I’ve been so excited to share today’s post with you. I’ve been working on this project for a couple weeks now. Not that it took that long to do, but it did require a little planning.

Before going any further, I must apologize because clearly the only creative thing my brain can come up with these days involves gold, candlesticks, or both. I promise that my brain will soon move beyond this type of project. In the meantime, please just enjoy these pretty candlesticks. (Plus, technically these aren’t gold, they are brass, so maybe I’m off the hook.)

Gorgeous, right? I can’t even. I was also so excited to set these up against my new wall color. It really made them pop!

You have probably noticed that gold and brass are back in a big way in home decor. I am completely obsessed with gold and couldn’t be more excited. Today I’m sharing a tutorial for an insanely easy way to give boring brass candlesticks new life with a little color. Plus, if you’re not so keen on brass yet (notice I said YET), this allows you to ease into the look with a little color for a modern touch.

Let me walk you through what I did.

Paint Dipped Brass Candlesticks

You will need:
brass candlesticks
spray paint (primer and color)
Bartender’s Friend Cleanser
brass polish

First, you’ll need brass candlesticks. Check your local thrift shop if you don’t already have some. I paid $.50 – $2.00 for each of mine. Not too shabby. I actually found all of them on eBay. More on that after the tutorial.

Most older brass candlesticks are designed so that each section screws off. I’m not sure why this was done, but it made this project that much easier. I decided to paint just the bottoms of my candlesticks for a dipped-in-paint-look. So, I began by unscrewing all of the bases. If for some reason your bases don’t screw off, just cover the areas you don’t want painted with painter’s tape.

Next, spray the bases with primer. I did the bottoms as well so that everything was covered. This really makes it look as if it was actually dipped in paint. Once everything is primed and dry, add your color. I used Krylon’s ColorMaster Satin paint in pistachio and jade.

As I always say with spray painting, take your time. Multiple thin coats will give you a much better look than one thick coat.

While your paint dries, polish the other parts of your brass candlesticks. I prefer brass to be as clean and shiny as possible. If you would rather have a nice patina, skip this step.

Start by scrubbing everything with Bartender’s Friend. Then follow the instructions on your brass polish to give the candlestick parts a really good shine. The combination of these two things will have your brass looking like gold!

Once everything is dry, screw the painted parts back onto the polished pieces and you are finished!

Now, tell me these don’t look sensational!

As I mentioned above, I’m especially loving the whole collection against my freshly painted fireplace wall. The color combination literally gives me goosebumps. This is a great project too because it’s completely customizable. You can paint whatever part of the candlestick you’d like with whatever color you want. I’m already thinking about making a few more – pink and red for the holidays.

I found all of these vintage brass candlesticks on eBay. You have probably noticed that I’ve been finding a lot of inspiration for my decor and designs from eBay. Remember all of the Christmas goodies I bought?

Recently I developed over 20 collections via eBay in an effort to inspire myself. I also wanted to give you an idea of where I find some of my treasures and why certain pieces stand out to me. I often read in the comments that people have difficulty finding pieces like I do. My goal was to bring these pieces to you.

I also have three collections to help deck the halls this holiday season.  For this post, I have a collection of brass candlesticks, plus details on the cleaner and polish I used to get these pieces sparkling like diamonds! Beyond that, you’ll see so many other things that are IBC-inspired, including vintage glassware, must-have crafting supplies, air plants, and much much more! If you’re looking for inspiration or just wondering how I get inspired, this is one of the places to visit.

You can check out all of my collections here. You can follow along to keep up-to-date when I post new items or collections. How cool is that?! I’d love to know which one is your favorite or if there is a particular collection you’d like to see me curate. Let me know in the comments below.

I hope you loved this quick and easy tutorial and have been inspired to give it a try.