DIY: Mother's Old Light Fixtures

I wanted to replace this ugly light fixture in the pantry. I have looked around for awhile and then I spied a light fixture at Lowe’s similar to the one below.

Source

After measuring and whatnot, it was going to be too big even though it is a tiny chandelier. I was disappointed because I thought for once in my life I was going to be brave and use something in my house that I would not normally use to decorate but love.

While at Mother's house not too long ago, I spied a light fixture that I thought would work as long as we could change the coloring from brass to black. Why? Because I cannot stand the color of brass.

So, we took the light fixtures from Mother’s house after buying new ones to replace the old. I took off all the crystals and cleaned them up. I washed probably 30 plus years of dust off the crystals. I was mighty surprised at how easy they were to clean. (You can google how to safely clean acrylic crystals.) However, this process was a pain-in-the-you-know-what due to the fact you had to remove the strings of crystals off the fixture one-by-one and clean them all by hand.

Tidbit: I remember going with my folks everywhere shopping for lights when I was a very young girl. So, these lights are very old; although, not the original ones that came with their house.

I taped up the fixtures themselves and got all the parts ready for painting. By the way, the smaller fixture is for the pantry and the larger is to go above the front entry way.

Dan took over the process of painting for me and I have to say that I did not mind this one bit as I am not a confident painter nor the most patient person when it comes to painting!

The end result is a much better and fancier light fixture than the old! The picture does not really do it justice. I am happy with the result and even though it is not a true chandelier, it works.

We also replaced the ugly front entry light which we hardly ever used. It came with the house bent and broken.

I think it is a big improvement from the old. At least it is pretty even though we rarely turn this light on. I may end up replacing this light and sticking this one in the extended pantry when we redo that space. But, for right now, it is in a happy place.