Outdoor lights makeover

/ TakeTimetoCreate
So, I got these outdoor lights from a guy on Craigslist for free. Free is always nice, but there is a price to pay. They were very dirty and needed a coat of paint, very badly! I have been wanting to change out our outdoor lights for a while now, but my DH did not want to spend any money on it. So this is our solution.  At this point I have no idea if they even work… 
Here they are before the makeover, pretty bad! (sorry the lighting on the picture is not great, these were taken in my kitchen, in the spot with not a lot of light)

Close ups, pretty dirty. They need a lot of TLC.

I took them apart, carefully. I didn’t know what condition they were in. I turns out the glass is still good and all the parts are there and everything is in tact. I have high hopes that these will turn out ok! As you can see from the various photos the colors are all different, this is not a trick of light, they really were different colors. The sun had faded some and not as much on others.

Once they were thoroughly cleaned and dried it was time to spray paint them. I used Rustoelum oil rubbed bronze (my favorite color of spray paint) I used the one with paint and primer in it. So a few coats later I was done, don’t they look much better? I love the color and finish, I know they will look great! So excited to install them.

But before we can install them the old lights have to come down. Yuck, old brass coach lights that have seen better days. I am so excited to take these down! I have plans for them in the future…

Yah!! our new light is installed, and it works, whew! I was a little worried about that, but no need, everything worked perfectly! I looks wonderful!
I got a total of 5 lights, but I only needed 3. I have plans for the other 2, stay tuned…

Lessons learned:

  1. Make sure the light is cleaned inside and out!
  2. If you can check to see if it works before you hang it. That way you don’t go through the trouble of cleaning, painting, and hanging only to find out that it doesn’t work.

2 thoughts on “Outdoor lights makeover”

  1. Just saw this post and I want to repaint my lights from the front porch. Not sure my glass comes out.
    What did you use to clean the lights? Wire brush, solvent, soap and water? Thanks, I appreciate your time.
    Betty Stine

    Like

    Reply

  2. To clean them I used a TSP cleaner that I picked up from Home Depot and regular glass cleaner for the glass. I just used a sponge that had a scour pad on it and paper towels. I didn't want to scrub too hard and ruin it but I did want it to come clean.

    I think you might be able to paint it with glass still in. I haven't tried that, but if you mask really well it might work.

    And, I have had mine up since October and they still look great. The paint it holding up really well!

    Good luck on your project, I would love to see a picture when you are done!

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment