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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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August 20, 2014

Repurposed Carriage Light

Good morning, At the Picket Fence friends! Redheaded Julie here with my “Repurposed Carriage Light”.

Last Summer, my Dad and I took down these rather nautical looking carriage lights from our front porch.

Repurposed Carriage Light Fixture

They still worked fine, but they looked really old and dirty. I was going to clean them and put them back up, but I opted for new ones because these were really looking bad. The wires looked worn out too, so they were becoming a fire hazard.

You see…we have a ton of trees which bring a ton of bugs to the exterior of our home. In fact, I spent last night brushing off all of our porch light fixtures. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many bugs and cobwebs. I love the trees, but they can be a nuisance.
I put the old carriage lights down in our basement and forgot about them. Until last month, I decided to bring one out and give it new life.

Repurposed Carriage Light Redhead Can Decorate

I knew it would make a cute rustic candle for our back yard.
I may bring it in and hang it in our kitchen because I love it so much.

Pretty Repurposed Carriage Light
I only had to do a couple things to turn this baby into a candle. First, I cleaned it off with a wet rag and pulled out the wires. Then, I painted it white with Behr Ultra Paint.

The color is Swiss Coffee. I wanted it to look rustic, so I sanded the edges with sand paper. Lastly, I had to figure out how to get a candle in there where it would get enough oxygen to stay lit. That’s when I tried a ball jar band and lid. Lucky for me, they fit the bottom perfectly. I used clear silicone caulk to glue the band in place. (The band to the lid is in there nice and snug, but the lid cap is removable-for use later.)

Repurpose Carriage Light by redheadcandecorate.com

When the silicone dried, I put a candle inside on top of the lid and tested it. The candle didn’t stay lit for long, it needed more air. So, we decided to drill holes in the top of the light fixture and in the lid for extra air flow.

Whew! It worked.

Drilled Air Holes

Repurposed Light Fixture

We have friends over for bonfires on occasion, so this was perfect for our back yard. While playing around with this “Repurposed Carriage Light”, I came up with a couple more ways to use it. As I mentioned earlier, the lid is removable.

This came in very handily for other ideas I had for this carriage light. I’m sharing those ideas this Friday on redheadcandecorate.com.

Hope to see you there!

By the way, here’s the new carriage lights.

What do you think?

(this was our porch last Halloween-I’m still in Summer mode)

halloween front porch 2013

Repurposed Carriage Light Redhead Can Decorate

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kerry Purcell says

    August 20, 2014 at 4:24 AM

    What a great idea. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Julie says

      August 20, 2014 at 1:48 PM

      Thank you, Kerry!

      Reply
  2. Anne@DesignDreams says

    August 20, 2014 at 4:29 AM

    Super pretty Julie! and congrats on being a contributor too!!

    Reply
    • Julie says

      August 20, 2014 at 1:49 PM

      Hi Anne! Thank you, so much! Hope you are doing well!

      Reply
  3. Joanne says

    August 20, 2014 at 7:56 AM

    Oh, I have to get my hands on a similar old porch light. I love the new lighter colour. It’s adorable with a candle.
    This would look nice in a Christmas arrangement inside, as well. Looking forward to your post on other uses come Friday.
    Nice to meet you, Julie. I’ll have to hop on over to your site and check on your other ideas.

    Reply
    • Julie says

      August 20, 2014 at 1:50 PM

      Great idea, Joanne!

      Reply
  4. Melvina@MySpringValleyHome says

    August 20, 2014 at 8:01 AM

    It looks great. What a good idea. I will be replacing my porch lights, now I’m thinking of ways I could use the old ones. I will check out your post on Friday.

    Reply
    • Julie says

      August 20, 2014 at 1:49 PM

      Thanks, Melvina…can’t wait!

      Reply
  5. AM Shield Corp says

    August 20, 2014 at 9:49 AM

    A repurposed carriage light?? You are so creative! Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply
  6. Marg says

    August 20, 2014 at 5:35 PM

    I am loving this for the light fixture

    Reply
    • Julie says

      September 5, 2014 at 6:36 PM

      Thanks, Marg!

      Reply
  7. Ann P. says

    August 23, 2014 at 7:08 PM

    A very ingenious idea!!!
    Ann P.

    Reply
    • Julie says

      September 5, 2014 at 6:35 PM

      That is quite a compliment, Ann! Thank you!!

      Reply
  8. Shirley@Housepitality Designs says

    August 25, 2014 at 7:32 PM

    Super cute idea!…love it!

    Reply
    • Julie says

      September 5, 2014 at 6:34 PM

      Thank you, Shirley!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Repurposed Old Carriage Light | Redhead Can DecorateRedhead Can Decorate says:
    August 22, 2014 at 10:24 AM

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