Alternate punny post title: The Updated Light Fixture Blues. We’re not sad about our “new” office fixture—we’re delighted. We spray painted the old brass chandelier indigo and added a large drum shade, hence the blues joke. Read on for a closer look.
To refresh your memory, here’s the original fixture (ignore the too-small frames leaning against the wall and the lamps we may not keep on either side of our desk). The space used to be a formal dining room, so the chandelier always looked a bit too traditional for the office.
Over the last nine months I ran into the fixture more times than I care to admit.
Imagine a more accurate reenactment with a speech bubble of expletives—those low-hanging bits were a persistent problem.
After a brainstorming call with a friend, Sherry convinced me to update what we already had instead of replacing it. We’d spray painted a brass chandelier before, but this time we wanted to modernize the silhouette, add a big white drum shade, and introduce a sophisticated but unexpected color.
We found a jumbo 24″ drum shade at a favorite local decorating outlet on our first stop—perfectly sized to fit the fixture.
The tag read $51, but after pointing out a couple of small dents the salesperson sold it to us for $39. The dents are minor and nearly invisible once installed. For that price it was a great find compared to similar shades that cost much more.
We removed the large decorative ball at the bottom of the chandelier because it would have stuck out of the drum shade awkwardly. A few twists of the bottom finial and the rod came off easily, revealing a surprisingly hollow interior.
With the ball removed, we reattached the finial to a shorter rod and moved on to attaching the shade.
Our first idea was to mount the shade from the bottom, slipping its ring over a nub and securing it with the finial. It almost worked, but the shade’s crossbars sat in the foreground and disrupted the chandelier’s curves.
We preferred the look with the crossbars in the background, so the next plan was to attach the shade from the top. The shade’s top attachment was too narrow to fit over the chandelier, so we improvised.
Sherry pried off part of the notched metal piece holding the top of the shade, but the rest was stubborn. The small dents you can see on the shade are barely visible from the outside.
When tools weren’t enough, we used a hacksaw. Sherry did most of the sawing and handled the tricky bits—she’s the hacksaw hero of this story.
With the ring removed, four rods protruded from the shade and needed stabilizing. We found 3″ binder rings in our office supplies that fit over the chandelier’s top. Super glue didn’t work, so we wired two rings together to sandwich the rods instead.
The wiring was simple craft wire wrapped around the rods to secure the rings—messy but effective and hidden once installed.
One important practical step was raising the chandelier so I wouldn’t keep hitting my head. We shortened the hanging chain and trimmed the wiring to the new length by removing excess chain links with channel lock pliers while Sherry held the fixture at the preferred height.
For color we debated matte charcoal and other neutrals but chose indigo satin spray paint for a subtle, rich update that nods to the nearby built-ins. The indigo reads classic but fresh in person.
Sherry sprayed the fixture while it hung in the basement, using primer first and then the indigo paint. We stuffed paper towels into the sockets to protect the bulb threads from overspray.
The indigo finish exceeded our expectations. It’s more vivid in person than it appears in photos and gives the chandelier a tailored, updated look.
We kept the shade low enough so the fixture doesn’t compete with a future large dining chandelier. From the top, the binder rings sit on the chandelier’s fluted center disk and are invisible from below.
Now I can walk right under the fixture—simple pleasures. The bottom of the chandelier sits about 78″ from the floor.
The shade also softens the light and diffuses it evenly, eliminating the harsh patterned shadows the bare chandelier used to cast. When lit, the fixture creates a pleasant kaleidoscope pattern on the ceiling.
The size works well against our 13-foot desk: the light-colored shade and clean lines keep the fixture airy despite the deep blue finish on the brass.
We swapped the old flame-style bulbs for modern globe bulbs for a crisper, more updated look.
In short: we love it. Clara and Burger approve too—Clara woke from a nap after we hung the new fixture and pointed up, delighted, saying “oooooh, light.”
Cost breakdown:
- Chandelier: $0 (already owned)
- Drum Shade: $39
- Binder rings & wire: $0 (already owned)
- Tinted spray primer: $0 (already owned)
- Indigo spray paint: $3
- New globe bulbs: $9
- Total: $51
For a relatively small investment, we transformed a dated fixture into a modern, custom-looking light that suits the space. The project kept the original chandelier’s character while giving it a fresh silhouette and color.