A Nightstand and a Fan Makeover

Well, so I haven't been as busy as planned recently. I had a wedding that I was in plus some job interviews then recovering from wedding/woodsmen weekend. So not much really happened. The good news....I have a job starting the end of the month. I will be in my field (Ed Tech). It is only part-time and it is about 45-50 minutes away but I am still very excited. Finally going in the direction that I want to be.

So anyway, I did, after much hassle, finally stain my nightstand. I got distracted and forgot to wipe off the excess stain so four days later it was still not dry. So I had to apply another coat, let it sit about 5-10 minutes which reactivated the previous stain, then wiped it all off. Of course, then I had to sand and stain again. But I did it right this time! Of course, had to have a week worth of frustration and almost permanently brown nail beds. (Always wear gloves when staining) :) It's about 1.5 shades darker than before. I would have gone a little darker but I was very sick of staining. (Pardon the slight off shade picture. Used my cheap camera not my good one).




Then I saw on My Repurposed Life how to paint a ceiling fan. Well, I have an old brass and fake wood grain ceiling fan in the dining section of my kitchen. I kept saying all winter that I wanted to get rid of it and put in a new light. Then summer hit and I realized that fan is handy. But it was still ugly. So I am painting it as we speak. Well, technically not right now as I am not quite that talented. But it is drying. Here are some things I have learned while painting this fan.

- The wiring in our house is old so I did not dare take the motor down. So I had to paint the section that holds the lightbulb with it still attached to the ceiling. Spraying spray paint into a tin can then using a paintbrush to apply is not ideal but it is easier than dealing with wiring.

-Spray black spray paint on the blade then let dry some. Then spray brown over it. Before it is dry, drag a new nylon scrub brush up the blade to create a wood grain. Looks a bit better than just a flat brown. You can kind of see it in this picture. Does look much better actually up on the ceiling than up close.



-The refrigerator is on the same circuit of the light even though it says it is not. Part of the reason I didn't deal with wiring.

The tutorial I read painted the whole fan white. I don't mind that look but it doesn't fit in with my decor. I decided if you can do it all white, why not do the metal silver and the blades brown?

Anyway, here is the before. Isn't it lovely?





And here is the after: (many hours after I originally started this post)




Next week's project will be to paint over the dark paneling in the hallway....or tear it down and paint the drywall behind it.