So I wanted to bring this fun color into our home and once I found the perfect piece, this small campaign desk, off to the paint store I went to color match it!  Here’s the  desk I found at (of course) a thrift store for $40 – the hardware alone is worth that to me, but the added benefit was this desk with faux bamboo legs that would tuck nicely into the kids study/art/craft playroom.

Before:

After:

The desk was not real burled wood, but had a speckled and scratched surface, so painting it was an easy call.  I followed the same steps I’ve mentioned before, 1. Remove the hardware, 2.  Clean and scuff up the piece with a medium grit sanding wedge and 3. Prime with product designed for glossy surfaces (Zinsser is my fave).

Next, two coats of this fabulous paint!  I’ve wanted to try the Advance formula by Ben Moore and this desk was perfect candidate.  This enamel formula gives a harder finish like oil based paints but cleans up with water, I’ll definitely use it again – it comes in satin, semi-gloss and high gloss formulas.  No Floetrol needed, this paint is that good.

The color is a custom formula to match the bowl, but if you want two close matches, try ‘Grasshopper’ by Sherwin Williams or ‘Bunker Hill Green’ by Benjamin Moore.

Finally I scrubbed and polished the brass hardware and reattached it.

Now this fun Kelly green campaign desk sits in the kids’ playroom for art or homework.

I’m not alone in my love for this shade on campaign furniture, it’s been done before, so be sure to check out Emily’s campaign dresser and do you recall this set of green campaign dressers from Lonny magazine?  A gorgeous classic color!

Painted anything a bright fun color in your home lately?

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The character is divine and the movie sets are magnificent.  The apartment Mame lives in takes on a completely new and different look every few years based on her iridescent theatrical personality.  During the movie, viewers get to see six separate and completely different designs, and to quote Jonathan Adler, “Watching Auntie Mame is a right of passage for every aspiring decorator”.  For a full tour of the six different makeovers during the movie in Mame’s apartment, visit Julia’s post on 3 Beekman Place.

So I have a neighbor named Tatiana and we met eight years ago at my annual garage sale. Tatiana is the closest person to Auntie Mame I know. Up my driveway eight years ago she walked with her husband Miguel and Tatiana and I became instant friends.  When I first met her, her name was Jennie, but then she decided she wanted her name to be Tatiana because she preferred Tatiana so she legally changed her name to Tatiana.  At the age of 45.  I love that.

Tatiana is my Auntie Mame, she eats and drinks and decorates as she pleases all with a zest for life that’s rare these days.  She lives around the corner from me and we meet for coffee from time to time to catch up. She always wants to come to my house because she finds it so soothing, and I always want to go to her house because I find it so inspiring, so we take turns.  But on our last coffee visit I won and got the pleasure of visiting with her in her home.  

You can take in any room in my house in one glance, but hers? Oh my. It’s filled with her collection of precious things from the last twenty years scattered and displayed as she pleases. Walls painted in shades of saffron, muted turquoise, amethyst, and mustard yellow. Chinoiserie collections include everything from exotic screens to Chinese consoles, and she also displays eastern European objects from Turkish brass urns to Persian rugs, the list goes on.  She’s inherited some furniture from her grandmother, but acquired most of her collection through clever second hand shopping at thrift stores or flea markets.

Tatiana is a self taught artist too, and she showed me some of her recent pastel sketches, just beautiful.

Tatiana always makes me think about how important it is to decorate your home with what you love.  Even if it’s irreverent or unconventional, eccentric and colorful, if you love it, then do it, display it.  Life’s too short not to.

I’ve collected even more images of what I consider “Auntie Mame Style”.  These are interiors that are filled with art, pattern, and color to reflect the tastes and personalities of the residents.  

Miles Redd

Jonathan Adler in Lonny

via

via The Lennoxx

via Trendey

via Pinterest

via Harper’s Baazar

One of my favorite things to witness is when people decorate without care or concern for what others think and they mix pattern and color as they see fit. They decorate with wild abandon and to the beat of their own drum.  I applaud anyone who displays what he or she loves fearlessly, with no regard for what other’s think, by definition channeling their inner Auntie Mame. 

And shouldn’t we all?  Maybe not in the form of bright colors in every single space or layer upon layer of competing pattern or fishbowls hanging as fixtures in our entry. 

Instead, be inspired to fill your home with collections that are meaningful and important to you, irreverent or eccentric as they are.  Life’s too short not to. 

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In the past two weeks, I’ve fixed up two pieces, one dresser and one campaign desk, and both had brass hardware I wanted to reuse.  One set of hardware was real brass, the other brass plate, and both needed a good polish.

Over the last year, I’ve also narrowed down two great substitutes for faking the patina with other hardware that you want to give a golden glow.  If you’re curious how to tell the difference between real brass and brass plate, how to polish unlacquered brass, or how to fake the look of antique brass hardware, here’s how I do it.

Real brass is an alloy of copper and zinc and if it’s not lacquered, will tarnish with exposure to air over time.  There are two methods I use to bring back the mellow antiqued patina, one is Brasso if I have it on hand and the other is natural lemon juice and salt paste mixture.

But first, before you polish, you should know whether your hardware is real brass or brass plate.  Here’s the simple way to tell the difference.  Take a household magnet and see if it will stick to the piece, if it won’t that means the hardware is real brass, like these campaign pulls.

However, if the magnet picks up the hardware, then it’s brass plated (with steel or iron as its base).

Good old fashioned Brasso works well for cleaning off the tarnish, and I usually soak for about 20 to 30 minutes.

With real brass, I use a rag or extra fine steel wool to remove the tarnish.

You can also use a mixture of salt and lemon juice as a natural polish, use approximately ¼ cup of salt per squeeze of ½ lemon to make a paste.

Either one works great on either brass plate or real brass, just be sure to use a soft rag or soft toothbrush with brass plate and not steel wool, it can scratch the thin brass plating.

Lemon juice is acidic, so be sure to fully rinse and buff your brass hardware, and I’ve read that using a little olive oil on top will prolong the periods between polishing.

I find brass plated hardware is more stubborn for some reason and usually takes repeat soaks to bring it back to life but it can be done.

But if your brass plate doesn’t come back to life because it’s too corroded or you want to give it the patina of unlacquered brass, there are two products that will do just that.

Rub N’ Buff is a waxy metallic finish that comes in several golden shades such as Gold Leaf (depicted), but also look for Antique Gold and European Gold.  Krylon’s ‘Gold Leaf’ is the best metallic gold spray paint I’ve found to date to mimic brass or give you a warm golden glow on your hardware.

As you can see, both the Rub n’ Buff and Gold Leaf spray paint are pretty darn close to the real thing!

What about you?  Have you noticed the popularity of brass hardware on furniture lately?  Are you liking its resurgence?  Know any other natural formulas or products that are great for cleaning brass?  Do share!

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Eligibility to win the designer pillow up for grabs:

1)  Hop on over to visit the Pillow Collection and pick a favorite, then name it in a comment.

2) For a second chance to win, link to this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter, then leave a second comment naming where you linked (FB or Twitter).

One winner only, US and Canada only, up to a $270 value.  Giveaway ends Tuesday February 7, 2012 at 8 p.m. PST.  By entering this giveaway you agree to this site’s giveaway policy and Official Rules of Entry. 

**** Also Centsational Girl readers receive a 10% discount at through the end of February with the code CENTGIRL  – happy shopping!

Good luck and have a fabulous weekend!

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Typically I buy those store-bought packs of kid Valentines and attach a lollypop, but my daughter was asking for something a little more special for her besties.  I came up with this inexpensive paper treat box made from cardstock scrapbook paper and embellished it with washi tape.

They’ll be perfect for inserting a few sweet treats and a Valentine too.

To recreate, here’s what you’ll need:  11 x 11” cardstock scrapbook paper, scissors, double sided tape, measuring tape, pencil, washi or decorative tape, embellishments (optional).

First, fold your 11” x 11” scrapbook paper in half and cut into two 5½” x 11” strips.  With a measuring tape and pencil, mark the points 2”, 3”, 6 ½” and 7½” on the strip.

Cut out the 1” x 3” section then fold at the four horizontal marked points.  Next, cut the box tabs at the 6½” and 7½” folds and fold the vertical sections to form the shape of the box as seen below.

You can also refer to this diagram.

Download a copy here!

Once you’ve made the cuts and folds, your paper treat box will come together like this.

Use double sided tape on outside flap to secure sides of box.

Embellish with washi tape or other appliques.  (The washi tape adds a decorative element and helps keep the box together so nothing spills out).

That’s it!  How cute, right?

And who says these boxes are just for kids… make some more grown up versions for your adult friends or office mates.  These will be filled with chocolate and handed out to a few deserving mom friends of mine!

The same design works just as well for cute gift or favor boxes too – think baby or bridal showers, kids birthday parties, etc.  Inexpensive too, since most cardstock scrapbook paper is around a dollar or less.

Have fun creating some of your own!

xo,

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Better Homes & Gardens

Design Seeds

sources unknown

M. Christine Duncan

martha martha

Better Homes & Gardens

Better Homes & Gardens

Sea what I mean?  What’s your latest color crush?

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1.  Stamped Tea Towels  2.  Chalk Painted Nightstand  3.  Installing Beadboard Wallpaper  4. Which Home Would You Choose?

5.  Powder Room Makeover  6. Lacquer Lookalikes  7.  Photos to Sketches  8  Choosing the Perfect Robin’s Egg Blue  9.   Lavender Sea Salt Scrub   10.  Love/Hate with Anthropologie

Also, for many of you who have written to me about posts and projects from summer 2009 where there are no images anymore, I am aware of the problem!  It has to do with pictures that were previously stored in a Picasa web album that I deleted *oops* assuming the images got rolled over in my WordPress move in September 2009 and I just found out they didn’t {thanks Google! insert swear word} – unfortunately they need to be rebuilt so please be patient, I’m working on it! 

Also, for those of you like me who love Pinterest, I’ve added more boards, so be sure to check them out, you may want to add them to your “follow” list!

I’m off to the sewing machine shop now, either Mr. Singer is getting a repair or I’m buying a new one… stay tuned.

xo,

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North Beach (or Little Italy) is a fantastic collection of shops, cafes, delicatessens, and cool landmarks in north eastern San Francisco, bordered by Fisherman’s Wharf to the north, Chinatown and the Financial District to the south, Telegraph Hill to the east, and Russian Hill to the west. 

map from here

We started in Washington Square Park at the famous landmark Saints Peter and Paul Church. The twin spires of this church (originally a parish for Italian fisherman) can be seen from blocks away, and the intricate detail inside the church’s interior with its altar, ceiling, and painted dome will transport you to Europe.

Up the street are the Filbert Steps and Coit Tower, but be sure you’re wearing your walking shoes if you venture over there, it’s a climb!

Take a stroll around Washington Square Park and you’ll see locals walking their dogs, or artists displaying their paintings, then cross the Square to Columbus Avenue. 

Take your pick of the many Italian restaurants with outdoor cafe seating, which is what we did. This is such a great place to linger over lunch and watch people stroll by.  Don’t you love this checkerboard sidewalk?

We decided on Calzone’s for our shared luncheon of artichokes, mussels, pizza margherita, and butter lettuce salad, divine! 

Of course you never know what you might see on a given day in SF, just over lunch this funky car drove by blasting Queen’s ‘Somebody to Love’ and the very next minute this gentleman came by to serenade us with the late Etta James ‘At Last’.  Be prepared people.

Walk off your tasty lunch in the few blocks that surround Columbus Avenue, you’ll spy a lot of very cute shops and cafes and iconic San Francisco style architecture.

There are lots of cafes along this Columbus Avenue route where both tourists and locals hang out. 

This dapper Italian gentleman was my favorite, I loved the twinkle in his eye.

There is a second beautiful church and porziuncola in this neighborhood, the Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, beautiful inside too.

Continue walking south and you’ll see quite a sight.  This was my favorite shot of the day, the Sentinel building and home of Cafe Zoetrope owned by Francis Coppola, you can find some his movie memorabilia inside.  This copper green building sits right on the edge of North Beach and the Financial District and just beyond is the magnificent Transamerica Pyramid.  Quite a stunning contrast in architecture, don’t you think?

A little fog started to roll in so we headed back to the Square while the sun started to set.  It was that moment on a Sunday afternoon when you can sense everyone around you soaking up the last few moments of a blissful day before heading home, and we were too.  Here’s a view of the bay on the drive out of the City with Ghirardelli Square below and Alcatraz Island in the distance. 

Next time you come to the City by the Bay, be sure to take a stroll through North Beach, especially  during lunch or dinnertime, I just know you’ll love it.

More San Francisco tours:

Cliffs and Cable Cars

Union Square and Chinatown

Fisherman’s Wharf and Fleet Week

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Hot tea on a cold day

An abundance of citrus

Cozy {faux fur} blankets

Indoor gardens

Lit fireplaces

What are your winter favorites?

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But last week I found myself pulled by in by the tractor beam that exists within 50 feet of any Anthropologie store, it sucks you in uncontrollably and you must, arms flailing, surrender to the vortex of inspiration.  Once inside, you must channel your Jedi mind powers of self control to pull yourself out of an Anthropologie store without spending a dime.  Unfortunately, last Thursday, I had no such self control. 

So now I have to tell you about my new Anthropologie sweater. I have a hard time spending $48 dollars on a sweater, let alone One Hundred and Forty Eight Dollars on a sweater because I don’t think I’ve ever spent that amount of money on any non-coat or dress piece of clothing in my life, but Oh Em Gee I am in love.  I have justified this purchase by the fact that I wear it everyday and will continue to wear it everyday between hand washings through April which means I really am only paying two dollars a day which is less than a Starbucks!  I’m saving money! I’m saving money!

Which reminds me of when my mom would go shopping with her limited budget and buy something cute for herself, and she would come home and tell my dad that she “saved money” because she bought it on sale and he would say “no you didn’t, you spent money” and she would say “no, I saved money” and he would wink and say “no you spent money” and they would go back and forth, back and forth until she walked out of the room with her cute new thing.  But that analogy really doesn’t apply here because I didn’t buy my sweater on sale so I don’t really know why I brought that up. 

Anyway. 

I was in Anthropologie and spied this Cavendish sweater and loved it at first sight.  This sweater designed by Rosie Nierra is grey blue and oat with subtle golden metallic threads.  What?  Grey blue and oat with subtle golden metallic threads?  Seriously?  It’s like Rosie knit my house into a sweater. It’s like she read my blog and knit my house into a sweater.

Then I was all, “Oh I’ll just try it on” knowing full well the price tag read One Hundred and Forty Eight Dollars and that’s when you know you’re in trouble because if it doesn’t fit right then okay, but if it does, you will stand there in the dressing room for ten minutes turning back and forth, admiring your cute new find and justifying the expense because you love it so much.  You’re all nodding your heads right now, I know it.

I could live in this sweater.  Actually, truth. I have been living in this sweater. It owns me completely.  Just look at it.  LOOK at it!  All fitted around the top but then all swishy and ungrabby around the mid section…

I asked my husband what he thought of my new sweater and he got that crinkled nose and said “It’s okay, looks a little frumpy” and I audibly gasped.  How dare he diss THE sweater.  This was minutes before Coco the kitten decided to climb up my back when I was wearing said beloved sweater and I almost had a heart attack not because of her claws which hurt but because I gasped that she might possibly with her kitten claws snag a knitted yarn from my precious sweater and the scratches I can take, the loose threads I cannot.  Within a five minute period, a conspiracy was formed to ruin my grey blue, oat, and subtle golden thread swishy sweater. I fear for its safety.

I also bought this navy Scalloped Strings Tank for Sixty Eight Dollars because its white braided detail on the top called me by my full legal name from across the store.

It looks so cute on, and will be just adorable with white capris this summer for that day we go boating on the bay… you know, with all our yacht club friends. Actually, I need some of those yacht club friends, so if you know any yacht club friends in the Bay Area, please tell them my number is 800-LV2-SAIL. 

So I walked out of Anthropologie having spent $216 on two things. Two things!  And carrying one shopping bag that weighed as much as a few ounces of feathers.  It felt so wrong, but wearing this sweater going on four days now feels oh so right.  Antropologie, I love you, but I really hate you too.  

Thoughts for today. Have you been caught in the Anthropologie tractor beam and how did you escape?  Why do all their clothing prices end in 8 and not 9?  Why do people always say “Less than a Starbucks a day!” when they try to sell you something?  Please discuss.

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