Bathroom lighting before…yikes!

Bad before picture…the door is new and the trim isn’t up yet…but you see the old outdated gold brass light fixture. We have total of 3 of these light fixtures in our house. Blech! (Notice the pedestal sink too. I mention more about it later.)

New bathroom lighting!

The vanity light is the most expensive transformation in this room since we’re keeping existing bathroom fixtures. But it was so worth it. (For installation: I traced the base and made a pattern on paper so it could be taped to the wall and the holes would be perfectly aligned. Mr. DIY just drilled through the paper marks. It worked! Easy installation, no measuring…just used a level to make sure the pattern was level before drilling!)

Don’t they look gorgeous with the freshly painted stripes? (More on painting stripes in this post, if you missed it.)

Then…the sink. We’re keeping the pedestal sink. It’s pretty. It’s in like-new condition although I’m certain it is fairly old and I kind of like that it has a history. It stays until big dream-remodel occurs. However the faucets presented a dilemma. Look at the set up. One faucet for cold. A separate faucet for hot. Washing hands is a challenge. It requires a back and forth motion between faucets or hoping that the hot water isn’t instant. Or, using the stopper and filling the basin to get a sink full of warm water. I imagine original home owners used it that way. I looked to replace them…but I didn’t have any luck in finding separate hot/cold faucets. Now I’m kind of glad that I didn’t.

The old faucets are solid and silver. I’m guessing these things are old. I tried looking them up. They say “volverwine”. There is an old “Wolverine” brand. ? They’re heavy and the quality is awesome. I however want oil rubbed bronze to match other fixtures in the room. I decided that my old trusty favorite DIY magic transformation technique (spray painting) was the answer.

I tested the process on a gold brassy door stop. I loved the results.
This is my all time favorite spray painting project so far!

(At this point…they looked beautiful and polished. I almost backed out but I felt like silver faucets and oil rubbed bronze everywhere else just didn’t “go together”. I found the courage to move on. I think it was when I dreamt of wearing brown boots with black pants.)

I washed and dried them and I taped off the areas I didn’t want painted and put the knobs in the “off” position so I wouldn’t gum up the opening/closing function.

I start by painting the underneath and sides. Each piece got a couple of lightly sprayed coats of Rustoelum Primer in “rust”. I let each coat dry at least 8 hours before applying another. Once the underside was done, I flipped and did the top and sides.

I used a piece of packing styrofoam to hold them upright.

I followed the same steps for the oil rubbed bronze spray paint. (Upside down and sides = light coats, then flip and top and sides = light coats). Once that was dry…

I used a high gloss lacquer and the same steps. It’s been drying for about a week. It’ll probably two weeks by the time all is said and done and ready for installation. Plenty of time to cure. The sink isn’t back in place but I can’t wait to see them!

This piece was easier painted when hanging.
After:



Here is it against the porcelain:

I LOVE how they turned out. What do you think? The finish is very hard and durable. The faucets open/close without any issues. And now they match the door knobs and light fixtures. I’m happy!

Edited to answer questions: