the tale of two chandeliers

So this is the chandelier that came with the house. I imagine it was a shiny bronze back in the day, but had darkened up some in the 40 years this house has been around. It wasn't horribly ugly, but it wasn't the best chandelier either. At first, it was just the fake candles, but it was better once I added the lamp shades.

I really wanted one that came from Pottery Barn, but a three hundred dollar chandelier isn't in the budget.
Enter this FREE chandelier that came from the side of the road! A house around the corner put it out on the curb, and I spotted it one afternoon on the way to the grocery store. We had no idea if it worked or not but figured "why not?"

We didn't really like the finish, so I bought some spray paint and covered the light sockets with christmas plastic wrap. Then it was outside to spray paint. My husband held it for awhile, but then we hung it from a tree branch and sprayed some more.

I chose this hammered finish spray paint that was about $6.

I am so glad that it turned out well. Charlie worked yesterday to hang it up and once we got the right kind of light bulbs, it looked great!

So, for the cost of a can of spray paint, we got a new chandelier! I am so excited about how nice it turned out and that it was relatively easy to hang up. Well, easy for Charlie.

Tomorrow, stay tuned for before and after pictures of my adventure in grout cleaning! It was a smelly, messy pain, but it looks amazing.