TONE IT DOWN

I feel like I say that a hundred times a day to my children.  They are quite loud.  If you know them, you can attest to this.  If not, trust me, they can sometimes be heard blocks away!

But today, I'm talking about a beautiful Asian inspired brass lamp I bought at the thrift store over the weekend.  It has been sitting there for months, just patiently waiting for someone to come by and take it home.  I have been eyeing it for a while, but it was $10 and do I really need another lamp? No!
Fortunately for the patient lamp, I was at a friend's house last week and she commented on a lamp she has that she is not too fond of.  I immediately thought of the Asian lamp and how great it would look in her living room.

A popped into the thrift store on Saturday, and of course, it was still sitting there.  I took it up front and kindly explained to the cashier that the poor lamp had been sitting around for months, just collecting dust, and I would be more than happy to take it off her hands for $5.00.  She is the same sweet cashier who sold me the $75 deal of a lifetime piano.  I think I may get her a Christmas present this year!

Anyway, back to "Tone It Down".  The lamp is vintage and has a beautiful shape, but I'm not a huge fan of super shiny brass.  I'm much more of a tarnished brass kind of girl.

I love the worn look of this brass bowl I bought back in March at an antique store.  

The lamp looked like this when I bought it on Saturday. 

I wanted it to look more like the bowl. 

Pretty shiny, right?

While I was out and about on Saturday, I stopped by Hobby Lobby and picked up a tube of 

Rub 'n Buff in antique gold.  This stuff is amazing.  

I first learned about it from Janell at Isabella and Max Rooms.  

She uses that stuff on all kinds of things.  Most recently she used it on a light fixture for her powder room.  She gave an inexpensive light fixture a high end look. 

Just last week, Carmel from Our Fifth House, used it on her kitchen cabinet hardware.  

I think she's still on the fence about going gold, but I loved the look of it.  

The tube is tiny and I thought I would need several for this giant lamp.  

Boy was I wrong. I only used a tiny bit to cover the whole lamp.  

I simply rubbed it on with my finger and then buffed it lightly when it was dry. 

I stuck in in my living room and topped it off with a shade I had.  

I really love the way it turned out and if my friend decides she doesn't want it, 

I suppose I could make room for one more lamp. 

One more time, the super shiny lamp..... 

And now the "Toned Down" version....

What do you think?  Are you on the shiny brass or a the tarnished brass team? 

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