Alternate punny post title: The Updated Light Fixture Blues. That’s right, we’ve got the blues, but we’re far from sad about our “new” light fixture in the office. We just opted for indigo blue spray paint and added a giant drum shade to our old brass friend. Hence the blues joke. But you’ll get a closer look in a minute. Patience, grasshopper.
As a refresher, here’s what was there before (remember to ignore the lack of height due to the too-small frames leaning against the wall instead of proper hanging art and those we-probably-won’t-keep-them lamps on either side of our new desk). Our office was originally our house’s formal dining room, hence the whole formal dining room fixture feel.
Speaking of its “feel.” Over the last nine months I’ve felt it a lot… with my head.
Though a more proper re-enactment of my many run-ins with the fixture would look something more like this. Just imagine a speech bubble with some expletives in it.
So even though the chandelier and I weren’t on speaking terms, after a brainstorming phone call with Katie B, Sherry convinced me that we should do our darndest to work with what we have. Again. See, we already spray painted a brass chandelier like this in our last dining room, so this time we wanted to do a bit more than just add a fresh coat of paint. So we decided to attempt to “modernize” it a bit by tweaking the silhouette, adding a big white drum shade around it, and bringing in some sophisticated-yet-kinda-unexpected color.
Luckily we had no trouble finding a jumbo shade at our first shopping stop, which is a local favorite of ours (The Decorating Outlet which we’ve probably mentioned ten million times – it’s also where we found Clara’s capiz chandelier and the shade for the pendant we made in our last office/guest room). The best part was that it was miraculously large enough (it had to be at least 24″ wide and it was exactly that).
It was marked as $51, but after my better half sweetly pointed out a couple of subtle dents to the salesperson she was willing to sell it for $39. Score. I’ll point out the dents in a later picture – they’re not bad at all. But you know Sherry loves a deal. So even though $51 was a lot less than most 24″ drum shades like this $199 version that’s only 20″ wide (yes, ours is a full two feet wide), it never hurts to ask. And $39 was the magic number.
We also decided to eliminate the large ball on the bottom of the chandler since we felt like it would look funny sticking out of the drum shade (“like butt cheeks hanging out of a short skirt” as the wife so eloquently stated). Fortunately it just took a few twists of the bottom finial and the whole thing screwed right off (even the long rod that kept the ball part attached). We couldn’t believe it was hollow because we assumed it would be full of wiring or something.
Here it is minus the ball (aka: with less junk in the trunk). We just reattached the finial to the shorter middle rod (since the extension rod that held the ball up screwed right off) and it was good to go.
The next step was figuring out how to attach the drum shade, since it wasn’t exactly made for our old brass chandelier. The obvious choice was the bottom, since there was a nice little nub for the shade’s ring to slide on to (and the finial could be screwed back in to hold it up). It almost worked, but we didn’t like the idea of the shade’s straight & narrow crossbars being so in your face. They kinda messed with the original curves of the chandelier – ya know? So I gave it one of these faces and we moved on to the next idea:
The obvious alternative was to hang the shade from the top (so the cross bars would be in the background instead of the foreground). The only problem was that the shade’s top-attachment-thingie was too narrow to slide onto the top of the chandelier. Harumph.
So we decided to improvise. The existing piece of notched metal had to go. Sherry was able to pry off half of it without a problem – just a little flick of the screw driver while steadying the “legs” so it didn’t tweak the shade.
But the other half was more stubborn. We tried lots of tools, but it was requiring so much force that we started to get nervous about damaging the shape of the whole shade. (PS: You can see a couple of the small dents in the upper right of this picture – which are nearly impossible to detect from the outside of the shade).
So we did what any demo-happy people would do. We broke out the hacksaw. Sherry was kind enough to photograph me looking like a sawing superhero, but it was actually she who did most of the sawing. Three out of four “legs” actually. She’s my hacksaw heroine.
Removing the rest of that ring thing was just half of the battle. Okay, maybe a third of the battle. Because these four rods floating in mid-air certainly weren’t going to solve our problem. They needed to be stabilized by something, and that something needed to somehow fit onto our chandelier.
Luckily we found some spare 3″ binder rings in our office-supply drawer that were big enough to fit over the top of the chandelier. After a couple of attempts at super-gluing one to the four rods (and having the ring break off within seconds of trying to pick up the shade) I decided to try wiring it two of them together, thereby sandwiching the shade’s four rods. I just used some craft wire that we had around (pretty thin gauge stuff so it was easy to bend). The method was far from complicated. I just (messily) tied some wire round and round – sort of making a figure eight shape to secure things. I wouldn’t earn any merit badges for my wire knots, but they did the trick (and won’t be seen in the final assembly anyway, so… yay).
I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned one of the most important steps in our chandelier project: painting it raising it so I don’t hit my head anymore. This involved shortening the chain that it hung from and snipping the wiring to match the new height. Once we determined how many chain links we wanted to keep (by Sherry holding it up as I walked under it, a very scientific process) we just pried off the extraneous rings with two channel lock pliers. It was nice and easy – and a big step toward me (and my delicate man face) enjoying our final product.
Painting it was a pretty important step too. At first we thought about something smoky like an un-shiny charcoal grey (not quite black, but close – sort of like a matte gunmetal color). But we thought it might be fun to take a little subtle risk with a rich deep color. And while in the spray paint aisle evaluating our options (yellow, green, teal, and even orange – all of which we might bring in a few other ways with things like upholstery and art), a can of indigo blue spray (in a satin finish) caught our eyes. Perhaps a nice nod to the backs of the built-ins in the adjoined dining room?
So Sherry gathered her supplies: spray primer, our freshly purchased indigo spray paint, rubber gloves, and some sexy black socks (you know, so she can impress all the neighbors with these legs). Because she needed to spray it while hanging (for the most easy-access) we decided to use the basement (with the door open and an equally-as-sexy-as-the-socks gas mask) where we could hang it from the ceiling and surround it with a drop cloth.
We were also sure to stuff some paper towels in the sockets to keep paint out of the interior part where the bulbs screw in (no sense in gumming up the works).
Sherry first did a coat of spray primer, which was a pretty cool color in itself. For a second we debated just leaving it…
…but after going for the indigo we were immediately happy with the choice. It makes the whole thing look classic, but updated at the same time – at least in our humble what-the-heck-do-we-know opinion.
I don’t have many (okay, any) pictures of the process of re-installing it because it took all four of our hands (Clara’s hands were busy napping and Burger’s paws were probably partaking in a sleep-sesh too). But after sliding the shade down the chain so the rings rested on the top of the chandelier’s fluted center part (there’s a detailed pic of this coming up) Sherry held the whole thing up while I re-wired it to the ceiling in the same manner in which I had taken it down. That’s the extent of my electrician knowledge – just carefully redo what you undo. And I turn off the power to the entire house just in case things aren’t perfectly marked in the fuse box (they don’t call me John “Paranoid” Petersik for nothing).
And voila. The rich blue color is sort of hard to see in pictures but it’s nice and clear in person.
We love that it’s clean and understated from afar because we someday plan to drop a huge chandelier over the huge dining table (and didn’t want the office fixture to compete).
Here’s a shot from the top so you can see how the binder rings rest on top of the chandelier’s middle flute thing. Since the rings are smaller than the disk that they’re sitting on, they’re completely invisible from below. So only the flies on the ceiling get to enjoy this vantage point.
And of course, one of my favorite features of the new fixture is that I can walk right under it. Oh the simple pleasures in life. For you detail oriented folks, the bottom of the chandelier is 78″ from the floor.
As much as we love the light off, it really comes alive when it’s on. The room feels light and bright and the shade diffuses the light much more evenly, meaning the chandelier no longer casts creepy five-legged shadows of itself on every wall.
And we think the kaleidoscope pattern that it makes on the ceiling is pretty nifty.
It’s also a really stellar size in person. The giant 13 foot desk could easily dwarf something smaller, but the light colored shade and clean lines keep it from feeling too heavy so it’s nice and airy – even with the deep blue tone on those ol’ brass legs.
And oh yeah, we swapped out the traditional “flame” light bulbs for more modern globe-style bulbs (from Lowe’s). It’s a small detail, but we think it makes a big difference in crisping things up (we first fell in love with round bulbs around four years back when we used them on a similar dining chandelier in our first house that we spray painted white). We looked for CFL versions, but no dice- although we hear most things are going LED now, so here’s hoping they make little round chandelier ones soon.
In summary, we love it. Here’s the view from the floor (where Clara and Burger actually spend a fair amount of time). And speaking of the bean, she’s learning so many new words these days. It charmed us to no end when she woke up from her nap after we hung the “new” fixture and pointed right up at it and said “oooooh, light.”
Even though the update wasn’t totally free, it certainly beats the price of paying for a whole new fixture. Especially anything that’s two feet wide. Here’s the breakdown:
- Chandelier: $0 (already owned, but we’ve seen them for under $10 at yard sales and thrift stores)
- Drum Shade: $39 (from The Decorating Outlet, negotiated down from the already discounted price of $51)
- Binder rings & wire: $0 (already owned, maybe $4 if you had to buy them?)
- Tinted spray primer: $0 (already owned, but it’s around $7.50 from Lowe’s if you need some)
- Indigo spray paint: $3 (from Lowe’s)
- New globe light bulbs: $9 (from Lowe’s)
- TOTAL: $51
Not bad considering a nearly identical version (minus the deep blue color) was recently sold by Pottery Barn for $299 (looks like it’s currently out of stock).
I’m sure we’re not the only ones who’ve updated a chandelier or other light fixture, so we’d love to hear your experiences and even see pictures if you’ve got a place to link to them (like Flickr or your blog). Has anyone else gone for a non-traditional-but-surprisingly classic color? Or found another way to make an old fixture feel fresher? Who else hit their head on a light at least five times a week for thirty six weeks straight? Why the heck did we wait so long on this update anyway?
Reenie says
LOVE it!! I didn’t realize the big ball….came off! I have a chandy like that one ~ but plan on leaving my big ball on it! HA! I also didn’t think of painting over the lil plastic thingys ~ kewel idea to have it all match.
You guys are so smart =)
heather s. says
I recently painted a similar (but smaller) brass chandelier for my office. I wanted to do the drum shade around it but couldn’t find any large ones so I just painted it white and added some colorful sleeves to the arms. I’m jealous of the large shades you seem to find (Target and other stores just didn’t have anything big enough sadly).
Looks great!
Elise says
For the art above the desks, on either side of the window, maybe you could paint a canvas in an ombre effect of a dark burnty orange, basically the color opposite the teal (on the color wheel) on the built ins. Then they would be simple enough not to compete with the busy-ness of the built ins when viewed from the dining, but still fun enough to give the office its own pop. Just an idea I had when looking that the picture, it looks fantastic guys!
YoungHouseLove says
That could definitely be fun! We’re going to wait to do the stencil before deciding on the art, just to make sure they mesh!
xo,
s
Jennifer B. says
I had my first ever YHL dream last night. I was bringing my mom and sister with me to help you guys DIY some sort of outdoor play area for Clara. We found an amazing antique store on the way with fantastic prices. I was worried that we would get so caught up that we’d be later than expected (driving from CA to VA… har har). I remember saying, “$herdog will worry if we’re late. And John has a thing about being everywhere 15 minutes early, and being ready 5 minutes early. If we don’t leave right now, we’re going to be late.” But then I found a replacement white ceramic greyhound for $5, and I figured that might help ease the worry of our being late.
LOL! I just had to share! I have no idea where the John-has-to-be-20-min-early-to-everything came from! Usually my dreams make NO sense at all, but at least there were some connections to real life!
Jennifer B.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, that’s funny! I’m definitely the one who gets dragged out the door by a “we’re going to be late” fearing John! Haha.
xo,
s
Ashley says
“like butt cheeks hanging out of a short skirt”
::snort coffee out of nose!:: Sherry, you are a girl after my own heart. Comments like this are why I love you guys and keep coming back for more!
Kim S says
Agreed! That comment cracked me up.
Emily @ Our Waldo Bungie says
John, you remind me so much of my husband with how you tweak things to make them work to your purpose! :) I love how this lamp looks! We switched out a light fixture for my parents’ dining room this weekend as a birthday present to my mom (I posted about it today, actually!) and when we stopped at Home Depot, we had a long philosophical discussion about light bulb color and whether daylight, soft light or bright light bulbs were the best. We also discussed CFL and LED forEVER but we more pondered the color situation. We opted for the bright light CFL but I think in the future, we might try switching out to CFL. Who knew there was so much to discuss about light bulbs???
PS – Sherry, I very much loved our random pintrest conversation the other day! It absolutely made my week! (and yes, I realize how lame that makes me sound but it did…so there!)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, Pinterest is my happy place. I’m a giddy weirdo over there.
xo,
s
susan says
I am looking into my dining room as I write this and see that my chandelier is the exact same one that you have. I love what you did and desperately need to update ours. Thanks for the step by step explanation that the Hunk can use when he updates it for me:) susan
Kelly H. says
That looks great! Coincidentally, I just did almost the exact same thing to the outdated brass light fixture in my entryway and love how it came out. I was able to remove a lot of the brass and just hide what was left with the new shade, so I didn’t even bother with the spray paint. I like your idea of replacing the light bulbs — when mine burn out I’ll look for some prettier ones.
sandy says
loving the office! Have you thought about drilling a hole in the side of your cabniets to hide the power strip and wiring?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my gosh- genius! Never thought about that.
xo,
s
Blair says
I love that look! nothing like re-purposing things instead of having to go buy all new light fixtures! I love that indigo shade, its so soothing. I used old garden trellises as extra lighting in my living room. It’s amazing how just a few re-adjustments can really change something! http://thefirstapartment.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-to-save-on-lighting.html
~Blair
YoungHouseLove says
So fun!
xo,
s
Skye @ Neathering Our Fest says
Oh I just love it! I can’t believe you found a drum shade that big for only $39 bucks! lucky ducks you are!
Chelsea says
Another amazing YHL project! It looks great. I love the indigo. Have you considered adding another pop of indigo along the trim of the lamp shade? Not sure how it would look in person, but I keep picturing it from looking at the photos… particularly the photo looking in from the dining room.
Thanks for sharing!
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh never thought of that! I think we’ll wait to fill in the rest of the room with art, window treatments, etc – and the add it if we think it won’t be too much!
xo,
s
Cristina says
I like it so much!
<3
cc says
I like the end result here so much, I wish I could time travel back to the early 90s and do something with my parents’ dining room fixture. Hideous! Apparently still haunting me, too, I realized after reading this post… :/
Jess says
That looks suprisingly awesome. I would have never thought to have done anything like that. And if you were to have described it with out the pictures, I would have thought you were crazy. But I really like it! It is modern and vintage all at the same time. I am loving it!
Lisa P. says
So fantastic! I love this idea. And I’ve been desperately searching for a cheapish drum shade just like that! Too bad there isn’t a Decorating Outlet in Denver. Crap!
Kristen says
Nice job! The updates look awesome! I love the navy color you used; like you said it’s the perfect pop of color but still feels classic at the same time. I recently painted a pair of lamps a nice red color for our guest room. I love red so I really like ’em!
http://k-boofly.blogspot.com/2011/08/red-light-special.html
YoungHouseLove says
Pretty!!
xo,
s
Heidi says
Super cute! I’m still amazed at the money you save considering the price of it’s Pottery Barn identical twin. Awesome job as always
Sara says
Wow. Just… Wow!
jenny says
This is so great! I’m kind of jeolous! The lovely brass chandlier in my kitchen is 27″ wide and I can’t find any lamp shade even close to that good of a price. I’ve thought of making my own with quilting hoops, but those aren’t made as wide as 27″. Any ideas? Thanks.
YoungHouseLove says
Maybe try a lampshade dealer online? They might sell the hoops for 27″ fixtures to lamp-makers or something so you can order them?
xo,
s
Robin @our semi organic life says
Or perhaps try etsy?!
YoungHouseLove says
Great idea!
xo,
s
Hope Arroyo says
Okay, so my question is what are those vertical green lines in the dining room? *L*
YoungHouseLove says
Those are tape lines so we can envision where we might have our kitchen opening as soon as we get permits and hunt down a contractor!
xo,
s
Jenna @ apt403 says
The light looks fabulous! I always appreciate inspiration to take something you have and re-make it, rather than buy something new (in my opinion, it’s also more fun and definitely more satisfying!). And I must say, I just love the pictures taken from the vantage point of the dining room! It’s so layered and beautiful–it’s obvious the time and care that goes into creating these spaces.
Arianna says
You know, I’m amazed you didn’t do ORB for the light fixture. It seems so un-you somehow to not spraypaint something ORB. LOL But I love the blue it fits so much better than ORB would have, I think.
Jessica F. says
We have that exact same chandelier! We bought it for $5 at a yard sale after we moved into our house, to replace the horrific giant boob light in the dining room. :)
Ours was also brass and had that weird ball at the bottom, which we too removed. We spray painted it a flat black, but left the “candles” white. It was the best $8 (including spray paint) we’ve spent in this house yet, and it has held up beautifully for four years!
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds so classic and pretty!
xo,
s
Penny says
My heros. Brilliant!
Kristin says
What a great idea!! I totally just “pinned” it!
Peggy says
Looks very good- and gives me an idea for the fixture I’ve been trying to figure out for my DR.
Just for future reference, I ran into a similar problem when I wanted to add a lampshade to my kitchen fixture. The hole in the top of the shade was too small. After some interesting fixes involving wire, I decided to try drilling the hole a little larger. I put a 1×4 on top of a bucket and set the shade on it, then drilled away. I used a regular drill bit, and it went right through the metal, no problem.
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- that’s awesome! Great tip!
xo
s
Laura Brand-Sias says
Would you guys ever consider painting the ceiling? We just painted our laundry room a light grey with bright white trim. After deciding on a light fixture with a white shade similar to yours and one of those moulding caps for the ceiling (no clue what they are called) we decided to paint the ceiling. It looks awesome with the contrast of the white trim and the light the fixture gives off. Just a thought!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes- we love painted ceilings. It’s definitely something we might do down the line when the room fills in more with the stencil, art, window treatments, new chair color/upholstery, etc.
xo,
s
Emily Z says
Looks great! We made our own drum shade for above our dining room table and we LOVE it.
http://michigandersinaz.blogspot.com/2010/10/you-light-up-my-life.html
YoungHouseLove says
Awesome job!
xo,
s
elaine says
LOVE IT! Fantastic work guys. What a show stopper :). Great colour choice too.
Briel K. says
I like it a lot! Looks really pretty!
Lauren says
You just solved my lighting dilemma! I’ve been waiting to change out my chandelier with one I found at a garage sale, but I was unsure of what color to spray paint it. I always lean towards white and I wanted to be more daring. Love the color and it goes with my new curtains (that I sewed after reading about your adventures!). Thanks for the continued inspiration.
Annie says
I love it! I would have never guessed that blue would have turned out so pretty! Yesterday I actually posted on my blog about a chandelier I made. Here’s the link to it http://faithhopeandshootingstars.blogspot.com/2011/09/diy-chandelier.html
Not as fancy and nice as your’s!!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so sweet!
xo,
s
Grace says
I was so happy reading this post bc I just did the exact same thing for my office! I found a drum shade at a Wisteria outlet for $10 and fit it around my light fixture after taking off the light ‘bowls.’ Using the rings is GENIUS! We just used left over wiring and kind of ghetto-fied it to hang off of the existing light fixture. Yours looks great!
Allen says
Did you sand or use the deglosser before the primer?
YoungHouseLove says
Nope, since the last time we sprayed a chandelier (in our first home’s dining room) we just used a spray primer (which held up really well) we did the same thing this time around.
xo,
s
Robin @our semi organic life says
Is this a forever piece or something semi temporary until you have more beans (money, not kids!)?
YoungHouseLove says
Forever. We do our best in general to avoid the just-for-now thing whenever we can, just because it’s sort of a waste (we’d rather put $50 towards a new fixture than an old one we’d rather not keep, ya know?). More on that here: https://www.younghouselove.com/2010/03/email-answer-money-management/
xo,
s
Anne says
Love it! Such a creative update to your old fixture; I’m sure many people would have just thrown it and opted for something brand new. I love how you guys always try to work with what you have.
Also, Sherry, I have a (maybe?) personal-ish question. How many carats is your engagement ring (saw it in an above photo)? It’s beautiful!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks! I actually never asked. Haha. I’m a shy gal, but I love my ring! John was very sweet indeed. Also I have small fingers. Haha.
xo,
s
Sarah @ Redhead in Ruffled Flats says
I am in love! I’ve loved the chandelier/drum shade combo for a couple years and never thought about recreating it (not that I could since I lived in a dorm for the past four years). It looks just as good if not better than the kind you can buy for tons more money! I’m digging the indigo! What I love most, though, is when it is on! It’s gorgeous – the room looks even better and super bright just as an office should be! Color me inspired!
Sarah @ Redhead in Ruffled Flats says
Holy cow, I used a ton of exclamation points in that comment. I’ll try to contain my excitement . . . ! :P
YoungHouseLove says
Haha. I’m the same way!
xo,
s
Robin @our semi organic life says
Random but: just like to thank you for your (long ago) post on that non electric push lawn mower. It convinced my husband to get one and we love it!
YoungHouseLove says
So glad!!!
xo,
s
jennie says
um… i love this idea! love.
sanam says
That looks great! and the fifty dollar budget makes me love it even more.
Ours was just a paint makeover, shown here: http://fancylives.tumblr.com/post/8357797777/lighting
the after photos are here:
http://fancylives.tumblr.com/post/8358472371
don’t mind the rest of the craziness going on in that room :0)
YoungHouseLove says
Prettttttty cooolor.
xo,
s
katiedid says
Nice…..I just recommended that a client paint a fixture that is the spittin’ image of yours….I will have to reconsider the paint color now!
amymargaretc says
First of all, love the change – well done, as always!
Secondly, I cannot believe a can of spray paint is $3 for you folks in the US, the last time I bought a can of ORB it was $10! I’ll double check that brand the next time I’m at HD or Lowe’s.
Might have to grab some paint the next time I’m over the border…hehe.
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah, ORB is expensive here too! I think 6-7 bucks. But for some reason indigo was just $3! Maybe because it’s less common or doesn’t have metallic tones (which might be more expensive)?
xo,
s
amymargaretc says
Hmm… good point! I’ll check it out next time :)
Do you get charged an environmental fee when buying spray paint?
YoungHouseLove says
I don’t think so. Unless it’s hidden in tax. So interesting!
xo,
s
Lydia says
That looks great! My dining chandelier looks like this and I’ve been itching to replace it but maybe I could upgrade it like you guys! I didn’t know you could just unscrew the ball at the bottom. — I’ve already removed the one on mine and it already looks better!
Tammy O says
I love this — in fact, I think this is one of my favorite of your DIY projects! So clever to use those binder rings to rig it up and a gorgeous color choice. Well done, guys!
Cindy says
“like butt cheeks hanging out of a short skirt” Hilarious.
“rod that held the ball up screwed right off” Hehe.
Using the binder clips was ingenious! Seriously impressed. xo
Bboss says
I wasn’t entirely convinced until I saw the $299 Pottery Barn fixture. Then I decided it was genius!
Lisa @ Life is Crazy Beautiful says
Looks perfect…love that shot through the dining room!
Rachelle says
LOVE the blue.
I recently added a cute burlap shade to my girls playroom fan, when the budget for the room was so small I had to work with that ugly fan. :) The shade helps. ;)
http://www.fingerprintsonthefridge.com/2011/04/how-to-add-shade-to-ceiling-fan.html
YoungHouseLove says
Smart!
xo,
s