There are certain things in decorating that you just don't do. That is the myth that has kept my house full of brass fixtures that were fashionable in interior design back in my heyday - the 1980's. Rubik's cube, parachute pants, Molly Ringwald, the British Invasion, and my dining room chandelier all remind me of a younger, bigger hair me. A memory which is not totally grody to the max, but just the same, it should be just a memory. I decided that I must cast off my big hair and 1980's brass and decorate my house to reflect who I am today. Unfortunately, setting out on a quest to purchase newer, updated light fixtures sent all my hopes for new self expression plummeting. Talk about sticker shock! I am a Dollar General girl living in an Ethan Allen world. Time to regroup. What are my options, I thought? Thrift stores, garage sales, making my own out of pipe cleaners, or spray paint. Spray paint brass? I could hear it now from all the hardcore brass lovers of the world with their mauve curtains and goose wallpaper...how dare you defile the brass, they would say. Wait a minute, I thought, I'm the one living with it, staring at it, eating under it day after day. So, off to Home Depot I went with a twinkle in my eye and a bounce in my step. The before and after photos show my handiwork. From plain to Pottery Barn in one sweeping spray.
Heres how I did it:
I used RustOleum spray paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze. I salvaged some crystals from an old chandelier and hung them around the arms and candle cups. The problem was there were no holes to hang them by so I fashioned some loops and S hooks from wire, sprayed them and used them to hang the crystals by. I also purchased some black shades from Old Time Pottery, I think they were a buck a piece. My investment was about $15.00.
Armed with a can of spray paint I fearlessly work my way around the house, eradicating the offensive brass wherever I go.
