I'm with you, reno... I'm going to do what I like and forget about trends. It's funny, when I was buying all my furniture, etc, for my previous home, my concept of time was different. If you had told me then that my stuff would be completely out of style in 8 years, I'd say, "So, I'll for sure need new stuff by then anyway!". Now, if you tell me that, I say, "Well, shoot, why bother then!" LOL.

I think your style is CLASSIC and LOVELY and you shouldn't change a thing!

The screen is especially beautiful! Yay for being enboldened and bucking trends!

Well I think that it looks wonderful, timelss and classic!

Good solid brass has a nice brownish feel, the ugly brass is the cheap yellow kind, there's no comparison, that fireplace garnish is amazing, you have such a knack.

What an amazing bargain. I love brass accents, They give so much character to a room Love the screen!

Yay, reno_fan!!! I spent $4.00 last week on this 20 oz. brass English candlestick from eBay. I LOVE the warmth of good brass and it will never disappear from my house. For the price of a latte, although I don't drink coffee, I have this, which will last forever. I'd welcome a vintage gift from eBay, Salvation Army or Goodwill any day!

I agree!

I was one of the early adopters of Oil Rubbed Bronze because it was just so perfect with this house. But now I'm swinging back toward brass because good brass has such a lovely timeless glow.

Great finds Reno!

I don't think polished brass ever went out, it's just what designers were choosing NOT to use....for the moment. If *we* chose not to listen to them, we wouldn't see so much of it in thrift stores. For some reason, designers try to steer us away from all that is classic. ;o)

reno, I think there are different degrees of shiny brass. There is the tacky brass and the elegent brass. What you (lucky dog) picked up was elegent brass. I love that fireplace screen. Also, I think shiny brass, like your FP screen is a nice change from all the other types of metal that are now so pupular.

M3D, that candlestick is gorgeous and another example of what I'm referring to.

I am re-thinking my plan to paint my brass chandelier -- especially when I saw page 64-65 of the fresh-in-the-door House Beautiful (January 2009) issue!

Yes -- a brass chandelier in the dining area AND a gorgeous brass-lined stove hood in the featured kitchen!

Shocking! LOL!

Anyway -- always remember that a designers' job is to sell us the "latest" thing. If they are successful in marketing that -- then their name becomes famous -- and they end up with thier own lines of home goods and furniture! Thats when they can make the BIG money! THEN they switch gears -- and sell the NEXT "big" thing ........

Well, I'm switching out to ORB & wrought iron still, but then my home has a country feel. I am falling in love with unlacquered brass, though. I love the light brown tarnish, and I can shine it up if I choose to.

ORB here because, well it is the original bright brass that has aged for 100 years to a dark brown. So I'll keep it regardless of the current trend. I do love the look of soft brass that has its patina from years of being handled.
Diane

Reno, what a find! How lovely! Polished brass is starting to look fresh again to my eyes too. Still, I'm switching to ORB & wrought iron, but those look right in my country-ish home. I'm really falling for unlacquered brass too: I love the light brown patina as it ages and can shine it up if I choose.

Oh man those brass pieces are lovely. The fireplace screen is drool-worthy.

Growing up my Mom had real brass all over the place - including a chandelier with glass globes that went with us from house to house (Dad was in the Navy so we moved a lot). Seeing real brass brings back some wonderful memories for me. Of course, it also brings back memories of all the polishing we had to do.

Come to think of it, the one "family heirloom" that I have is brass. It's a huge set of brass flatware that my Mom had hand-engraved with the family initial. After the guy did it, he said he'd never do anything like that again. Coincidentally enough, my married name starts with the same initial so it works for us wonderfully well. Sadly, there will be no children to inherit the set. Hopefully a nephew or niece (or one of their children) will grow up to appreciate things like this and I can pass it on someone who appreciates it when I pass.

I believe pieces like this:
{{!gwi}}From Craigslist

are what prompted the anti-brass movement. This was hanging in our family room. Ick.

Yep, it is the cheap, brass-plated, heavily-laquered pieces that are deservedly out of style.

When we bought our house, we had two huge chandeliers made of the stuff. We listed them for FREE on Craigslist, and nobody wanted them!

reno, the lines of the two, the screen and the lamps, work so beautifully together as well. I don't think true heavy real brass ever went out of style in the UK, did it? I seem to recall being able to find true brass fixtures when I was bathroom-shopping (didn't get them, got chrome, but the UK always had heavy solid brass, almost nautical (but not tackily so) fixtures as part of their lineup).

You got some nice things, Reno. Stiffel makes quality brass.
That's the thing....anything that mass market red neck builders pick up on....well, they are gonna find a way to find the cheapest tackiest copy of something classic & ruin the look. To me, that is what happened to brass in the 80's. Not too long ago we put a very high quality brass chandelier in my mom's kitchen - the kitchen called for brass & it looked wonderful. However, the that is probably the 1st thing the new owners pulled out of the kitchen....think brick hearth...built in glass book shelves....nice quality oak cabinets....5" thick oak wood floors - very homey & kinda country but not with wood bunnies & hearts on the wall - LOL

I am not in style, ever & never will be. I have a mix in my house. I have an old old brass chandelier in my DR....it has moved with my with every house & always will. It was whale oil & came out of an old church in the most charming town. Just picked up a brass coffee table out of my MIL's attic for my sitting room & best of all it was.....FREE:) It also goes with the antique brass chandelier hanging above it....oh well. To each his own:)

Smiles:)

mcclarke, that's funny. When you can't give something away, you know it's way out of fashion. LOL

I used it for my powder room fixtures. I was going with an antique style toilet and antique vanity and it just sort of flowed better :o) I love it and make no appologies if it's out of someone's fashion book :oP

I'm shocked Reno. I thought you have style! Brass is out and will not come back again.

But since I like you, I'm offering you a way out. You can send that mirror to me. I'll even pay your cost. I think it would go okay with my brass chandelier that I recently bought. LOL :-D

I have a brass Holtkoetter lamp over our table and it's beautiful. In retrospect, I realized I planned our whole around it.

teacats....you are a woman after my own heart ! I am sitting here on a cold night in Alabama...yep it is 27 degrees! I have been reading the different threads to DH...hmmm...well he seems like he is listening LOL. Anyway...I said honey I am reading this thread about brass and I think I am glad I didn't paint this chandy...he says "OK" and then I howl when I read what tc says....yep I am glad too. Although mine is not antique it is from the 80's and is really lovely...it is just brass and pewter...but it does look good in this room...so it stays. I am so not into fads...glad I move so slow....c

Just realized my typo, that would be popular, not pupular. LOL, it's my arthritis. Don't type as well when the fingers are painful so please excuse the frequent typo's.

Hi TR!

Yes -- my chandy is from the classic 90s LOL!

You all MUST see that photo in HB -- Jan. 2009 issue -- honestly I couldn't believe it! The chandy is a classic BRIGHT brass chandy! LOL!

Jan

teacats, noticed the same thing when my HB arrived last week!
De-brassing the house we recently sold was high on the new owners' decorator's list.
If I'm quick, I might be able to reclaim my wonderful old Baldwin cabinet pulls and Chicago faucets at the Habitat for Humanity Shop!

My local Costco is selling a bright brass chandelier similar to the one pbrisjar has pictured. The brass looks hideous, but the crystals are by Swarovski and the thing costs $500.

Here is a link that might be useful: Costco

OOOOOOH I'm loving these brass items! Am I safe to say "It's baaaaaaaack!!!"?

I think the pendulum may be swinging. After years of ORB (which I still have, use, and love), and years of seeing brushed nickel, it's a nice "change" to see something that's both warm and a bit shiny. I'm starting to notice it more in magazines, too, though I don't know if that's just the "new car" phenomenon, where when you get a new car you suddenly start seeing them everywhere.

I do know this; it was actually liberating to buy those brass items and bring them home. I feel like I crossed some sort of threshold of decorating, whereby my house is truly becoming more a reflection of me, rather than a regurgitation of whatever style du jour is popular at that given moment.

Sweet decorating relief....she doesn't care if the "masses" would approve!

"whereby my house is truly becoming more a reflection of me" LOL that's what we've been trying to tell you! Do what you love and what makes YOUR house YOUR home. Who cares who approves?

Nice finds - I have some old brass pieces that I would never part with.

tina

My sister bought a home this summer that came with an exquisite 3-tier 21-light polished brass Williamsburg chandelier in the DR. The PO didn't want to take the "dated" chandy with him. My sis painted the room Farrow & Ball Card Room Green, and boy, does that chandy look fabulous now.

Ah-ha....so when red dining rooms come back around I will be right in style with my brass chandy too! :^)

I am glad to read this as I am building a new house and horror of horrors, putting brass knobs in it. It is a traditional Colonial house and brass just feels right to me. I will look for knobs that aren't fake looking, though. Anyway, I hope they will be back "in" when the house is finished! If not, oh well, they are right to me.

oh no, b*ass is back :( just when I thought we had buried the shiny, lacquered 80s for good :)

I hate the shiny, tacky brass in this old house. I *LoVe* your FR reno fan, incl the classic brass pieces. You scored! :)

There is no comparison.

Real, solid brass is such a beautiful colour! It is a soft muted dark gold and has a depth that nickel, chrome, ORB, etc. just cannot match. I really like all the finishes, when they are executed in a style appropriate to the material and if they are very high quality metals. In our living room we have a large wrought-iron chandelier, an antique brass fire screen, a footed brass bowl, a regency style cofee table with brass ormolu and an ornate old black iron stair railing. The adjacent dining room ("open" via cased openings from the LR and foyer) contains a very nice brass chandelier, a thin black iron curtain rod and sterling silver. On that same floor I have bathrooms with ORB and satin nickel (not in the same bath).... I don't know how, but somehow it all "hangs" together. Perhaps the most important element is to select something that looks right in its setting, and that is the difference between eclectic and mishmash. (Of course, any number of people may think what I have is a mishmash, LOL!)

kswl-

Have no fear, your beautiful home can hardly be described as mishmash; lovely, elegant, welcoming, yes, but a mishmash, nope, not for a moment.

And ITA about real brass, it doesn't have to be shiny or tacky looking. The hutch in our kitchen was a display from a kitchen place in the city near us, and it was painted grey with a glaze and had solid brass knobs. We painted the hutch and I stripped the lacquer off of the knobs with mineral spirits and the knobs now have that subtle shine and patina described above.

I don't have a close up of the knobs, but here's a pic of the hutch.

sandyponder

LOVE your hutch, sandypalmer!! knobs and all---

Renofan, did you notice at the big hotel with the huge chandelier that they have several metals and several stones and they all work together because it has that collected/inherited look of yesterday and today.

I love the warm glow of solid brass also! I'm still sick over the solid brass Williamsburg chandelier I left to the new owners in a home we sold in 1989 (I was too young too realize what I had).

Check out this chandelier on CL. The price is a bit steep, but what a beauty!

Here is a link that might be useful: brass chandelier

sandyponder, I covet your hutch, it is perfect and I love its depth (or lack of it). All the really useful storage pieces I have are very shallow, as your cabinet is above. They fit anywhere without impeding the traffic flow or obstructing any other furniture, and because they hold only what can be easily seen they are more useful than something deeper. And that colour, I love it!

I have a lot of antiqued brass and I still love my 25 year old shiny brass Casablanca ceiling fan in my bedroom.

I also have ORB handles on my kitchen cabinets (they just looked best)and some nickel in both bathrooms. Who says you have to only have one metal finish?