24 July 2008

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.

8 comments:

toners said...

Hi Janet! Catching up with all my blog friends here :) These projects look AWESOME!

jillconyers said...

What a great idea. I never thought to use paint to get a specific finish. Instead I search endlessly for what I'm looking for. Duh of ginourmous proportions.

mborrero said...

you are spray paint queen

living creating & appreciating
my blog

KarenSue said...

oooh, can't wait for the pics of the finished room.

Pearl Maple said...

Congrats on the great results on your redecorating project, getting top results there.

Thanks for the drink recipe that does look yummy.

Looking forward to your funny kitty friday posts.

Cheri said...

Spray paint...what a great idea!!

Sarah Coggins said...

LOL about looking like a bronze tin man. :D I love Rust-Oleum spray paints.

Kristina said...

Don't you just love to repurpose things? It's so satisfying to do that. Your stuff looks great!