brace yourself: brass is back
Maybe it’s my age, but brass furniture and accessories sometimes give me a creepy feeling, kind of like I imagine the decor would have been at Robert Evans’ house in the 1970s. DWR is trying hard to win me over, though, with this line of Walter Lamb outdoor furniture. Okay, unless I come into some money, it’s doubtful I’m going to spend $845 on a patio chair, but they do look attractive coupled with the white webbing. I will certainly look into these as poolside accessories for when I purchase my Palm Springs getaway. What’s your take on brass? — Mary T.
Brass? I hate it! Especially the “antiqued” brass that used to be on every light fixture and doorknob in America. I’m gonna pass on this trend!
I must be the same exact age as you, because brass — especially shiny, lacquered brass — completely ooks me out and reminds me of the ’70s (in a bad way). I’ll be passing on this trend as well.
I’m with Leah, all over. We must be the same age.
Every single door knob, cupboard knob, drawer pull, faucet head, and light fixture in my house is brass. Shiny seventies brass. It will cost a fortune to replace everything, so we’re going one room at a time. I wish I could just find a way to like it but it makes me cringe, even coupled with nice white webbing.
Can’t do it. In my mind, the only time brass is acceptable is on a vintage brass bed. And that only works if it’s contrasted with the right kind of bedding, accessories and other furniture in the room (and, of course absolutely know matching hardware!).
Oops — sorry for the typo!
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my parents have old brass table lamps in their living room but something about it seems dated to me as well – That said, I confess to having a sweet spot in my heart for Jonathan Adler’s polished brass hippo that I saw last week. I’m thinking that if brass is reintroduced selectively in accents and one-off pieces like that, I could live with it but it’s hard to shake the period piece stigma for me!
One word. Blech.
gak. unless it’s on a boat, i can’t stomach brass at all.
When we moved into our house, it had brass fixtures, vents, doorknobs, hinges, switch plates, outlet covers, etc. I wanted everything to be oil rubbed bronze. The cost to replace it all was going to be crazy! So instead of buying new fixtures, I bought a can of black spray paint, a tube of a product called “Rub and Buff”, and polyurethane. $20 later, everything in my house is “oil rubbed bronze”.
I grew up in a house lit almost exclusively by brass Stiffel lamps. But none of the brass in our home was the super- shiny kind. I remember lining up the dozens of brass items, several times a year, to be polished by my grandma, great-grandma, and me. The 34 brass doorknobs had to be polished, too. We’d end the day high on Brasso.
Somehow I have ended up with a decent-sized collection of brass knicknacks and doo-dads. Several sets of bookends, including a set of brass owls. The joke is that I have brass hooters instead of a pair of something else brass, as I’m female.
I find that the darker brass tones down my eclectic style and blends nicely with the Frankoma pottery I collect. But shiny brass scares me. That table set reminds me of the tacky brass-n-glass shelves and cabinets of the 70s and 80s.
Maybe it’s because I’m much younger than the other commenters (no offense intended, I simply wasn’t alive until the 90′s), but I kind of like that outdoor furniture. My objection is that it’s too hotel-like to me.
ZOMG Nebula I am SO offended! ; )
Nooooooooooooooo! and also ewwwwwwwwww……!
I love OLD brass, the kind you find in salvage shops with a lot of patina, the heavy, heavy kind. i HATE 80s brass – the thin, super shiny, ticky-tacky kind. This set reminds me of those shiny, cheap brass chandeliers, dusty rose and forest green. Yugggggg. Make it go away? Please?
Brass is fine, I have a 70′s house, everything that was old is now new again. It’s the chrome I hate.
Although I prefer antique bronze, iron and wooden light fixtures, I like brass faucets in some bathrooms. I feel sorry for the people who are switching all their solid brass faucets and knobs out for fake-looking bronze fixtures. Talking about being outdated in a few years. If you want bronze, make sure you get quality—check out Rocky Mountain hardware. It will never be outdated. I also think that it’s much more interesting to mix your metals, and if you buy what you love and don’t worry so much about what’s in and what’s out, you’ll never have to worry about being outdated.
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