from Room & Board.
This is a great redo - and the fabric on the shades is a fabulous choice - Congrats!
fun :-D and definitely an improvement. i am not always fond of painting stuff, but in this case i am in total agreement.
Not particularly fond of the fabric over here, but the paint brightens it up, and the colors are just what it needed!
That's not my style, but I love it anyway! Go orange, or go home.
To me, it's garish. But to each his own.
This isn't a 'victorian-style knockoff chandelier', it is a victorian chandelier!
There are so many crappy, new chandeliers available for painting, why ruin the real thing?