Dining Room Chandy Update

This not-as-thrifty-as-I-thought-it-would-be chandelier re-vamp is finally done!  This project was supposed to cost about 10 bucks, BUT I had a few unexpected expenses.  While the money I spent is still a lot less than what I would have spent on a new fixture that's similar, I'm borderline ashamed of how my $10 project turned into and $46 project.

Originally I was going to remove the ball and hoop thingy at the bottom of the chandelier (a picture of the non re-vamped chandy is below), spend $6 on a can of black spray paint, about $4 on some neutral fabric to re-cover some mini lamp shades that I already owned, and be done.  Well, that didn't work out.  Turns out, I got rid of the lampshades at some point and that ended up throwing my whole plan out of whack. 

Here's the break down of what I ended up spending.
- can of black spray paint: $6
- extension chain and hardware (because I lost the original hardware): $10
- 6 new mini lamp shades :  $30 (ouch!)
By the way, I completely stuck to my Zero Dollar Decorating rules and only spent money that I earned by selling stuff on Craigslist.

Now that that's out of the way, here's a brief history of how my chandy update came to be.  Here's what the original chandelier looked like before we even moved into the house (that picture is three years old).  It's your standard builder-grade, brushed nickel chandelier.  It was also hanging no where near the center of our dining area.

I think my face says exactly how I feel about that light fixture.

I found some cheap shades and covered them with fabric to try and spruce it up.....once again, that's an oooold picture.

That fabric was just not working...neither were those shelves.... and the fixture was still not centered so my husband and I replaced it with a directional fixture that was on sale at Lowe's.  I didn't get a picture of it while it was still hanging, but here's the picture I used when I posted the fixture for sale on Craigslist (It was originally $30 and I got $15 for it!).

As you can see in this recent picture of our dining area, it looks like there isn't even a light fixture there.

Now our little dining area is more defined.  I used some extra chain and the chandelier is now centered. 

Hopefully I'll post a picture of our completed dining area this week.   I have a few more things to do in there, but I've got some momentum now that the light fixture looks the way I want it to.

Y'all have a happy Monday!

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