The bright side of all this time stuck at home is finally having time to complete home projects that I’ve been dreaming up since we bought our home in October 2018. I’m really proud of our first COVID-19 quarantine project: a new look for the intricate brass and crystal chandelier in our dining room.

Before

I immediately fell in love with this light fixture during our first showing at our home. It wasn’t on the exclusions list when we purchased the house, but the homeowners later changed their mind and wanted to keep it. Our awesome realtor Toby Pike knew how much I adored it, and was able to convince the homeowners to leave it behind. Below you’ll find our step-by-step guide to refinish an old brass light fixture.

How To Refinish a Brass Fixture

Step 1: Antoine helped me remove the light fixture from the ceiling.

Step 2: I carefully removed all of the crystals, and took apart the chandelier. Antoine lended a hand to remove the crystals that were embedded around the centre.

Next I thoroughly washed the fixture with warm water, a microfibre cloth and later a toothbrush to scrub all the details. We then taped the candlesticks and electrical cord, as they could not be removed.

Step 3: We hung the chandelier and all its pieces on the clothesline outside.

Don’t worry, no dogs were painted in the course of this project! Teddy watched safely from inside the sunroom once the actual painting began.

We applied two coats of Rustoleum Metallic Oil Rubbed Bronze over the next few hours. Gloves came in handy for this part! Afterwards we brought the chandelier into the sunroom to dry for 2 days before putting it back together. We wanted to make sure it was well cured before we handled it.

Step 4: We cleaned the crystals with warm soap and water. What a difference this made! They’re so sparkly now. We dried the crystals with a soft microfibre cloth, then let the crystals air rest over night before putting them back on the chandelier.

Step 5: We purchased this 12 inch ceiling medallion from Home Depot to give the ceiling a boost. Antoine installed the medallion and re-hung the chandelier. Voila!

Thanks to Lehman Lane for the inspiration and guidance! What projects have you tackled or dreamed up during isolation? Let us know in the comments below!