French Country Chandelier With Boho Flair

6 Materials
$30
2 Hours
Easy

Trying to find affordable light fixtures on a budget can be challenging. Join us today as we share how you can transform an old brass fixture into a beautiful french country chandelier with boho flair under $30.

To see a complete list of materials used for this project with quick shopping links, see our original blog post here.

Tap to watch the video tutorial above.

To prepare the fixture for paint, we first cleaned it with a damp washcloth to remove any dirt or grime. Then we removed the white candelabra sleeves and covered the electrical fittings with frog tape.


Our first step was to apply Rustoleum-Primer to the entire chandelier.


Once the primer had dried for 30 minutes, we then applied 2 coats of Rust-Oleum French Cream in a matte finish.

To create the faux wood finish for this french country chandelier, we used four different colors, two dark brown, one slightly darker than the other, a grey and a cream color.


Using a small chip brush which has uneven bristle lengths, we dry brushed on each of our for colors one at a time.


To dry brush dab the brush in a paint color. Then brush back and forth several times on a paper plate or palate removing most of the paint. Next, lightly brush onto the chandelier with short stroke. The brush leaves very defined stroke marks which mimics the appearance of wood grain.

The medium brown color was applied first. Dry brush the entire chandelier, but leave plenty of the french cream color exposed.


Once dry to the touch, we repeated this process with the dark brown color.

At this time, we are ready to apply the grey paint. Using this same dry brush process over the entire chandelier.

Here’s a look at the finished chandelier. Adding wood beads really adds a bit of whimsy and helps make it feel a little less formal.


We purchased a mixed package of wood beads from Amazon. (Shopping links are in our original post.) It was a little hard to know exactly how many we’d need, so we erred on the side of caution and ordered a large variety pack.


We ended up using 4 different sizes of beads on this chandelier.


On the strands of beads that swagged from arm to arm, we used 10 of the (16mm) size beads, and 11 of the (8mm) size beads.


For the strands of beads that swagged vertically above each arm we used 10 (20mm) size beads and 11 (10mm) size beads.


We have plenty of leftover for more projects!


Be sure to follow us on Pinterest for even more home decor and DIY ideas.


To see what we are working on before it’s on our blog, follow us on Instagram.


You can also find our video tutorials on our YouTube channel. 


And as always here at Sunny Side DesignWE HOPE TO BRING YOUR HOME TO THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET!

Resources for this project:
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Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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  1 question
  • Caroline Bick Caroline Bick on Aug 21, 2020

    Hi would I be able to use undercoat and gloss for this chandelier please? Thank you

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  • Robyn Garner Robyn Garner on Aug 24, 2020

    Nice job! Your dry brush instructions are very clear - you could do this in any variety of colors. 😎

    • Sunny Side Design Sunny Side Design on Aug 24, 2020

      Thank you Robyn. Yes, you can achieve a variety of finishes just by the choices of paint.

  • Pam Pam on Jul 16, 2021

    May I suggest using small spherical light bulbs instead of the "flame" type? I think they would look great.

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