Continuing a recent trend in our house, Clara is the latest family member to get a ceiling fixture in her room. I even half expect Sia to break out in song about it (“from the chan-de-li-eeeer!”).
If this chandelier looks familiar, it’s because it previously hung in our dining room. The finish never quite suited us, but we always liked the swirls and flat arms — it almost looks like an intricate paper chandelier — and thought it would be a good fit for Clara’s space.
The main issue was size. Even with no chain it hung roughly 26″ from our eight-foot ceiling, putting it uncomfortably close to her six-foot-tall father’s head. Since Home Depot doesn’t offer shrink rays, I took the fixture down to see if I could shorten it myself.
By loosening a single screw at the top I was able to disassemble the nested pieces that form the ornate shape (I laid them out in order so I could remember how to reassemble). What remained was a long center post to spool parts back onto.
My plan was to reassemble most of the pieces so it still read as a chandelier but several inches shorter. The center post was the main challenge: without buying a shorter replacement, cutting it risked removing the threaded section needed to reconnect the fixture. Rather than hack-saw the rod and lose the threads, I realized I could attach that threaded end directly into the ceiling crossbar. That let me eliminate the large loop and other hanging hardware, shaving off several inches while still providing a secure metal-to-metal connection that would bear the fixture’s weight — never hang heavy fixtures by just the wires.
You can see the pieces I removed in the photo above. For reference, here’s the original dining-room shot with those removed parts grayed out so you can picture the change.
We considered replacing the candle sleeves because the faux-dripping wax detail wasn’t our favorite, but Sherry had a simple fix: flip the sleeves so the drips face up and aren’t visible from below. Problem solved.
Next came painting. I set up a station in the garage with a plastic drop cloth and hung the fixture from a bungee cord and the original chain so it could be sprayed evenly.
First Sherry taped the bulb tips inside each candle sleeve to avoid getting paint on them. Then she applied a coat of Clean Metal Primer — our usual base for painting metal fixtures — which already looked pretty good in white.
We wanted the chandelier to match the ceiling color exactly (Pink Cadillac), which meant we couldn’t rely on off-the-shelf spray paint. Our big paint sprayer also felt risky for this intricate shape because it can lay down too much paint and cause drips. So we tried an inexpensive Preval sprayer we’d seen at the hardware store that converts any thinned paint into a spray.
It took a lot of trial and error to get the paint thin enough to spray without clogging, then not so thin that it ran. We don’t have an exact recipe, but the mix ended up around one part water to two parts paint. The sprayer sputtered and needed frequent unclogging, so the process was messy and imperfect, but eventually Sherry achieved an even, mist-like finish closer to true spray paint than our larger sprayer often produces.
The next morning we rehung the chandelier. I don’t have process photos — it required both of us (Sherry held the fixture while I did the wiring), and my camera remote battery died just as we were on the ladder. The crossbar was attached to the ceiling box and the fixture’s center post was screwed directly into that crossbar. We left roughly a half-inch of the post above the canopy so the canopy could sit snug to the ceiling when tightened.
The bulbs now hang several inches below the ceiling, giving them room to breathe and preventing heat buildup. We worried the thinned paint might read lighter than the ceiling, but visually they match well and the finish came out nicely. Besides the light bulbs, the only costs were about $5 for the Preval sprayer and a few dollars for an extra air can.
It’s wonderful to have a bright fixture that lights Clara’s room at the flip of a switch. Reimagining an old dining-room light for her space feels satisfying — those six 25-watt bulbs look great alongside her fairy lights.
And for a softer, ambient look at night, the chandelier pairs nicely with the rest of the room’s lighting.
Teddy might be too young to comment on his new light, but Clara adores hers. Her favorite line so far: “It’s all swirly like it’s from Belle’s castle!”
This does leave the dining room temporarily without a fixture, but we have bigger projects there (I’m looking at you, blue trim). Meanwhile we’re on the hunt for a ceiling light for the guest room, which is still fixture-free and will need one before our next visitor arrives.
Psst— Want to know where something in our house came from? Click the button below.