Big Blue

As is my usual habit, I was one day last week browsing through the craigslist ads when I noticed an unusual post.  It said " very large chandelier."  Chandeliers are not hard to come by on craigslist, but they are usually standard, run of the mill, normal sized fixtures.  The measurements listed in the post were " 36" high and 42" wide."  I got out my measuring tape and tried to get an idea of how big this thing really was, because in the picture posted with the add, it did not seem that big.  My thought was to get it and re-sell it since it was ridiculously low priced, which was another thing that caught my eye in the ad.  Very large and low priced?  I was all over it!!  I called within 10 minutes of the owner posting and he said I was the 4th caller already.  But, as luck would have it, none of the other callers were able to come see the "very large chandelier" right away.  I was.  Within 30 minutes, I was standing before it with mixed thoughts on whether or not to purchase it.  It was kind of ugly brown and beige eighties looking and indeed VERY large ( the picture did not do it justice as it was bigger in person than I had imagined.) Would anybody buy it from me? Would I get stuck with this huge monstrosity?  How would it fit in my car?  Am I crazy to buy a huge chandelier?!  What am I doing here?  I finally decided to just bite the bullet and purchase the beast!  With some help from the seller, we got it strapped in to my trunk and I made it home.  I brought it inside and put it on my dining room table.  It was then that I decided I would be keeping it.  It made such a statement in it's size, I thought it would be the perfect over-the-top light fixture in my dining room.

In it's original color.

But the color was completely wrong for my space and very dated looking, so it was off to the hardware store for my go-to problem solver: spray paint.  Before I went though, I had a few tubes of craft paint on hand and decided to test out some color possibilities.

Some of the color tests.

I eventually decided on royal blue to match the chairs at my dining table.  Silver was a very close second and for a while it looked like it might be shocking pink and hung in my daughters room.  The thought of her jumping from her bed to the chandelier and swinging from it quickly determined the fixtures place in the dining room!

In progress

Four cans of spray paint later, I had blue hair, blue skin, blue boogers and a BIG BLUE chandelier!

Now to hang it........I needed help since it is pretty heavy, so I recruited some friends.  After measuring from the ceiling to determine the best height, we adjusted the chain length and set about devising a plan on the best way to get it up there!  I should mention, at this point I still wasn't completely sold on having a light that big over my dining table.  I have 10' cielings, but even at that, this thing seemed HUGE!  My friends convinced me that it would be such a "wow" factor, I had to do it.  So back to hanging.  It took three of us to hoist it up, get it on the chain which was already attached to the ceiling plate and keep it balanced while I snaked the wires up through the collar to the ceiling box.  Finally, everything was wired, hung and ready to go.  I set about putting all the bulbs in (there are 24 bulbs in this sucker!)

You can get some idea of scale when I stand next to it!

 I went out to the breaker box, turned the circuit back on and...............

Taaaa- Daaaaa!!

I put it on a dimmer.  This is the lowest setting....

......and this is the highest at 600 watts!

Oh. My. Goodness. It. Is. So. Cool!  This was one of the riskier design choices I've made, but I think it really paid off in the end.  And if I do ever decide to move it, there is always spray paint!

Any guesses as to how much I paid for it?

I am really happy with the way it looks, the drama it gives the room and the pop of color it brings.  And I will always have plenty of light for dinner parties!  These pictures don't quite show just how big this thing really is, but trust me, it is BIG BLUE!!  The only thing I lament?  Not getting a picture of it strapped into the trunk of my VW Jetta!

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xoxo,