Since we were giving the 2nd bathroom an update we were in need of a new light fixture since the wall papered valance was not going to cut it. Here it is in all its original glory!
I had looked online at different fixtures and landed on a style that was inline with my french girly inspiration but most of the ones I liked were $150+ and since we’ll be redoing this room in the future I didn’t want to spend that much on something that I didn’t really love and that probably won’t work with the future design/layout. We also didn’t want to move electrical at this point so we were kinda locked into the strip light style. I totally lucked out at a local 2nd hand place (I love spending time walking up and down aisles looking for “treasures”) and found a light that I thought would work perfect after I fixed it up. And for $20 it went home with me!
Before I got to work on it I had Mace confirm it actually worked (yes!) and that it was able to be installed above the vanity (also yes!). It required some electrical work/splicing from him but it wasn’t too bad. It was very lucky that the electrical came out on the right hand side of the fixture which is the side we needed it on based on where the current electrical is. First I protected the wood surface and light sockets with plastic bags and tape, then I spray painted the brass light sockets and globe screws the same hammered bronze color I used for the dining room ceiling fan.
Next I sponge painted chalk paint on the wood as I didn’t want smooth brush strokes. Honestly when I first started I wasn’t so sure how it was going to turn out. This was a bit of a process where I just layered on the white paint and dark wax. I’m not sure of the technique really, I just kept making changes until I was happy with it (I repainted the light sockets all bronze, didn’t like the white thing I tried).
I wanted a crackle finish, which I had never tried before, and picked up some crackle paint at Joanne’s fabric. I broke out the hairdryer and played with the heat to dry it. Then I lightly did some more white sponge paint, some dark wax to fill in the cracks, and some of the cracked paint naturally fell off. Again I just kind of played around a layered until I was satisfied with it and achieved the rustic look I was going for. And here it is installed against the new peach wall color.
For the shades I was reusing the shades from the dining room ceiling fan because I thought they felt kinda of whimsical/girly and went with my inspiration for this space. Only problem was I was one short. I couldn’t find any at 2nd hand stores but I located some that were very similar on etsy that would work (and they showed up during our party so I was installing it between drinks!). I think I spent $40 total on the light and achieved the look I was going for, so I was pretty happy with myself!
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