DIY: Dining Room Chandelier

Do you remember waaaay back in this post (in like October), when we revealed our new dining room paint color, that I had mentioned the chandelier that was still hanging in the dining room was a project that we would work on later?

Well ... LATER has now arrived!

We strongly considered replacing the chandelier with something new, but in the end, we wanted to keep money in our pockets and decided we'd try to make use of what we had. Plus, I liked the idea of keeping as many original items in the house as possible. After all, this chandelier has probably been hanging since the house was built in 1928.

For your pleasure, here is a reminder of what the chandelier looked like after we finished painting the dining room. It was black and definitely did not fit the look of the room...

Joey took the chandelier down from the ceiling - very carefully (while I said a prayer that he would not be electrocuted).



Spike inspected the chandelier curiously- wondering what this intruder was doing on the floor (it must be a cat thing)...



As you can see, the chandelier was VERY dusty. Probably hadn't been dusted since, oh, 1973. This black 5 arm chandelier boasts 4 orange crystals hanging from the top along with little "wax drips" going down the "candles".

Black + Orange = Halloween in my book. Not sure why someone wanted a Halloween chandelier... but do you see the all charm underneath???



To bring this light into the 21st century, we decided to spray paint (yes, spray paint) it! We removed the orange crystals and painted the entire thing - chain and all - WHITE! And Joey replaced the little drippy candle things (which cracked under the spray paint) with PVC pipes he cut to size. Then we (i.e. Joey) hung this baby back on the ceiling...



I must admit I oooh'd and aaah'd over the change. And the white finish fits in with all the white trim and details of the room. Plus it really stands out against the dark walls.

And we got this hung just in time for Christmas! So, I decorated it by hanging pretty silver ornaments with ribbon.



Pretty, no?

I'm still trying to decide on 2 items:

1. Do I want to buy clear crystals (rather than orange crystals) to hang from the top and give it some fancy bling?
2. Do I want to add shades on top of the light bulbs to soften the glow?
   

I'll decide on those items after Christmas. For now, I'm enjoying it as is!!!

So, what do you think? BIG change, right? Was it worth keeping our pocket change? I think so!

Edit: This project has been entered in Vintage Revivals' Look What I Found Friday linky party!