New Entry Light

Okay, so when we first bought our home, our entry way looked like this. 

Lov-eh-ly, right?!?

Ahem, yeah, I didn't really think so either.

Over the last two years we've done a little here and there to improve it (new flooring, new open banister, frosted the big window above the doorway, etc.

But this whole time, we've still had that same old entry light hanging there ...and it really bugged me.  Like a lot.

So using my very meager "allowance" that my husband and I budget in for each other every month, I went down to my local Habitat for Humanity ReStore and found a nice used golden, brassy light fixture for a whopping $8.00. (I was so excited to find such a gem!)

I made the mistake of not taking a before picture.  Super sorry. 

But I'm sure you've all seen an old brassy light fixture at least once in your life, so just use your imagination.  It was nice and golden.

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The transformation from brassy to black: 

+ I lightly sanded all the metal parts of the fixture

+ Papered and taped up all of the glass

+ Sprayed the whole light with a couple of coats of primer ...and then the fun began.

I used a semi gloss black spray paint (the dollar kind) and watched the light begin to transform to something a little more modern.

In the picture above, you can see where I started to remove all the tape and paper I used to cover up the glass.  After cleaning up all of the glass with window cleaner and using a razor to chip away any little specks of paint that got on the glass, I was left with this:

Pretty.  So much better than what was there before.

(This is only an after shot of the light, not the whole entry way.  We have plans for all of these beams, arches, and metal railings too.  They just haven't quite worked their way into our budget quite yet.)

I'm so grateful to now have a new and improved entry light in this lovely split level fixer of ours.  And with $1.00 black spray paint and an $8.00 brassy light fixture, (and primer, painters tape and sandpaper already in hand), it only cost me $9.00!
What a stink'in good deal, right?


Have a lovely weekend friends.

Linked to:  The Shabby Nest