Hey friends! How’s your week been? Mine has been nuts but I’m happy to have a few moments to have a cup of coffee with you this morning! I have been juggling about 5 different house projects and am happy to cross one off the list. And look what I found while I was at it!
Have you ever painted a light fixture?
While it’s all the craze in blogland, for most {non-DIY-blogging} people out there, this concept is wacky. I know this because everyone to whom I mentioned that I was going to paint my outside lights said something along the lines of
“Whoa Nelly – you’re going to paint WHAT???”
But yes, it’s true, a light can be painted and will look good for years to come with a little preparation.
By some miracle I actually really liked the lights on our new-to-us house, and I even liked the original color, but they kind of got lost against the color of the house (which Mark & I both like as well…..hooray for it not being peach!!!)
Here’s the front door at our inspection:
And the light up close – she’s a cutie, right? I’m a big fan of pebbled glass and the lantern look.
I started taping off the glass:
….but soon discovered it was easier to just remove the glass by bending back these tabs inside and carefully sliding the glass panels out:
I taped newspaper all around the fixture to protect the house from the spraypaint,
and put a little piece of tape over the electrical units. Then I wiped down the fixtures to remove cobwebs, dead insects (mmmmm) and dirt.
I sprayed them with black satin Krylon spray paint that adheres to metal. It was a windy day, so to protect the house even further I held a large boot box around the fixture while I sprayed it. To prevent drips on the fixture, I gave it a couple of light coats and made sure to hold the can 6-8″ from the fixture as the can recommends.
Here is the final product all painted up with glass cleaned and put back in.
A comparison….what do you think?
I still really like the rusty brown look but the black is so much better with my front door and pots.
After I painted the lights, I realized the doors needed a fresh coat too.
They got a nice glossy black coat of paint while I was at it.
Do you like the whale’s tail door knocker we inherited with the house? The kids love it.
I’m dying to get new hardware for these doors but that’s a project for another day (or shall I say, year!)
Here we are so far….in desperate need of some flowers in those pots, but nonetheless a step in the right direction. The doors look a little funky in this picture because of the morning light, but not so much in person.
Easy peasy – so if your light fixtures need a little sprucing up, don’t be intimidated – if I can do it so can you!
Have a happy day today!
Andrea says
It looks great! I like your "get it done" attitude! I painted one of our outdoor lights, but before it was hung. Love the black!
The Pineapple Room says
Love it..it looks great. The nest is AWESOME!!!
John and Sandy says
Congrats! it looks awesome!
I am heading back to my tissues.
(got a pretty bad cold)
Noelle says
It looks wonderful!! I love the drama the black creates!! I love your urns too!! Thanks for your kind comments on my blog!! Have a happy Mother's Day!!!
Val says
Everything came out so great!! Thanks for inspiring me. I hope you have a great weekend.
Privet and Holly says
Wow, you did an
awesome job and
what a difference
small details can
make! Now, are you
free on Friday? I
have a few painting
jobs around here….!
xx Suzanne
Something Nice and Pretty says
Keeping this in mind, mine are brass and with brown brick they seem to be good but for a change I guess black?