Fabulous Frugal Find — Chandelier and Vanity Chair

by Katy on February 21, 2013 · 10 comments

Remember Fabulous Frugal Finds? Well they are back with a vengeance! And Katy has a bad case of chandelier envy!

The Non-Consumer Advocate: Chandelier

From Julia Park Tracey, the writer behind The Doris Diaries  (www.thedorisdiaries.com) and the novel, Tongues of Angels, to be published in April 2013.

Look at what I did with a can of spray paint! I transformed a basic chandelier and a vanity stool. I got both items free; the chandelier was free on Freecycle, and the vanity stool had been my mother’s, and then my daughter’s, and then abandoned in my garage. I wanted to use both, but not as-is.

The chandelier was begging for a coat of paint to un-blah it. It was basic white to begin, but I wanted some color.  I bought one can of spray paint from the hardware store for about $5 – Rustoleum for metal, apple green. I took the chandelier outside and put down newspapers and gave the can the necessary shakes. It took two coats, and most of a day to dry properly. I love the look! It took another couple of months to get someone to install it for me, but Arturo, an electrician pal of ours, put it up in just a few minutes.

I still had a lot of paint left – at least half a can. So when I was looking at my vanity stool and trying to decide “keep or give away?” I thought about painting it, too. I also had an idea about using hand-embroidered linen for the seat. I took a stained dresser scarf and pieced it so it would fit a round seat. That meant I had to cut and realign the pieces. I really like how the crocheted edge lies across the center. A few seams on the sewing machine fixed that, and I added batting and used my handy staple gun to affix the fabric. In the meantime, I took apart the stool and sprayed the separate bits – the base and the chair back. It had been a shiny brass for decades (I remember the Christmas my father gave this vanity set to my mother, in about 1971).

The apple green went on in two coats, and dried quickly. I let it sit a few days more in sunshine to be sure it was cured before re-attaching the seat and back to the base. I love the results – classic reuse, vintage vibe, charm in abundance. Total cost? $5 for the paint.

The Non-Consumer Advocate: Vanity Chair

 

 

If you enjoyed this Fabulous Frugal Find,  please enjoy these previous posts:

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }

chubblywubbly February 21, 2013 at 5:00 pm

I love your vanity stool!

Apple green is one of my favorite colors as it is so cheerful.

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Katy February 21, 2013 at 8:15 pm

I love the color too!

Katy

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Kristen | The Frugal Girl February 21, 2013 at 8:23 pm

I love watching other people be adventurous with spray paint. I tend to play it safe with white and black.

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Dianna February 21, 2013 at 9:09 pm

I love the chandelier! I want one for our dining room/school room. A cheap one that I can paint of course!
The stool turned out adorable too!

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Katy February 21, 2013 at 9:49 pm

It makes me want to start trolling the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for a “new” chandelier!

Katy

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Practical Parsimony February 21, 2013 at 11:50 pm

This makes me want to get out the two chandeliers in the basement I bought for $3 each and paint them.

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Su Mama February 22, 2013 at 12:05 am

Love the chandelier! I’d like to see more of them redone — especially with “before” pix. That’s one of the things I especially like about this blog, seeing what something looked like when Katy got her hands on it, then after she’s worked her magic!

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Crystal February 22, 2013 at 4:23 am

Beautiful! Apple green is a wonderful color.

Also, I absolutely agree with Su Mama. Before pics really make the transformation all that more impressive.

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canuck66 February 22, 2013 at 8:38 am

I love your stool. I’m not so sure about the colour of the chandelier but to each their own. I’m a white or ivory kind of girl. I would love to see the stool in it’s setting. Great work Katy.

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Katie February 23, 2013 at 9:08 pm

I love that you repainted a chair that has family history. I have some kitchen chairs that are from the farm house where my mom grew up that have been painted many times by many people. The paint job is not as nice as yours (lots of bumpy layers) but I like thinking about how each person made them their own.

Also – very nice green! If I had paint that color, I’d be painting multiple things as well!

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