Before + After Candelabra

Our weekend was filled with endless rain and a roller coaster of temperatures.  We went from having our air conditioner on Thursday to turning the furnace back on Sunday.  With all of my outdoor plans on hold, I decided to work on something indoors – well, actually the garage to be more precise.

Years ago I purchased a set of silver candelabras for next to nothing.  Both were rather tarnished and needed to be polished up so I immediately got right to work cleaning them.  One polished up a silver beauty, while the other lacked luster and stayed dark.  I tried every trick in the book but nothing worked to bring back its shine.  Had it been through a fire?  Had an abrasive chemical been used that striped the silver away?  Not sure, but I’ve never used it and so it has stayed in the garage (I didn’t have the heart to pitch it).

So I decided to try to paint away the graphite looking dullness and brighten it up.  I started off by adding a good layer of primer and then used a blue gloss paint by Valspar (which seemed to smell like Bazooka Joe bubble gum – weird).  I wanted the design/relief on the candelabra to stand out so I mixed up a custom color that was a few shades lighter than the blue gloss paint to cover those areas.  And voilà – here is the finished product…

It’s fun, it’s bright, and it’s not in my garage anymore!

Images:  House of Many Hues