Well, here I sit eating apple slices dipped in peanut butter and listening to Josh's Groban's Christmas CD while the house is completely silent - ah, 'tis a wonderful time of the day! Anyhow, on to the point!
Seeing as the re-wiring of the chandelier is going absolutely nowhere despite my further attempts (my father has said he could help me figure it out so I must take him up on that offer - I believe that if anyone could do it, he could!) I have moved on to the finish for the time being. Remember how I said the chandelier was solid brass? Yeah, well, I really love the shape of the fixture but the brass color is not really my thing. I was pretty certain I could change that with minimal effort (just like I was sure re-wiring it would be easy, too!). This time I was right! I love love LOVE the look of oil-rubbed bronze so my goal was to change the brass to something darker and more beautiful in my mind. I really had no intention of painting it but as I searched the web for ideas on how to do this I came across this forum where a person named Sandy James from Edmund, Oklahoma suggested this technique. I did not come up with this on my own, this is just copying what Sandy said. However, Sandy didn't post any before/after pictures so I wanted to show the results to you. Sandy, thanks so much for the instructions, it worked perfectly! And for you brass purists, this may not be for you so you can just stop reading here. Don't say I didn't warn you!
First off, take your brass fixture and prime it with some spray primer. I used Krylon products since that is what I have on-hand and they are great on metal. I primed it with a gray primer.
Then, spray the entire fixture with a black satin spray paint. Once again, I used Krylon.
You should now have an entirely black fixture. Here comes the fun part, the "wow" part!
Get yourself some Rub 'n Buff in Spanish Copper finish. Never heard of it? It is a wax metallic finish that comes in many color choices that you can use to antique or decorate any surface or material. Apparently Michael's carries it but the only one in our city doesn't. I am sure many other places carry it as well but I had no intention of driving around to find it. I bought mine on Ebay for about $4 total and waited 2 weeks for it to arrive. Take the R'nB and put the tiniest bit on a soft cloth. Gently rub on the raised portions of your fixture and you will begin to see the magic happen. Rub and buff to your heart's content. If you do too much just spray it again and start over. Or I am sure you could spray paint a small artist's brush and touch up that way. Anyhow, once you are done rubbing and buffing apply a clear protective top coat and you are done! VOILA! My brass-turned-oil-rubbed-bronze chandelier (well, actually only one small part of it. I haven't finished the rest yet!). What do you think? I, myself, am entirely pleased. Giddy, really. I imagine the entire chandelier in this dark lusciousness dripping with crystals and I want to hop in the van and drive to my parents right now to get that chandy wired. And it is 11:30 pm! Patience, my lovely, patience!
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THAT is amazing! I was looking at Rub n Buff at Michaels the other day and couldn't think of how I would use it. I got rid of 3 brass chandeliers in this house. I wish I would have kept them now. Of course, they were just plain, not with any detail like your beautiful chandelier but still, that is an amazing transformation. I just can't get over it. I can't wait to see the entire thing.
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