After removing the chandelier from the ceiling I had to give it a good scrubbing.   The other fun thing I noticed was that the foreclosure company had hired painters to come in and “spruce up the place” by spraying builder’s beige paint all over every surface in the house…yep, that included the formerly silver chandeliers.  I guess you could say they primed them for me, lol.

I removed the “cereal bowls” and bulbs.  I bought dark brown flat spray paint and hung the chandelier up in the garage so I could easily spray all sides and the chain. Once it was all flat black and dry I started experimenting.

I used Deco Art craft paint purchased at Hobby Lobby and dry brushed it in short sweeping motions.  Less is definitely more when using this paint.  If I got too much on the chandelier I quickly wiped it off with a wet rag.  Otherwise, the light fixture started to look really gold and gaudy.  I tried to mimic the rub / scratch marks that are characteristic of Venetian / Oil Rubbed Bronze products made by Delta.

One nifty little feature of this fixture is that the arms swivel, so I decided to turn the arms so the lights faced up towards the ceiling.  That looks better to me than bare bulbs. 🙂  I added some new, better looking “cereal bowls” in a more regular shape.

A little more work to acheive a more realistic finish is sometimes worth it.  Our friends hardly believe me when I tell them this is paint!