From gold to bronze

As part of our (my) re-decorating efforts, we're in the process of changing the metal finishes in our house from shiny gold brass to a dark bronze. We've replaced faucets and light fixtures, and Daughter just finished changing out all the switch plates and plug covers. (That's kind of a little thing, but you'd be surprised what a difference it makes.) Stay tuned for the hanging of the ginormous new chandelier in our entryway (hopefully we will NOT be re-enacting that famous chandelier drop from Phantom of the Opera).

In an effort to save money, I decided that some of our metal pieces (like picture frames and plant stands) could probably be painted instead of replaced. I picked up a can of Rustoleum Universal hammered finish spray paint so we could give it a try.



I started with an inexpensive shiny gold picture frame. Since it was super slick, I gave it a quick sanding before starting. (I'm not sure that was even necessary.)

And here is the finished frame. Yippee! This stuff works great. It dries really quickly and has enough of a "hammered" look to mask imperfections in the application. (Remember, I'm not particularly handy when it comes to this kind of thing.) I wish this particular brown was a bit darker, but it's at least in correct color family.

Next, Daughter painted four plant stands. (See, I know when to bring in more highly skilled help!) Two of the stands (see above) had a pewter finish and the other two had been spray painted black a few years ago. (Oops...I hope Spouse is not reading this post!)

Now all four plant stands have a bronze finish. They really turned out nicely, thanks to Daughter's excellent painting skills. (Funny thing is, even though she painted all of this and I painted just one frame, I'm the one who ended up looking like a bronze tin man.)

So now I'm off to pick up another can of spray paint. Hmmm....what can we paint next? I'm eyeing that shiny brass floor lamp. Stay tuned.