November 12, 2010

ORB lightswitches and vent covers


When I first started reading decorating blogs, I kept seeing the initials ORB and I had NO idea what they stood for.  Little did I know how those three little intials would change my life.....it has begun a love-affair with spray paint!

(I am sure that my neighbors think that I am absolutely INSANE.....the fumes from spray paint always lingering out from under the crack in the garage door that gives me a slight stream of fresh oxygen....the constant clanging of the metal ball in the can.....)

ORB stands for Oil-Rubbed Bronze and yes, it can change your life too.  Take for instance my vent covers and light switches....



After I finished my "fake" wainscoating in our hallway, I realized that my off-white light switches looked drab compared to the white bottom. So....Krylon's ORB to the rescue.



After a quick trip to our local True Value to see what their $8.00 switch plates look like, I realized that I could do it.

First...prime the switch plate with any Krylon primer.  I had a grey color left over so I used that.  Then....spray with Krylon ORB.  Because little fingers touch this plate alot, I sprayed it with a Krylon clear acrylic sealer.

Tip:  Do NOT drop it on the garage floor upside-down or it will look like THIS! (Oops!)


Go back to the hardware store, buy another switch plate and start over!


And the reveal.....




....it just completes the overall look that I wanted!!



I'm in the process of converting my boring brown...kind've starting to rust vent covers.....and they look GORGEOUS!!  

Here it is the ugly brown:


And with a dash of ORB:
You can't see the flecks and it's true color, but it's beautiful!

And really...even if they start to chip....what's the big deal to spray over it again!  It's SO much cheaper than buying a new one!!!

6 comments:

Alison Agnew said...

Looks lovely...I adore spray painting everything I can get my hands on. I even sprayed a fridge a few years ago.

Love the blog!

Kathy@DandelionsandDustBunnies said...

Never thought about spray painting the light covers. Great idea. Mine are still plain ole white.

Faith said...

I love that idea! So pretty! In our "new" house all the light switches and plates are yucky-country-drab-off-white or the plates are even yuckier country brown wood. I've bought some white plates, but then they look awful with the off white switches. My hubby is NEVER going to get around to changing all those switches...so this would make the difference less obvious and still get rid of those ugly plates! Thanks!

jennwilliams said...

thanks for inspiring me to be creative in "renovating" our kitchen. i was going to buy new outlet and switch covers, but after reading your ORB blog post I got some primer, paint, and sealer... and now my garage floor is covered in wet plates and the air has a wonderful spray paint scent. can't wait to see how they turn out.

Knitted_in_the_Womb said...

Ooo....did you need to prime the vent cover? We've got one on the floor of our breakfast nook--TERRIBLE place for it to be as it gets walked on all the time, and gets chairs pushed over it...so we've talked about replacing it. But that looks like a much more viable option.

BTW...last Christmas I bought a "new" (5 years old) Amana Fridge with freezer on the bottom for my sister off of Craig's list--$75. It was white, she wanted black...so we bought some black appliance spray paint...viola! $1000 fridge for less than $100! To think that when she wanted a black fridge with a freezer on the bottom I'd said to her "ummm...you'd better relax your expectations, because we can't afford that." God does provide!

Rachael said...

Saw you on the blog hop, I knew exactly what ORB was...I totally love it too!! I never thought about spraying my plates or vents, but now I might :)

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