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 

My blog readers will get 20% off of orders over $200 using this link below.
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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Gold and Pink Lusterware

There has been so much snow the past two weeks I found myself

planning the perfect Valentine tea party.  Not that I have tea parties

mind you, I am more of a dinner party thrower....but let me back

up and tell you how this all came about.

While shopping last weekend at an antique shop

I noticed these bright gold plates tucked inside a bookcase.  

They stuck out like sore thumbs in this shop

filled with rustic pieces.  I picked one up off the stack and flipped 

it over and sure enough, there was a stamp with a Makers mark and France. 

 I must have a built in sensor for all things French.  I was especially 

happy to see there was quite a stack at a very good price.  

So they all came home with me where I researched the maker.  

First of all, I couldn't even read what it said. 

 So I just posted it on Facebook,

 and several friends came to the rescue and told me it said 

Sarreguemines.  

It is an old pottery company located in Lorraine France, 

and they make  mostly Faience country style patterned pottery. 

 I searched some more and did not see one item that was all gold. 

 So back to Facebook and several of my pals told me they

 were likely chargers for desert plates!

Look for clues on the back of your dishes, 

then head to the internet to try to identify them.

This mark means the dishes were made between 1920- 1950.

Pretty cool! Different marks by the same company indicate different

times of production.  Anyway, so now I knew who made them and when,

but really wasn't sure what they were used for.

However when more than a few suggested 

they were chargers for desert plates.

 Then one of my oldest FB friends, Mikey Fuller 

(who bought a chandelier from me many moons ago)

said they looked like Lusterware... 

I am pretty sure they were all right! Lusterware chargers!

 So that got me to thinking of a desert party, perhaps

with pink champagne or tea if you were so inclined...

with pink frosted cupcakes and pink

macaroons! I pulled out my collection of pink and gold lusterware

 teacups and some antique  desert plates and pulled it all together.

What is lusterware exactly?

Lusterware: A type of pottery that has a glaze mixed with metallic to give it

the effect of iridescence, which is produced by metallic oxides in an 

overglaze process, then treated to a secondary firing in the kiln. 

It is an old process that started before the Mesopotamian age. 

 Pretty amazing!

I recall seeing my grandparents had two copper lusterware pitchers in their

china cabinet.  It was very collectible.  The lusterware can be silver, gold, 

copper or rose colored depending upon how much of the gold

 is used in the process. 

Its Easy Elegance alright~a remnant of linen with pale pink 

roses piled high with gold and pink lusterware!  Add some pretty

flowers and baked goods and you have all you need.

These roses are actually great fakes!

 I found them at HomeGoods,  they have some fantastic florals.

The best part? They never wilt and look quite realistic.  

With Valentines looming I think I am almost ready.

Perhaps a private party for deux?

The Gold Lusterware is going to make things feel very 

Age of the Innocence I think...indulgent and luxurious and 

over the top!  So take a peek into your china cabinet and 

drag out some old collectibles like depression glass, or milk glass

or fine crystal and china and have some fun.

Mix your old china with some new and make it your style!

Note: Partially sponsored by HomeGoods as part of my participation in their Pinterest Program, Happy by Design. 

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