DIY Designing: Turning Brass into Gold

Well, not really gold, but something much better than brass.

I hinted at this post when regaling you with tales of painting the bedrooms. In case you forgot, Leigh was unhappy with the roller so we sent her outside with a brass chandelier and a can of spray paint.



My cute little house had a perfectly adequate brass chandelier hanging in the dining room. But brass isn’t terribly modern finish (read: so 1987).



Our family friends the Reinhardts had recently completed a kitchen/dining room remodel and employed this handy and inexpensive trick on their own brass chandelier: a coat or two of spray paint, and voila! An updated, modern fixture for about $3.



Granted I just gave away the crux of the whole post in the opening paragraphs, but Leigh was such a good sport and the finished product such a success, I encourage you to keep reading. It will be great.

Step 1: Find a willing sibling, boyfriend, neighbor, etc. to do this project for you. Spray painting is messy and by the time you get done, your pointer finger will hurt.



Step 2: Tape the chord and light sockets so you don’t get paint in them. Do this for a chandelier, lamp, sconce, whatever! Note: when taking down a chandelier turn off the circuit before messing with the wires to avoid being electrocuted.



Step 3: Use a primer. Though you may not find this a necessary step, it helps create a smoother surface for the paint to adhere to and doesn’t take very long. See? Look how much fun Leigh is having with the primer.



Step 3 ½: Painting with spray paint. Shake the can of primer or paint for about one minute. Holding the can 8-10 inches away from the subject, move back and forth to create an even coat over entire piece. Be careful to not get too close – the paint will go on too thick and drops will start running down, ruining your perfect surface.




Step 4: Repeat process with spray paint.



Step 5: Wait either 30 minutes or 24 hours to do a second coat. No, you aren’t misreading that time frame. I’d wait 30 minutes but that’s just me. It’s helpful to have someone hold the cord while you wait. A future brother-in-law will do the trick!



After 4 hours it should be dry enough to hang.



While I had the spray paint out and willing volunteers, we went ahead and painted this cute bar cart I purchased at a second-hand store.



At first glance, you might think “what a dated, uncool piece.”



A coat of black spray paint later, and what do you know? A super-cute and practical place to display glassware.



I used this same technique on a lamp I bought at Goodwill over Thanksgiving (on sale from $6 to $3), but chose a bright cherry red for the entry table.





That’s it for this edition of DIY Designing. Hope this post helps you think of brass in a new light (pun intended).

And thanks, Leigh and Matt, for being such good sports.

DIY Designing: Clip It On

Today's the launch of a new column -- DIY Designing. I'll walk you step by step through fun do-it-yourself projects I've done in my house. First up: Clip it on.

This idea isn't completely original. I've seen this project on many of the blogs I read and it was too good to pass up. The basic idea is putting clipboards up to serve as little inspiration boards in your office, craft room, etc. With a new blog (and blank space above my desk) I need plenty of inspiration.

The first step: survey the scene. While I originally planned on putting up six boards (2 rows of 3), my office has a double chair rail. The top row of boards would have been much to high to use and the look would be imbalanced, so I settled for just one row of three. Take-away lesson: do what works best for your space.

After making sure the desk was centered on the wall where I wanted it



I carefully measured the width of the space. Then I measured the width of the clipboards to determine how much space would be between the clipboards.

For all you English majors, here's a quick example. Say my wall space is 50 inches and each clipboard is 9.

9 x 3 =27.

50 - 27 = 23

23/2 = 11.5

So there would be 11.5 inches between each clipboard. There are a couple of more math steps necessary for the placement of the nail holes, but if you are interested in that just leave a comment and I'll walk you through it. I won't bore the rest of you.

So anyway, here's the shot of my wall with the nail holes up. I definitely recommend having a laser level when hanging a series of pictures or clipbaords.



After checking to make sure everything was measured correctly and nails were lined up, I hung up the boards on a little metal pieces on top. Note: when choosing which clipboards to use, make sure there is some way to hook them onto the wall. My choice was a $.97 wood board from Wal-Mart.





Looking good! All you have left to do is put up your inspiration pieces; I choose pages from magazines. You can also clip on swatches of fabric and paint chips to create a custom mood board. Have kids? This is a great way to display artwork because it's easy to change out.





Grand total of Clip It On = $2.91 and about 20 minutes.

So there you have it! The first edition of DIY Designing!

Have great ideas you want to see featured on this column? Leave a comment below.