From Brass to Fab: Our $5 Chandelier Update

Before and after photo of our chandelier.
Before and after. Graphic Credit: Nanu Home

We took our chandelier from the 1980s to modern for only $5! The dining room chandelier in our ranch house, while likely not original, was a white ceramic and brass piece from the 1980s. It badly needed an update.

But after some searching online, I became inspired by people who had re-purposed or re-luxuriated their existing chandeliers in creative ways. We decided to DIY an update instead of doing a full replacement.

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Why not replace?

Tiffany mission style chandelier
A chandelier just like the one we got at ReStore. Image Credit: Ebay.

We waffled on replacing it, having gone so far as to purchase a stained glass mission style replacement from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. While entirely lovely, something about this chandelier just didn’t seem like the right piece for our dining room.

So back to the drawing board, which means scouring Pinterest, blogs and the internet for ideas.

DIYChandelier Inspiration

Image Credit: Young House Love

One particular DIY chandelier re-fabbing we kept coming back to was from the blog Young House Love. Through spray paint and a large lamp shade, they brought their chandelier from a full on brass fixture to a lovely updated focal point.

Colorful Ideas

There are many options and tons of inspiration to be found. Here are a few posts from other bloggers I regularly went back to:

Magenta painted chandelier
This lovely magenta update. Image Credit: Vickie Howell
chandelier painted light teal
This lovely updated chandelier in teal. Image Credit: Homemade Ginger
Yellow chandelier
Brass chandelier painted yellow. Image Credit: Kara Bouts

Dining room palette greige and tealWith the color palette of our dining, from the greige walls to the curtain with navy, teal and ochre accents, we opted for navy. (We also, apparently, had a deep impression from that chandelier from Young House Love!)

So taking the super budget conscious route, we opted for spray paint. We found a deep navy color that was the paint and primer in one at Lowe’s.

If you’re curious about our dining room decor, here is more information:

The Process

Although we purchased the navy blue spray paint (I’m a fan of the paint and primer in one product scenario for most projects) several weeks ago, other projects took precedence. This is where my lovely husband came in, while I was out of town, he decided to surprise me by taking down the chandelier and painting it. He even took a few progress photos for this blog!

Chandelier in pieces.
Dismantled and ready for paint.

He completely dismantled the chandelier to ensure every nook was painted. And took many pictures of the order the pieces went so he could reassemble it. There are 2 coats done over several days to allow drying. It turned out pretty well. The only problem we’ve had is due to the arms ability to swing. When we were hanging it back up, they banged each other and made a few chips in the paint. We’ll come back through and get those with dab of the paint on a Q-tip.

Painted and ready for assembly.

We are playing around with the idea of different light bulbs, but haven’t come to a consensus yet. At this point, we’re just happy with how much of an upgrade this project was just for the cost of spray paint. Anything beyond this, is icing on the cake.

We searched high and low for an affordable lamp shade that would be wide enough to encapsulate our light fixture, but have not had any such luck. The only place we have found shades big enough are online and running over $70. To me, it hardly seemed worth buying the shade when you can get a whole new chandelier starting in the $100 range. But we are keeping an eye out for a large lampshade.

Another Chandelier Idea

While I was out of town, I went for a walk and stumbled upon By Hand in San Antonio, TX. This store had the most amazing and beautiful colorful light fixtures. They would definitely make a statement. These mosaic lights are not in our decor style at this point, but wanted to share because the shop with these lights hanging over the ceiling was really beautiful.

2 Replies to “From Brass to Fab: Our $5 Chandelier Update”

  1. I have a chandelier like this. Yours looks great. How did you prepare the brass and the ceramic before painting? Did you have to sand both or something else? What kind of paint did he use? The same for both ceramic and brass? I’m nervous about doing this but want to do it correctly. Thank you!

    1. Hello Lisa,
      The ceramic and brass chandeliers sure are popular! Thank you for the comment on ours, we still have it up and have received many comments on it from visitors now that it’s navy blue. My husband took it down and painted it while I was out of town (what a gem). I had already cleaned it (literally dusted and wiped it with a damp cloth) so it was completely dry. He then used the paint and primer in one I had picked up (my go-to is Rust-oleum Painter’s Touch 2x Ultra Cover). The same product was used on both the brass and the ceramic. And that’s it – we didn’t sand or use any special cleaning solution.
      Best of luck with your project! Would love to see pictures.

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