Back the summer of 2010 I lost my job. It’s a long story that we won’t get in to but I had about 6 weeks of nothing to do as I was waiting for school to start up again so I could have a job in the field I preferred. That meant a lot of time at home with no money. That meant a lot of time staring at a house that was sadly in need of updating (still does, really). It was then that I fell in love with spray paint. It’s just such a cheap way to update old items.
The very first spray painting project that I did was upcycling a ceiling fan. The fan in our kitchen/dining room was an old 1990s style with brass and brass colored paint making a design on the light brown fan blades. I hated it but there was no way we could afford to replace it. By painting it, I was able to take it from old and dated to fresh and modern.
(I didn’t take a before picture but this other fan in my house is incredibly similar to how this one was before I painted it.)
How I Did It
I did do a little more work than just paint it. To update the fan I needed: 3 cans of spray paint (silver, brown, and black), a nylon brush, a small paint brush, and two new chain pulls.
I took down the fan blades and the metal cover that goes against the ceiling. I did not take down the entire fan as that involved electricity and writing the fan back up when I was done. I didn’t want to mess with that.
I spray painted all the metal pieces silver. For the part of the fan that was still attached to the ceiling, I sprayed some paint into a plastic cup and used the small paint brush. For the fan blades, I first painted them black. When that dried, I sprayed on the brown. Before the brown could dry, I ran a nylon brush down the blade. This gave it a bit of a wood grain look. That is why it was important to spray them black first. The black shows through a little where the nylon brush was.
What Did It Cost
Once everything was dry and reassembled, I added the new chain pulls. With drying time, the whole project only took a day. We already had black spray paint and I used the cheapest brown paint (I used the metal look silver paint) so the cost was about $13.
Check out this #frugal home update for only $13! Click To TweetI’ve considered doing another fan that is incredibly out of date (the “before” picture) but that fan is never used. It is located in my entry way and it is very difficult to reach the pull cords. Plus, because it is over split level stairs, it is very difficult to reach to paint. We have plans to just replace it with a pendent light instead. I have considered replacing the fan that I painted but frankly, there’s no need! The frugal fix has it looking so nice, it will only get replaced when it no longer works.
I love being able to update things around the home frugally! And paint does such an amazing job at helping with those tasks!
Kadie @ 12 twenty 8 recently posted…August Flexi-of-the-Month
Absolutely! I may have a slight obsession with paint. 😉
That is such a great idea, it turned out beautifully. I’m not a particular fan of ceiling fans, so if I can update them and make them look better – – maybe i’ll make an exception!!
Leah Sannar recently posted…How I Basically Threw $1,700 Out Into The Street
I’m so glad you shared the idea of spraying paint in the cup and using a brush to paint the part attached to the ceiling. Our dining room fan/light looks hideous! I have been wanting to paint it, but didn’t want to do any electrical work, and also didn’t want to spray paint into the motor. Now I can finally update our fan. Thanks so much!
Emily recently posted…Family Time in Tennessee
What a great fix!! And only $13 it looks like a completely different fan
Thanks!
Looks great! Did you have to sand the blade before painting it?
I didn’t. I’m horrible at remembering to sand things first! But it’s been 7/8 years and it still looks great!