I fell in love with Ballard Designs Valletta Candle Sconce a long time ago and it has never left my mind. The hand chiseled wood and gold accents is swoon worthy! However, the $229.00 price tag is not. While thrifting a few weeks ago I caught the eye of this beauty…ok well it was more of an eye sore. The weathered wood, wobbly hook and years of neglect made it nothing more than a piece of junk. BUT I knew what it could look like! And for $1.99? No question, it had to come home with me!
I grabbed a few items I had on hand. Rust-Oleum chalk paint, Valspar Antiquing Wax, Valspar Sealing Wax and FolkArt acrylic paint in Driftwood.
This entire project took me less than 10 minutes! Easiest DIY ever.
First I painted the entire thing with a coat of the chiffon chalk paint. Then I brushed on a little bit of the driftwood acrylic paint over the top. And – no I did not wait for the chalk paint to dry…I am a very impatient DIY-er 🙂
After that I took some cheese cloth and I rubbed on a little antiquing wax all over. If you have never used antiquing wax let me say this so you can hear me A LITTLE BIT GOES A LONG WAY! At $25/can it seems this is steep. However, I have used this same can for almost 4 years on MANY projects. All you need is a tiny dab and then immediately wipe off if you are trying to achieve a slight weathered look.
After the antiquing wax, I immediately brushed on a few light strokes of the chalk paint and rubbed excess off as soon as I brushed so I could see the antiquing wax through the stokes. Again, I did not wait for any drying time in between these steps.
The last step was actually unplanned. The original plan was to leave the metal black. However, I did not like the contrast with the new weathered look at all. So I decided to soften it a bit. To do this, all I did was mix some products (Liquid Leaf, Rust-Oleum Champagne Mist, and the same chalk paint) I had on hand in a paper bowl and dry brushed on the metal. Again, just like the wood I immediately wiped down with a rag so the product wasn’t too harsh.
The Ballard Design Valletta sconce is still on my wish list. But I am glad it inspired me to grab this because it is the perfect size for the wall in our newly renovated Master Bathroom!
This is one of the reasons I love thrifting so much. I love being inspired by pieces and being able to bring one of a kind items into our home!
I hope you enjoyed this months thrift store blog hop! Make sure to check out the other ladies & their thrifted goodie transformations.
