Antique Gold Leaf 12 Light Chandelier - Painted Over!!!!

Someone out there would probably want to kill me if I told them that I painted over gold leaf. But, yep, I did just that.

I got this here old antique chandelier from the little old man that my other halfs mother takes care of. He had it hanging in his basement from a nail hook for over 60 years, and told me that if I could get it down, I could have it.

I had no clue what sort of condition it was in, or if it was even something I wanted, but he was so adamant about giving it to me that I of course took it upon myself to go and have a look.

It was unfortunately wrapped underneath a burlap sack, so I had no clue what it looked like till I got it down and unwrapped the old dusty burlap from it.

At any rate, the story I got was that he purchased it in the 1950's for $500. After unwrapping it and taking a glimpse at it, I was impressed, and knew that all it needed was some dusting. The thing was so old and untouched that the crystals on it were literally so dirty they looked frosted.

I cleaned it up, and took a look at it. The chandelier was stunning, but I simply cannot stand the gold color, and I knew it would not at all match the darker black, red and white hues going on in my parlor.

After some serious debating, and realizing this chandelier was worth quite a bit of money- according to ebay, people are buying these old things way over the $1,000 mark. I decided I would paint over the gold leaf.

Yup, cringe now.

I don't care though. I had no intentions of selling it, because I loved it so much. It took me a bit of time, but the chandelier

now hangs proudly in my home, and it really is quite the stunner. The photos just couldn't even do its beauty justice.