One Man’s Trash…

This chandelier has been sitting around so long, I don’t even remember where it came from. It even ended up on the curb, then picked up by someone thinking it was trash & somehow made it back to me. In other words, this chandelier and I are meant to be. Only after my daughter’s birth did I know exactly what I wanted to do with it. Because what 6 month old doesn’t want a chandelier in their room? Right? As you can see it wasn’t in too good of shape. The previous owner had keys hanging from the bottom, loose wires coming from spaces that once held light bulbs and the typical rust of an old metal work. To get this beauty back in tip top, first I cut the wires and keys from each necessary outlet. I also reshaped some of the leaves by hand, due to neglect, many of them had been twisted and turned. Easy peasy. Then there was the rust…

I’ve read more than once that you can remove rust from metal with Coca-Cola. I’m a nerd at heart, so I love to see if weird solutions like this actually work. I thought the worst that could happen is I make a sticky mess and possibly waste $2. No biggie. Let’s do this! I doused the whole chandelier in soda and waited at least 30 minutes. From what I read the acid in the Coke is suppose to eat away at the rust, no sanding necessary. This was not the case for me. Though the rust had obviously been irritated, it wasn’t gone. I used a little metal scrub brush (like one you would use to clean a grill) to disturb and strip the rest of the surface. After a little sanding it looked good to go for paint. I did not prime it at all. Mostly because I liked the original yellow color and I figured if some started to poke through the new Tiffany blue paint, it might give it a nice antique affect. I used almost the whole can of spray paint, three different coats, waiting 20 minutes in between coats (the brand of spray paint I used suggested only 10 minutes between coats). The paint job turned out well and I am in love with the results!

My son even got something out of the whole experience… I let him drink the left over soda! Everyone wins!