Romantic Medicine Cabinet Makeover and favorite Self Tanner

                                   Our master bathroom has an antique French style. 

Created by adjusting things such as the colors of the cabinets and doors, 

adding appliqués and gilding to the closet doors, using vintage  

 hooked rugs and old style chandeliers which I painted gold and enhanced with 

aqua crystals and lastly replacing the laminate counters with marble.

This pretty photo (above) was from the Romantic Country photo shoot

 with Fifi O'Neil two years ago.

Fifi loves to add more, more, more to a space!

She hung jewelry from my towel rack and set pretty towels 

in the wire wall mounted shelf rack. 

 In reality many of my daily toiletries sat on the counter.

As in real life, things are often pretty.

It was actually very cluttered and messy looking.  

But now it looks like this!

 I found an old glass door wall cabinet

created a vintage version of a medicine cabinet to store things.

Of course the cabinet was anything but pretty when I found it.

 I envisioned it in romantic gold and aqua. 

Our bathroom has gold accents which give it a rich old European look.

  I'm back in the swing of rehabbing things with the most beautiful new paint!

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Jolie Paint is made in the USA and is zero VOC. Yes!

  The colors are absolutely gorgeous!

The wall cabinet was painted in Bliss

 (a green/blue shown top of left column in the Jolie color card).

 I highlighted it with their gold metal leaf and gold gilding wax 

to return it to it's Florentine glory.  Using metal leaf is so simple!  

Jolie has a step by step guide which is flawless, even for a beginner. 

 It made all the difference in my project.

Simply paint a liquid adhesive called "Gold Size" on the 

areas you want to be covered in the gold metal leaf.  

After a few minutes rub sections of the whisper thin sheets of

metal leaf over the adhesive.

Use a stiff but soft brush to remove the excess bits of leaf to reveal the 

highlighted gold leafed areas. 

 It is so amazingly simple!! And soooo glorious looking!

I sanded down the cabinet lightly to soften the feel and give it 

a bit of an aged and distressed effect.

The cabinet had decorative trellis like grooves at the top pediment 

which I highlighted with a tiny artist brush using the Jolie Gold Gilding Wax. 

(One could also have applied the Gold Size in these grooves,

 followed by the metal leaf, but I decided to use

the gilding wax and was happy with the finished look. ) 

Summer Palace by Laura Ashley wallpaper was next,

applied with some tacky spray adhesive on the back wall.

 When the glass doors are closed, it looks extra pretty!

This project only took me two hours to complete.

The Jolie paint and gold leaf adhesive dry so quickly!

 And that self tanner I recently discovered?  

Sublime Bronze by L'Oreal  

These days I never suntan, and haven't for years to keep

skin damage and wrinkles at bay.  However I still have to put on a bathing

suit when we go to the lake cottage, and this stuff is really a miracle of sorts.

 One application is enough to banish the white pasty skin look, 

and two applications have you looking like you just returned 

from two weeks in Monte Carlo and the French Riviera!  

I love how the new "medicine" cabinet looks and functions.

Take a second look around your bathroom and see what simple changes you 

can make to give it a romantic European look.  Changing out the very things

that are already there can be simple using Jolie Paint and Metal Leaf.

Leave me a note if you have tried it, or are planning to.

 I would love to hear about your project!

Click here to visit Jolie Paint 

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INF-AMYMAISONDECOR

You will LOVE their paints and enhancements for making over

your furniture and home accessories and creating something beautiful!

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Mixing Italian, French, Swedish decor and a glamorous gilded chest

 I've been in redecorating mode in the house, and it shouldn't

be a surprise but I have found more antiques with European roots.

The prettiest Florentine chest of drawers fell into my lap, so to speak.

 I often say that things find me, however in this case, I went looking

for some old gilded Florentine furniture.  Several years ago I had a shop that carried

 vintage European style decor and paint for furniture.  I was fortunate to meet

a wonderful gypsy girl picker.  She would come in unannounced, bringing

incredibly beautiful old things for me to purchase for my shop.

 Anyway, I reached out to her and asked her if she had any Florentine pieces...

and she said yes, she would send me some photos.

And here it is, sitting in all its gilded glory in our living room.

The large cherub candelabra lamp came back out of hiding and

took its spot on top of the chest of drawers.

A collection of mismatched lampshades gives 

it a little bit of quirky summer style. I imagined making a set of blue gingham 

lampshades for it, just like I had made for the candelabra in my dollhouse.

Life imitating art.  I love it!

 Redecorating mode has hit me full on this summer and I 

have been painting pieces and murals and editing the furniture.

A very soft and pretty yet old look is taking shape.

A bit Swedish inspired, and always French of course, and the bits of 

gilded Italian pieces have settled in together to create a room with a refreshed vibe.

 The oval back curbside French chairs are high on the to-do list.

Imagine them all around the table opposite the Swedish trundle bed.

Of course the Florentine chest wasn't the only piece I got from gypsy girl...

next time we meet here, you will see two yummy old and awesome wall cabinets.

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