Let There Be (New) Lights

Did you ever get so fed up with something that you just jumped right in to change it....without reading ALL the directions and getting uber informed? 

Errr...uhm...I may be just a teeny bit guilty of this.  The shiny brass lights on my home just weren't so shiny anymore and after reading blog after blog about how easy it would be to paint them, I just jumped right in!  Armed with sandpaper, primer and paint I was all set...right?  Not so.  There's this little item of latex paint/primer and oil paint/primer and the little slice of information about not being able to use one of each on the same project.  Somehow I missed that.

 The first attempt started out well. Clearcoat sanded off - check! Primer on - check!  Then I painted and it all bubbled up. This is happening 4 days before I'm leaving the state for a vacation no less. Now I had to strip it all off...all those little tiny pieces because rather than just tape off the glass, I had to be a perfectionist.  Yes, we took the lights apart...sigh...and didn't take pictures. So off it all came.  Tried priming and painting again because I figured all the clearcoat hadn't been removed.  Guess what?  Yeah, had to strip them again!  Ack! "Think! Think!" My neighbor mentioned the oil versus latex dilemma.  Ah HAH!

A quick run to Walmart. Thank God for Krylon products. I picked up indoor/outdoor primer, paint and clearcoat. Additionally, thanks to my friend, Linda, I had some deglosser ( this stuff will always be on hand now). And then it was time for me to visit sunny Florida. I so appreciate my friend, Darlene, who decided to stay in town and house & cat sit for me. Her quick week in Connecticut turned into 2 weeks. She took on the task of applying the deglosser, painting (no primer needed with the deglosser) & clearcoating while I was gone and when I returned?  Perfection!  Well, at least the painted job!.

Now we just had to reassemble the lights. Again, Darlene to the rescue.  We went to my neighbor's house and took pics of her lights in the pouring rain, came back and an hour or two later we had them all put back together.

The following day, we shut off the main breaker (I have a rule about no blood, no police, no ambulances, no firetrucks at my house - came into law after the one & only ambulance ride with my son).  Oh my gosh, I'm in love with them! They no longer blend in and no more tarnish. Over a month later, we've had a mini-heat wave and crazy amounts of rain. So far they're still holding up! Sure, someday I'll change them to something I really love, but that's not high on the priority list now.

I thank God for that little rebellious streak in me that allows me to just jump in even when I don't have all the info I need even when I think I do.  He supplies everything I need...like truly wonderful friends who'll jump in with me and just shake their heads at me thinking, "Here we go again!"

Now for the "Wineberry" shutters and storm door! (And Krylon has a product called Plastic Fusion!)