Faux Mercury-Aged-Metallic Finish

Just like any good project here at LCH, this one starts out as a fail.

I’m sure if you’ve been trolling Pinterest at all, you’ve seen the tutorials for faux mercury glass involving spray bottles and Looking Glass spray paint. So when I finally decided (after what, 2 years?) to paint the lamp next to the couch, I knew I had to give that process a go. The only problem? The lamp isn’t glass.

Yeah, ok…minor details. I figured maybe I could try it anyway, I mean I really had nothing to lose.

I couldn’t find the Looking Glass paint, so I bought the shiniest Chrome I could find. I’m sure there is a reason you’re supposed to use mirror paint, but you know I was trying to do this like rightnow. I believe you can get the paint on Amazon, if you are a patient person who plans. Alas I am not.

After cleaning the lamp and taping up the important parts, I began the method of spritzing on water, painting, then dabbing. At first I thought it might work, but then I realized that because I didn’t have the clear glass underneath, I wasn’t getting the right look. It just looked like a shiny metal lamp.

I brought it inside, and it was just really too bright and “new” looking for the space. When all else fails, paint and re-paint. I got some dark brown and black craft paint from my stash, along with some gray metallics (from my hutch paint job). Armed with a sponge brush and a crumpled plastic grocery bag, I painted and dabbed my way from chrome-tastic to nicely aged.