Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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How To Spray Paint A Pendant Light’s Cord & Canopy

A while back we bought this light for $29 at the Pottery Barn outlet. We originally planned to hang it over our sink “someday when we redid the kitchen” but then we got our oil-rubbed bronze pendant lights for over the peninsula, and although we love mixed metals, we just thought this silver + mercury glass light didn’t jive with them. So we started thinking about hanging it in a bathroom or something.

  PBLight Far

Then I asked tall John to hold it up as if it was hanging over the sink and surprisingly the shape was perfect. But the silver neck, black string, and silver ceiling cap were all wrong. But the glittering mercury glass shade was perfect (it tied into the chrome faucet and the stainless appliances and hardware). It was like a roller coaster. Perfect, all wrong, perfect. So I decided to call on my good friend ORB (oil-rubbed bronze spray paint with built-in primer) to take care of the all wrong department…

Light 1 Ready To Spray

I figured giving it the same finish to help tie it into the other lighting over the peninsula was worth a shot.

Light 2 ORB

A few thin and even coats later, I was left with a glossy oil-rubbed bronze fixture…

Light 3 Top Sprayed

… that I couldn’t wait to hang above the sink and rinse dishes under.

Light 4 Bottom Sprayed

I gave him a full day of drying time, just to be sure everything cured up and then up he went. It’s pretty cool how the dark finish helps balance the room and ties the pendants together, even though their shades are really different.

Light After Off Full Room

The new guy over the sink is sort of the “bridge” between the ORB pendants and the stainless/chrome/silver items touches in the room thanks to the gleaming mercury glass.

Light After Really Close

With our new stainless steel dishwasher installed (we actually did that this weekend by sliding a few pieces of cork under it without having to do the rest of the flooring quite yet – just have to take pics and write that post!) the room has even more balance now, since we have a silver thing on each side of the room. We didn’t plan that when we redid the layout, but it’s nice that it ended up that way (the dishwasher and fridge used to be sort of next to each other before we moved the fridge across the room).

Light After Off Closer

Oh and we get requests to take photos of light installation but it’s rough to do since one of us holds the light while the other one wires it up (aka: no extra hands for photo or video taking) but if you search light installation videos I think they have a few good ones on youtube.

Light After Off Corner

The little hexegons on the mercury glass shade make me really happy. I honestly think this fixture looks so much better with dark hardware to complement the cool silver shade. It’s so pretty and sparkly yet the dark tone sort of grounds it and makes it feel substantial and luxe.

Light After Really Close

We totally could have gone with another $60 outlet pendant over the sink like the ones over the peninsula, but there’s something really fun about having a light that goes, but doesn’t match exactly. And it’s a bit smaller in scale, which is kind of nice since the sink is a little less open and giant than the big ol’ peninsula.

Light After 3 Lights Vertic

Here are some “it’s on” shots for ya:

Light After On Corner

Light After On Closer

Now onto the “heading out” portion of this post’s title. As many of you know, we’re psyched and honored to be speaking at the Home & Garden show in Portland, Oregon this Wednesday. Which means we’ll be traveling for a lot of this week (hence us doing lots of projects this weekend, like the already-installed dishwasher, so we have lots to share with you throughout the week as we travel, speak, and travel again). We’re flying all day on Tuesday and are booked to be there pretty much all day on Wednesday the 22nd (from 5:30am to 8pm with just a few breaks for blogging and eating) and we’ll be giving an invite-only blogging seminar in the afternoon (they’re in charge of who gets invites, so maybe check their site/Facebook page for those details). But at 5:30pm there’s a Meet & Greet in the Smart House Remodel in Hall D. Anyone can show up for that, but they suggest your register. We’d love to meet you guys there!

Burger is actually staying back (with a house-sitter of course) since we thought it might be too stressful for him to travel there and back without much down time – but Clara is coming since we’ll actually have John’s mom and dad with us (they have family out in Portland so they decided to join us, which is a fun and very helpful plan).

  Portland Logo

So please forgive us if this week of posting is erratic and wonky! We’re going to do our best to get posts up at the regularly scheduled times, but there will definitely be moments when we’re in the air or at the show when we just can’t hop on and answer comment questions or get the next post up – so it might get a little funky. We tend to approve comments as we answer questions, so if you submit something and don’t see it pop up, we’re likely just waiting to get a moment to answer it or haven’t seen it yet!

But we can’t even tell you how excited we are to check out Portland (neither of us have ever been, but we have a list a mile long of things to check out, and of course we’ll blog about our home-related adventures during our fleeting two-day trip). Oh and to ensure that we’ll fit right in, we’ve been watching clips from Portlandia. Sounds like a solid act-like-a-local plan, right?

In all seriousness, I’m not the best with public speaking, so feel free to cross fingers/eyes/toes for me. I’m skeeered. But I’m sure I’ll survive and have at least ten highly embarrassing stories to tell you guys when it’s all said and done. We’ve even been prepping Clara for the flight. More on that here. What did you guys do this weekend? Any ORBing or lighting bid-ness in the hiz-ouse?

Comments

  2. Tracey says

    Love the new light fixture. You’ll do great in Portland.Don’t be nervous about speaking, remember we love you guys. I’m sure you’ll do great.

    Try making six paper bags (one for each hour of travel) filled with a snack and/or a little toy to help Clara get through the plane ride. But, I bet she’ll fall asleep due to the hum of the plane. If you’re lucky.

    Have fun, good luck and enjoy the west coast, its beautiful.

    Reply

  3. Rebecca says

    Looks like you spray painted the hanging cord on the pendant as well. Does it look natural in real life or like it’s spray painted?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It looks natural! Just sort of like a deep brown cord with ORB hardware around it. I think it helped that it wasn’t a rubber cord (it’s some sort of fabric cord). Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  4. Christa says

    Love the new light and the ORB that you did to it. It looks great and really balances out the room. Have you though of using ORB to the mirror in your laundry room? You can see the mirror from one of the kitchen pics and having it be ORB instead of gold might tie those rooms together more. If you are going for that look. I love to match/coordinate everything and sometimes go overboard. I know having different tones can go well too and you guys do great at combining tones/textures/styles. Just love your site!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I have actually thought about that- or using some sort of rub and buff to weather/darken it a bit without covering the whole thing with a thick coat of spray paint. Will keep you posted for sure!

      xo,
      s

  5. laxsupermom says

    Love the new light! Mercury glass is so pretty, and it looks perfect over the sink!

    No ORBing here. We were hoping to bang out a big(for us) building project, but stopped building when my baby brother and his newly-minted fiance stopped in from out of town. We only got about half way in our built-in bookcase project. You two always amaze me with the speed that you crank out your home projects! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  7. Johnnie says

    Im in Portland! It really doesnt rain as much as they say!! :)
    Portlandia is hilarious,it keeps us humble here in town! ha!
    look forward to seeing the places you visit!
    gotta hit nw pearl district for shopping…but try to get out of downtown if you can and visit some of the outlining areas, gorgeous views!

    Reply

  9. AmiDawn says

    normally when you guys ask if any of us have been up to the same things you are, i’m not. but this weekend i actually did try my hand at some ORB spraypaint and updated an old gold light fixture in our hallway :) i’m officially a fan :)

    Reply

  12. audra says

    Everything looks great! I can’t wait to see the final results of all your hard work. If you get a chance, you must go to Voodoo donuts. They are the best! My brother-in-law goes to Portland for work every few months (his company’s headquaters is there) and he always stops for those donuts.

    Reply

  14. Riki says

    I’m commenting just to say this:

    The difference in your kitchen – from dark, scary cave to bright and cheerful – is crazy. Like, crazy bananas.

    If I didn’t know better, I’d think you installed a huge bank of windows somewhere secret. It just goes to show that choosing the right surfaces/paints/textures can make a gigantic difference.

    I <3 you guys.

    Reply

  15. Bri says

    Love the ORB finish on that pendant! Mercury glass is kind of an obsession of mine lately and that fixture goes perfectly in your new kitchen. Nice work!

    I spent my weekend getting ready to go on vacation this coming weekend. I don’t know if I’ll squeeze a trip north into what promises to be a very busy week but I’ll sure try! Hope you guys have a wonderful time in Portland, I definitely second the Voodoo Donuts suggestion.

    Reply

  16. Kaitlin A says

    Looks wonderful! Good luck- I also hate public speaking, but have always found it easier when I’m talking about something I love. Hope it works the same way for you!

    Reply

  17. Angie says

    I need to get myself to the hone and garden show! Portland is excited for you! Hope you have so much fun checking out my city! You must get yourself to toro bravo….my fave restaurant. Order a glass of sangria and the chefs menu and just sit back and enjoy all the tasty dishes the select for you! Bacon wrapped dates being a personal fave (and you’re guaranteed to get one with the chefs menu). Seriously, go…no, run to toro bravo!

    Reply

  18. Abby says

    Looks awesome!! You never cease to inspire me :-)
    Random–but where do ya’ll keep your kitchen sink sponges/scrub brushes? I feel like mine clutter up my sink. Everything looks so tidy in the photos!

    Reply

  20. Barbara says

    It looks really nice. I have a question about your paint color…. Im thinking of painting my office BM Moonshine…but when I see it at the store it looks like it has a green base. Your photos don’t look green at all. What is it like in person? Does it have a hint of green?
    Thank You.

    Reply

  21. Heather says

    My hubby and I are flying to Portland (from TX) this week too!! We’ve never been there either, and we are super excited. He has an interview for a pharmacy residency position on Friday, so we’ll be heading up on Thursday. I so wish I could be there on Wednesday for the show and meet you guys! Y’all will do great, I’m sure.

    Reply

  23. Alyssa says

    I wasn’t going to comment because I’m sure you have a lot going on today to prepare and reading/approving another comment takes time, but I wanted to let you know that Dallas (as you may remember shares a birthday with Clara) and went on his first flight at 11 months, and was on another flight in January. He was out cold 20-ish minutes in to the longer flights (awake during the connecting flights which were only 20 minutes total since we unfortunately couldn’t get direct flights any time we flew). Even though each child is different I’m sure between snacks, movies, and burning off some energy in the airport while waiting, Clara will do great! But I’ll be thinking of you guys as you fly across country and hope that Clara sleeps like a champ for ya!! By the way, Dallas has a hard time sleeping well like he does at home when we are away, how does Clara do?

    I must also say that I’m surprised you didn’t just take the week off of comment reading/approving/responding for the week, have some pre- planned posts go up on their own and spend countless hours catching up when you return! I would have done that, but that may be why you are the very successful bloggers and I’m not!!

    And PS: I really like the light, I bet that feels great to have checked off your list of things to do befo you leave:)

    Enjoy Portland!!! It’s beautiful:) and tax free shopping is just over the beautiful bridge into Washington state!!! YES!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks Alyssa! Clara does ok sleeping in other places (usually slightly shorter naps and waking up about an hour or two earlier in the morning, but still a nice solid night’s sleep). Here’s hoping!

      xo,
      s

    • Em says

      Tax free shopping? I live in the Portland area and Oregon doesn’t have sales tax, though I think Washington does…

    • Alyssa says

      Sorry about the confusion with the sales tax thing and my reply comment was actually about Clara’s sleep schedule, not to the sales tax comments, after I read my reply I thought, “well I don’t sound very nice do I?” but it wasn’t intended for the commenters, just back to S’s original reply:)

  24. Katie @ StrawbridgeStuff.com says

    Very nice! I’d love a new fixture over our sink but for now I’m happy with the little kitchen makeover I just completed thanks to all your tips on cabinet painting! I’d love for you to check it out…thanks for the inspiration!

    xo, katie – strawbridgestuff.com

    Reply

    • Katie @ StrawbridgeStuff.com says

      Thanks Sherri! Luckily we didn’t have to change anything structurally, so the budget was pretty under control. Of course, that amount doesn’t include all the fun decorating items I want to buy now that I’m happy with the kitchen basics….not to mention my dream – new appliances. Easy to go overboard, no? Haha.

  25. Kelley says

    Don’t forget to breath and speaking slower than you normally do. This will help keep you from passing out. Trust me, passing out in front of a group of people while you’re speaking is quite embarrassing.

    Reply

  27. Susan says

    I love the kitchen – It turned out so awesome! However, you need to spray paint that dishwasher stainless steel color so it looks like it matches.. Just my two cents, which of course you didn’t ask for, but I felt compelled to give.

    Have a great trip.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, check out the post! We actually mentioned that we installed our new stainless steel dishwasher this weekend! Just have to shoot pics and write that post up!

      xo,
      s

  29. Shannon says

    Sherry & John – your kitchen turned out SO incredibly amazing! It’s beautiful and you should be very proud. Thanks for taking us through every step of the way. You have a lot to celebrate between the kitchen and the wrap of your book photo shoot!

    Reply

  30. Carley says

    The silhouette of the light is perfect in that area. Love the contrast with the lights over the peninsula.

    Totally off topic, but I saw a pin on pinterest this weekend with a white on white kitchen, a shiny penny tile, and a light turquoise ceiling. It was amazing! I instantly wondered what your kitchen would look like with a painted ceiling! Ha!

    Reply

  31. Karen F says

    Love it – so pretty! I can’t get enough of mercury glass. And I love the “use what you have” mentality.

    I didn’t ORB anything this weekend, but FINALLY got started on my frame wall (taped the newspaper templates to the wall to decide on positioning). I need a few more frames to balance it all out, then we’ll be in business!

    Also, my mom had a mirror that she was getting rid of, and she asked me if I wanted it. It’s not my style, but I was all like “I could totally spray paint that and it would look awesome” (false bravado inspired by YHL).

    Reply

  32. Alix says

    Such a terrific feeling, to snag a fixture already owned and make it work! Have a great week; hope life calms down a teeny bit for you (just enough to catch your breath, even!) when you come home! xo

    Reply

  33. Whitney Dupuis says

    Wow, LOVE the light fixture. You guys really have all the luck finding amazing pieces for nothing! Send some of that luck my way, would ya?!

    Good luck speaking this week. I know you guys will be amazing and I really wish I could attend.

    Reply

  34. Melissa says

    Darn…so bummed you guys are speaking on a Wednesday!! I am 2 hours north of Portland and wish I could see you guys, but can’t on a work day. Enjoy Portland..such a fun city!!

    Reply

  35. Heidi says

    I got an email about the home & garden show and when I opened it…there were your faces! I’m hoping to make it Wednesday. When you’re here (should you ever have a spare second) you should try Muddy’s Coffeehouse on Mississippi Ave. for breakfast – it’s phenomenal and so very Portland (and kid friendly). And directly across the street from Muddy’s is The Rebuilding Center – a glorious place where you can buy reclaimed house items. Everything from vintage doorknobs to old church pews. It’s like the Habitat ReStore on steroids. When Portlanders to demo they send anything salvagable to this store. You will be in awe. Have a great trip! Hope to meet you Wednesday!

    Reply

  36. Kristi says

    So excited you are almost here! Can’t wait to see you, Wednesday! The Register link on your page isn’t working, would you pretty please work your magic and fix it? I am not sure how to register if I don’t use that link and I really want to see you! = ) THANKS!! Have a great trip!

    Kristi

    Reply

  37. Izabela says

    Hello from Portland! The city awaits you and I hope to see you at the Home and Garden show! I have been following your blog for the past four years and it has been a pleasure following your projects and getting to know your family! Have a wonderful time in Portland!

    Reply

  38. Lindsey says

    Good luck flying tomorrow! I think I will be there on Wednesday night. I’ll be the big huge pregnant lady. I hope the weather is okay for you all. It’s supposed to rain so you’ll get the real Portland experience! Yay!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Wahoo! I’ll probably be the awkward girl inexplicably rubbing your belly, or doing something else that my brain is screaming “Don’t do that, it’s weird!!!”

      xo,
      s

  40. elaine says

    So glad you were able to make the pendant work as it’s just gorgeous! And I agree, it really ties everything together and I love how it matches without being ‘matchy match’. I also agree with you that it looks better with ORB accents.
    Have a great trip and I’m sure you will do great! :)

    Reply

  41. Jana says

    Wow! you are coming to my stomping grounds! There are so many beautiful places to see and WONDERFUL places to eat! I hope you enjoy yourselves.

    p.s. the pendant looks great!

    Reply

  43. diana says

    !. Looks totally great. I love that it is not identical to the peninsula ones, I like breakers of the rhythm, it’s going together but not matchy-matchy. There are also other breakers in your kitchen, and they make the dynamic of the room.
    @. May I assume the balance of the stainless steel? He, he, I mentioned it a few posts ago, in a comment, so I may very well assume the ownership, if I please (pretty please?)
    #. Glad glad glad for you for Oregon. I don’t understand half of the hints you drop, as I live far away, but do I understand correctly that it’s the first time that you are invited to an event this scale? Grand!
    All in all, great post!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, thanks Diana! Yes, ownership is all yours since you mentioned the whole balance thing first! We didn’t realize until we saw the stainless dishwasher installed how nice that balance was! Can’t wait to share!

      xo,
      s

  45. Lindsey says

    I live in Portland but I think I’m the only person in the city who dislikes Portlandia! :) That said, it’s a lovely place to live: totally second the suggestions for Powell’s and Por Que No? (There are a couple locations.)

    If it’s nice and you feel up for a walk, the waterfront is a great 3-mile loop from the Hawthorne bridge to the Steel bridge and back. Some great shops along there too. The Chinese Garden is also beautiful and they have a little tea shop inside that you can stop at for “traditional” tea. Have a great time, guys!!

    Reply

  46. Kelly says

    Next time head slightly north to Seattle! I’d love to come meet you guys!

    BTW-Portland is amazing too. Must go to VooDoo Donuts and Mother’s Bistro & Bar, best food ever!

    Reply

  47. Erin says

    We hung the same light above our sink. Don’t you love it?! It fancied up our kitchen and I love leaving it on at night and seeing it from the backyard. It is so pretty at night.

    Great idea to ‘paint’ it the same color as your other pendants. I like that finish a lot and how it makes the black cord blend into the fixtures.

    OH – and what a great steal on the price. I wish we have a PB outlet closer to where I live.

    Enjoy Portland.

    Reply

  49. Alisha says

    I am so excited to attend your meet and greet on wednesday! Please don’t be nervous because anyone who is attending knows how awesome your blog is and won’t be judging. We are there to support you not put you down. I hope you all have safe travels and am honored to be able to meet the best blogging family ever!

    Reply

  50. Liz says

    I think you’ll like Portland! Remember there’s no sales tax in Oregon! If you’re into shopping for clothes, there’s an amazing outlet mall in woodburn, about 30 minutes south on 1-5. Enjoy your trip!

    Reply

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