Bold as brass

When we bought the Ugly Duckling many months ago it had been sitting vacant and lonely for so long that we were required to pass an electrical inspection before the local electric company turned on the juice for good (to the tune of several hundred dollars, of course).

For that to happen, all of our light fixtures needed shades. Bare bulbs were - surprise, surprise - not acceptable which baffled us then and continues to baffle us to the present day. Since we wanted electricity ASAP so that work could start at the house right away, it was "cheap light fixtures to the rescue!"
Right now our Ugly Duckling sports an eclectic mix of boob and ball fixtures along with a few modified ceiling fans. Yes, ceiling fans aren't the light of the word when it comes to looks but here in sunny, muggy, warm Florida I consider them a must-have, unless you don't mind spending half your salary for your electric bill. Just a little air movement makes such a difference!

Anyways, ball fixtures. During my last trip to the blue box I decided to pick up an extra lamp shade, sized for a ball fixture but in the shape of vintage school house fixture instead. Along with that, I also grabbed a can of spray paint in what looked like the perfect shade of aged brass.

Armed with those I zoomed in on the little unsuspecting ball fixture in the breeze way to the kitchen.

I taped everything off and covered the part where you screw in the light bulb so the contacts wouldn't get covered up with paint and stop working and gave the light fixture a couple of thin, even coats of spray paint.

I was right : It IS the most perfect shade of aged brass (not quite the real thing but close)! Woot! Aged brass in a bottle! While glossy shiny fake brass makes me shudder and twitch, I'm very much in love with the warm honey-golden color of vintage brass.

Tada!

This is quite a bit cuter and at about $5 for the whole project, this little Switcheroo can't be beat! Small semi-flush school house light fixtures seem to start at $60 and go up from there so I'm glad I was able to re-purpose and modify an existing fixture and save some "moolah" for another project.