REPAIRING & PAINTING A BROKEN VINTAGE STAINED GLASS LIGHT FIXTURE

REPAIRING & PAINTING A BROKEN VINTAGE STAINED GLASS LIGHT FIXTURE  

If you have a vintage decorative glass light fixture and one of the glass parts gets broken, don't panic!  You can repair it.  Here is how I helped repair this one.

The large globe on this fixture was broken. 

 My client felt fortunate that she found a replacement globe that fit, exactly.

  It's a globe for the kind of light fixture that fits against the ceiling.  You probably recognize it. 

 You can find the replacement globes at hardware stores.

I brought several colors of paint with me and sat on the floor beneath the fixture, so I could see and match the colors exactly.  This new globe was a milky white opaque, not clear, so I had to work on the outside of it.  I primed, painted a base coat and used a rag and a brush to work the colors.  I sealed it with a low sheen clear coat to match the finish on the other pieces of glass. 

Also, the sealer helps protect the new finish.  

We, carefully, put it in the fixture.  And, it matched!! 

This is the ceiling above the light fixture.  Faux painted/trompe l'oeil bricks.

I love this house!!  It's one of my most favorite houses that I've worked in.  

The landscaping was sooo special and the interior was, too.  So unique!

One of the glass sections of this candle fixture was broken.  My client brought to me the fixture and a clear piece of glass already cut to fit.  I worked with my brush and a rag to match the colors and existing technique.  This time I worked on the inside of the glass because the other indvidual pieces were shiny glass on the outside.  My finished colors are a little lighter than the other pieces.

Once the soot from the burning candle starts staining, the colors will match even better.

If your decorative glass fixture gets broken, look at it carefully and try to figure out how it was painted the first time.  Choose your colors and technique, then start painting.  If you think you've messed up, use a razor blade, scrape the paint off and start over.  You can do it!!