Without a doubt, my absolute favourite thrift store (Salvation Army) find this month was a Hurricane Lantern Ceiling fixture. After a quick inspection in the store of the wiring, the frame and the glass it was a go! The only pieces this lantern was missing were the hardware covers that go on right under the bulb. The lantern was priced at $19.99, which if any of you have hit a lighting store lately, this was a great find.

With a few alteration’s, I knew this fixture would look fantastic in my dining room.

The black and copper metal frame of the lantern did not suit my decor and I felt looked a little flimsy, so I was off to the hardware store to purchase some spray paint. Now there are a multitude of colours and textures of spray paint on the market and your choice is not limited to whats on the shelf as some stores are able to make a spray paint in any colour you wish. With all these choices available, I went waaaay…out there and got…brown. Boring, boring, boring I know, but I was after an old world feel in my dining room and I found the heaviness of this textured spray paint added both weight and dimension to the metal pieces of this lantern.

I also needed to grab the pieces to cover the lighting hardware. I was hoping for metal, but they were special order so I decided for a couple of bucks, I would try the white plastic covers first and see how they turned out. In the end, they were fine and once in place, you would never guess they did not come with the Fixture.

To paint the plastic tubes, I created a spraying station. I grabbed a chunk of wood, drilled a few holes and then screwed in a few bolts. Pop the plastic tubes over the bolts and voila, spray away.

I waited for a nice clear day and did all my spraying outside. This is the downside of spray paint. The fumes are awful so do it outside if possible. If not, make sure you have loads of ventilation. Just say’n, take care of those lungs. They’re fairly vital.

I had an extra metal extension piece (connects the fixture to the ceiling plate) from my previous light fixture so I ditched the chain that came with the Lantern and used the metal rod instead. Although I already had this piece, I originally purchased it at a local lighting store (McLaren Lighting), where they are available in various colours and lengths.

If using a metal rod, you MUST measure! Things to take into account are how high you would like the fixture to be from the table top, how long the fixture itself is and the depth of the ceiling plate. From this information you should get a clear idea of how long your metal rod needs to be and order accordingly. The chain is much more flexible as far as hanging goes, but in this case, I liked the clean simple lines of the metal rod and I had it, so why not!

Over the years I have sprayed fixtures in a high gloss white, a rubbed bronze, a black and a bright blue. All of these turned out to be exactly what I was shooting for so if you come across a second hand light fixture with great bones to be afraid to grab it and let your imagination go wild….or simply….go brown!