Low budget, high impact results

Searching for more ideas to make over your current décor?  I have a low cost, high impact idea for you to make over just about anything in your home.  

Have you ever used Rub-n-Buff on any of your home décor?  My mama is the one who shared this trick with me.  I use it all of the time on so many things!  

I got these fleur-de-lis bookends for Christmas one year and I love the white, but I decided to dress them up a bit since they looked kind of washed out.  Usually, I apply Rub-n-Buff with my finger.  Yep, all high tech around here and all... my finger was a little big to get in those tight spots, so I decided to use a Q-tip the second time around.

I started by rubbing the Q-tip around the edges of the bookend.  I made a few mistakes, but sometimes that just adds to the character of the piece.  I thought about repainting it and decided perfectly imperfect is the look I was going for. 

I did not care for the gold down the middle, so I started rubbing it off.  You add, rub away, add more, until you get the look are you searching for.  You really cannot mess up using this product.  I decided if I did not care for it, I could always spray paint it and start over.  I do not worry about messing up a piece since paint is always your best friend to start over, it's the clean slate you sometimes need....

What do you think?  Adds a little something to them, doesn't it?  I have used Rub-n-buff on picture frames, vases, our bathroom medicine cabinet, light fixtures... the sky is the limit!  You can use it on anything, the more detail a piece has, the more it will show up. 

Here they are completed and styled on our roll top desk with our vintage dictionaries...

I love the addition of the bookends and vintage books!  You know me and the vintage things in our home!  

I love old books where the original owner puts their name in the book.  These dictionaries were copy righted in 1934... aww... the 30's... I do love 1930's style, even clothing, shoes... Mrs. George Smith owned this dictionary set.  

I wonder who she was, how she lived... so many questions... I can only imagine, and let me tell you, I have quite an active imagination... maybe she received this set for graduation, or purchased them since she felt she wanted to expand her vocabulary, or to look up spelling of words working as what they used to call a "secretary"... I see where there was a scratched out last name, maybe her maiden name or she remarried when she lost her husband in the war?  I have nothing concrete, but I do enjoy imagining who she was...  this is the reason I love vintage items, my imagination can fly... and I can decide the story of the piece. 

I had them backwards... good thing I caught it and corrected them...

Mr. Vintage gave these books to me for Christmas... does he know me, or does he know me?  I am in love with the Biltmore Estate... my sister and I stayed at the Biltmore hotel in Providence, Rhode Island many years ago... it is a beautiful hotel and I highly recommend staying there if you are ever in the area.  We loved our stay there... it was quite an experience, different than other hotel stays... 

Interested in Biltmore books, click the link to find many books written on the estate and family. There are so many out there.  I enjoy reading about George Washington Vanderbilt, and how his estate was built... amazing when you think it was completed in 1895 and opened on Christmas Eve that year... and the details throughout?  WOW, I am utterly amazed that a home of that magnitude was built in six years during that time.  You know me so well, I digress... back to bookends and vintage dictionaries... 

So there you see, our fleur-de-lis bookends made over with a little Rub-n-Buff and the perfect set of vintage dictionaries on our antique roll top desk... I love it when a plan comes together.  

Are you searching for additional ways to update your décor?  Rub-n-Buff is another answer to make over just about anything.  I forgot to mention, we also used it on our ceiling medallions.  We have them on the wall in our bedroom which you can catch a glimpse of in How an online auction works and the story of a beautiful French provincial chest.  Rub-n-Buff comes in gold leaf, antique gold, Grecian gold,  European gold, autumn gold, antique white, ebony, pewter, silver leaf, Spanish copper, ruby, and patina... with this wide of selection, you can literally find something for every room in your home.

I have used Rub-n-Buff in our dining room on various pieces.  Click to read How to create a high end look where you will see how I used it on a $5.00 mirror, and I also used it on the obelisk on our dining room server.  I only used my finger to apply it to that piece around the edges.  Why pay extra for something already made up for you, do it yourself and purchase items for less money... it's a fun project, and a way to make it your own.  I find when I have something to do with remaking an item, it becomes something I admire more.

Click to read Bathroom before and after about how I used Rub n Buff on our medicine cabinet to give it a burnt wood look.

You can also see where I used Rub and Buff in Before and after: The Foyer where I used antique gold on our door knocker and hardware.  Never, never think you cannot enhance your home yourself, and you do not need to have a large budget to do it either.  We are living proof of that.  I love a high end look, but I do not like to spend a lot of money to achieve it.  Call me cheap... but I have been very happy with how many of our projects have turned out around here.  You just need a little imagination, or a gal like me who is willing to share all of her ideas with you so you can get more ideas to build on.      

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