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~ My love of gardening, making home comfortable and entertaining friends and family.

Garden, Home & Party

Tag Archives: accessories

Books, the subtle accessory in a room

14 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by Karen B. in House and Home

≈ 26 Comments

Tags

accessories, library

hello my friends, happy wednesday!

If you’ve visited me throughout the years you may have picked up on the fact that I love libraries.  Weather public, university or home libraries, they all hold equal interest for me. [HERE, HERE, and HERE] I love books and the warmth they give to a room.

This post was inspired by a post in late spring by my friend, Vanessa, of Reviving Charm. She shared information of a London based company known as Ultimate Library.  They will curate and assemble an entire library for you, whether it be a residential or commercial project. To read more about how this works and some of the locations where they have done this service visit HERE.

Garden, Home and Party: books, accessories

Today I’d like to talk about the role of books as an accessory.  I realize that anytime a book is placed in a stack on a coffee table it could be considered an adornment, as well as something to read, but it seems to me books have advanced to a more prominent place in a room today.

Beribboned antique books are used alongside an assortment of other tabletop antiques.

Garden, Home and Party: accessories; books

These beauties make such a statement in this bookcase.  Wouldn’t you love to open one {carefully} and read it, look for the date?

Garden, Home and Party: accessories; books

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This desk vignette is beautiful and the books definitely play a role.

Garden, Home and Party: accessories; books

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I’ve always loved a library table.  Wish I had room for one.  This book display hits all of my hot buttons. Art work, a vintage pocket watch, the tray and a scented candle, and the still life effect of it all by adding the bowl of apples, perfection.

Garden, Home and Party: accessories; books

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I’m certain you’ve seen this trend in displaying books.  I guess you either hate it or love it.  I confess it appeals to me and I’ve done a version of it in my own bookcase with my design books.  Where do you stand on the color coordinated books topic?

Garden, Home and Party: accessories; books

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…and what about removing the jackets.  Again, I’m sure there are those that feel it is sacrilege and others, like me, that actually like the look of the books better without their jackets than with!

Garden, Home and Party: accessories; books

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I really like the way we all use books to elevate items such as this orchid and the smaller accessory on the chest when decorating.

Garden, Home and Party: accessories; books

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Blue and white beauty with books and other wonderful items of interest.

Garden, Home and Party: accessories; books

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I also like color coordinated books in a vignette.  Intentionally placing a stack of green books with the blue, white and green set-up just makes it all the prettier in my view.

Garden, Home and Party: accessories; books

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The collection of magnifying glasses, along with the leather books is divine!

Garden, Home and Party: accessories; books

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This space has a library feel to it.  The vintage prints, marble bust and books!

Garden, Home and Party: accessories; books

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I love this narrow opening in such a formal setting, filled to the top with vintage books!

Garden, Home and Party: accessories; books

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Tell me, do you decorate with books?

♥ Karen

 

Vignettes and their contribution to a room

22 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by Karen B. in Accessories; details, House and Home

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

accessories, antiques, collections, vignettes

Garden, Home and Party: Vignettes

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Let’s face it, there are so many details that can make or break a room’s appeal.  Details that draw us in, can be (and usually are) different for each of us.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and such.

Garden, Home and Party: Vignettes

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A stunning antique piece, a window with special detailing, beams in a ceiling, and accessories are my hot buttons.  More specifically, a great vignette can pull me in like a tracktor beam on Star Trek.

Garden, Home and Party:  Vignettes

Some people are so talented at achieving this magic, that I forget to look at the rest of the room.  Here are a few examples I’ve amassed over the past few months…

Garden, Home and Party: Vignettes

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An interesting grouping of items can give a room sparkle, make you want to know more about the people that live there.  These items can be collections or simply an attractive arrangement of flowers, books and a lamp.

Any room with blue and white accents is already ahead of the pack, in my book…

I love the use of coral and shells.  Add nature of any kind to the mix and I tend to take special notice.

Garden, Home and Party: Vignettes

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Alison of The Polohouse does such a beautiful job with each tabletop and shelf in her lovely home.  Her vignettes are always of interest.

Garden, Home and Party: Vignettes

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I tend to rotate my own accessories throughout my house on a regular basis.  Seasons, and a need for change, these reasons excuses keep me restless where my tabletop vignettes are concerned. 🙂

Garden, Home and Party: Vignette

Garden Home and Party: Vignette

Even a chippy bathroom shelf, when decoratively adorned with essentials, can be all the charm a bathroom needs.

Jermaine, of French Kissed has a style that I attempt to emulate.  She has a way with collecting, and displaying nature’s treasures and antique pieces that has always inspired me with my own vignettes.

Garden, Home and Party: Vignette

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This particular tabletop vignette [below] is a favorite.  The porcupine quill lamp shade, the blue and white porcelain vase with blue hydrangea, and the 2 wooden boxes…simplicity is an appealing factor when accessorizing. Less is more, right?

Garden, Home and Party: Vignette

I believe I got this image from the Barbara Wesbrook Workbook, but I cannot find the exact photograph.  Visit her Workbook newsletter, you won’t regret it. Her talents are teamed with talented folks that she interviews and features.

I love this shiney and bright mercury glass display—I believe it’s a holiday season display but I think I like it for its cheery brightness.

Garden, Home and Party: Vignette

{Pinterest}

Another favorite, is the talented Heather Bullard, contributing editor for Country Living Magazine.  Her stylings are always perfect and obviously, she applies her talents to her own home.  Visit her site, you’ll love the recipes and ideas you pick up during a visit.  There seems to be a nature-theme to my favorites, doesn’t there?

Garden, Home and Party: Vignettes

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 Marian of Miss Mustard Seed can turn any homely piece of furniture into a treasure, and she’s a skilled stylist.  I love the vignettes she shares from her home and her studio.  She’s got her own line of paints and inspires many of us to convert Aunt Ingrid’s hutch into a fresh, country cupboard.  I always come away from her posts with wonderful ideas for arranging collectibles.

Garden, Home and Party: Vignette

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The next image, while really a harvest display, comes from a site that no longer posts…and George.  They operate a store that sells antiques and one of a kind furniture and decorative accessories.  You can visit the webpage and you will see what beautiful items they offer as well as the displays they create.

Garden, Home and Party: Vignette

{Christy Ford photograph}

Open shelving is tremendously popular right now, when I spot a grouping like this, I want to rip out upper cabinets and install shelves to hold a variety of lovelies.

Garden, Home and Party: Vignette

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Is the arrangement of collections something you gravitate towards?

One last thing, if you haven’t read Dear Carolina yet, there is still time left during the summer reading season.  Kristy’s book is such an uplifting, feel good story.

Garden, Home and Party: Vignettes

Living with what you love; age and decorating

04 Wednesday Feb 2015

Posted by Karen B. in Collections & Accessories, Decorating, House and Home

≈ 42 Comments

Tags

accessories

A funny thing happened to me not long ago…I woke up on my birthday last month and realized I’m getting older.  I know, it sounds ridiculous, everyone gets older. But this was different, this was the realization that I’m now at an age where I question things that I wouldn’t have given a second thought to a few years back.  I don’t feel old in any way physically, or even mentally, but I wonder about my style, is it reflecting my age? Has it begun to look like an old lady’s house, or a cat lady’s house?  {That’s really not possible since we have a pair of dogs} 🙂

Garden, Home and Party: age and decorating

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For example, I’ve always felt confident in my ability to decorate my home in a style that works for my tastes, and seems to be acceptable to our family.  And as if validation mattered, I receive compliments along the way from visitors who have stated that our home is pretty.  I don’t say that in any kind of boastful way, but rather to make the point that I never second guessed every little decision where decor was concerned.

Garden, Home and Party: age and decorating

I still love many of the same things I’ve always loved, English country style with a bit of French thrown in, more Ralph Lauren than Matthew Patrick Smyth, and because of the size of our home, it’s more rustic than elegant.  It’s evolved as we’ve aged and I’ve worked hard to keep the tchotchkes edited down.  I have always been open to change and like to rotate certain accessories/accents for the season.  All that said, I’ve begun to wonder…is my house beginning to look dated?  Does this happen to any of you?

Garden, Home and Party: living with what you love

I took heart from a recent Charlotte Moss quote I read in Veranda magazine:

“I’m a collector…You know when you lock eyes with a person?  I’ve been locking eyes with objects my entire life.”

I’ve always been more riveted by a beautiful tabletop than the table itself.  Maybe that’s why I worry about getting carried away with the very treasures I love.

Garden, Home and Party: living with what you love

Garden, Home and Party: living with what you love

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Garden, Home and Party: living with what you love

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 Garden, Home and Party: living with what you love{Phoebe Howard via}

A great vignette, with the right accessories, can make me weak in the knees.  My files are filled with rooms that are especially beautiful due to great styling details.  Is this the very thing that has me worried?  Maybe.  I do embrace the minimalists approach which stresses living with what you love, and I do [live with what I love].

Garden, Home and Party: living with what you love

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That said, I think it doesn’t hurt to be mindful of one’s surroundings, not overly sentimental.  So, my dear friends, keep  me honest.  If I share a room that’s beginning to look one knick-knack short of a hoarders den, gently remind me of this post! 🙂

Garden, Home and Party: living with what you love

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Garden, Home and Party: living with what you love

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Garden, Home and Party: living with what you love

Garden, Home and Party: living with what you love

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Garden, Home and Party: living with what you love

Do you ever have doubts about the direction you’re going where home/style is concerned?  Any remedies?  🙂

 

{Home} The scrapbook of your life

13 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by Karen B. in Antiques, Collections & Accessories, Decorating, House and Home

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

accessories

For a home to hold great appeal and interest for me it has to have a personality.  In fact, my friend Linda recently read a quote from a designer, “I like to surround myself with things I love because I feel that my home is like a scrapbook of my life”.  This sums it up nicely.  That is where the personality of a home comes in.  When done well, a home reads like a scrapbook of where someone has been, their interests, their history and their pursuits.

1 - splendid sass paintings and silver{source}

I’ve lectured posted on this topic before {HERE and HERE}, but I think we’re currently in the midst of a design trend that embraces the use of reclaimed, recycled and antique (previously owned) pieces and I couldn’t be happier for it.  For me personally, it’s the ideal way to go ‘green’.

2-simple accessorizing3-decorating with collectables griege{source}

Some of the treasures we love to accessorize with have gotten pricey, even when you can find it on eBay, but if you’re lucky, you have a few items handed down through family.  Those are my favorites, although I’m not opposed to adding to the collection by a decade long search of each antique shop or thrift store I encounter on vacations.

Notice the wallpaper (below)…it looks to be antique newsprint, and that mirror, I can only imagine those that stole a glance at themselves as they passed it in a hallway or bedroom!

4-eloquence inc griege{source}

5-beach chic90design chic 1.22.13{source}

My father-in-law left us his binoculars in their original black leather case, the smaller pair were from a friend of my mother’s.  All rest on the antique French coat rack in our hallway…at the ready for bird watching {joke}.

Karen's binoculars

I believe furniture made from reclaimed woods can be found for reasonable prices, but I’ve seen some that out pace an antique, pricing wise.

bathroom splendid sass{I think the above image is Restoration Hardware, but the antique prints make the wall sconces, mirrors, hanging light and vanity all look vintage or antique}

cote de texas amy howard{Amy Howard via Cote de Texas}

9-if i forget thee1, tumblr10-tortoise-shell-boxes-l{tumblr}

11-tumblr nellyuniquetime{tumblr}

12-tumblr that inspirational g.{tumblr}

13-wasping through the countryside{tumblr

A closing post of a much loved blog site, Henhurst Interiors, 2.7.13 featured this quote “People who collect out of love are exempt from the dictates that govern traditional design, for there are no rules for true lovers.” – Rose Tarlow in The Private House ♥ Phyllis, we’ll miss you, I hope you will return to your blog sometime in the not too distant future.

{Home} It’s the little things

27 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by Karen B. in Collections & Accessories, Decorating, House and Home

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

accessories

If you have followed my blog for any amount of time you may have noticed that I do like accessories.  I find that when I view rooms, whether in a magazine or online, I zero in on the accessories.

I’ve been known to get tired of them (accessories) when they start to feel more like clutter than enhancement, but for me it’s the little things that can make a room, add interest, invite me to sit and stay awhile.  It’s an ever-changing interior landscape that I have fun wit.

I prefer accessories with a story, like, “oh, I picked this up when we visited __________”[fill in the blank], or, “my kind, old neighbor gave them to me”.  These stories make a room feel like a home (as opposed to just a ‘house’), don’t you agree?

The “little things” can also be adding something small, but new, to a room.  New throw pillows, a new-found horse statue, complete with acquisition story, an used coffee table book from Friends of the Library.

My friend recently had new pillows made for her living room, the yellow Pierre Deux-like fabric livens up and enhances everything in the room, great job, Linda.

We used to call Linda the “vignette queen” because of her talents with arranging items.  Another example of her skill is this little vignette that she has in her master bath in their home on Bainbridge Island.   More of Linda’s house and this magical island next month!

Garden, Home and Party, 9.27.12The lavender, painting,  jars for soaps and such, all together make such a pretty spot in her bathroom.

The smallest item can be something that draws you to a particular area in a room.

I discovered this little horse statue at a flea market I attended with my future daughter-in-law, I will always remember that fun day when I see this…stories such as this I like to weave into my own home accessorizing and enjoy hearing about from other homeowners.

We are fortunate to have a used book store inside our library.  I’ve found a lot of old books there for usually less than $5.00.  The little bronze Scottie dog was a gift from my friend Carla.

There are few table tops in my home that don’t have some kind of vignette.

This flower man statue was a birthday present years ago from my friends of the birthday group, the little pewter sugar cellar with greens came from my friend, Gretchen.  These accents have spent time in nearly every living space in our home.  For me that is the fun of mixing things up.

I bought this antique side board some years ago before one of my favorite sources for antiques went away, Bill (Kottler’s Antiques) retired, darn!  The Napoleon Staffordshire statue, which had been repaired before I purchased it, was made into a lamp by Custom House Lighting.  Napolean was recently relocated from our family room to the dining room for the fall/winter months—he needed a vacation.

Even the French coat rack in the entry can’t escape, The binoculars in the old leather case were my father-in-law’s, the small pair next to the case were given to my mother by a dear friend, I ultimately inherited them.  The antique riding cap was acquired on one of the many antiquing trips Carla and I used to make before I rejoined the corporate world of full time work.  The Pendleton wool blanket, while new, is a favorite since, with it’s carrying strap, it seems vintage (a Christmas gift from our oldest son and family).

Garden, Home and Party, 9.27.12Garden, HOme and Party, 9.27.12

Garden, Home and Party, 9.27.12The kitchen is a room that often goes UN-accessorized, yet I’ve seen designers hang paintings in kitchens with great success.  Our kitchen doesn’t have the wall space for more than one painting, but I did manage to put a small, silver antique horse (that I had made into a accent lamp) next to the stove.

There are design stores that use accessories within the vignettes they stage.  I know that I am always drawn to each detail of this kind of marketing and I would guess it helps them sell the furniture.

Mary Ann of Classic Casual Home posted about a design studio, Elizabeth Benefield, that did a beautiful job of staging. (Below).

~and~

I always delight in the stories many bloggers share.  It’s fun to hear how they acquired some of the pieces featured in their homes.

This sweet statue has a great story behind it finding its way into my blog-friend, Victoria’s home.  {If you’ve never visited Victoria Elizabeth Barnes blog you are in for a treat, she and her husband are renovating a 1890 Victorian home outside Philadelphia. Her posts are witty and entertaining}

I am forever seeking inspiration and ideas for accessories.  I enjoy changing them up by season and when the creative mood hits me.  I revisit certain blogs for a seemingly unending supply of decorative inspiration and one of my all-time favorites is for the love of a house.  Joan and Dan renovated a historic home in New Hampshire, this after moving from Texas!  If you enjoy a good before and after you will thoroughly enjoy the ongoing tale of their work on this home.

Joan used to own an antique store and each item in their home has a story, the memories of acquisition are wonderful treasures for those of us with an interest in home decor.

One of my other favorites for accessory placement inspiration is Charles Faudree.  In his book “Details” he provides ideas by the area you are specifically in need of help with…mantels, walls, table top, etc.

Charles Faudree is the king of French and English rooms of this style.  I especially love his Cavalier Spaniels that appear in so many of his rooms.  Pets, for some, are the ultimate accessory {guilty as charged}.  Side note:  I met him once at a book signing and he is such a nice, Southern gentleman.

Do  you enjoy accessories or do you prefer the clean lines of “less is more”?  It’s the little things in life, never the giant issues, that provide contentment, right?

{Home} Devil in the details…accessories

27 Tuesday Mar 2012

Posted by Karen B. in Antiques, Collections & Accessories, Decorating

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

accessories

While I appreciate the beauty of any room with the right furniture, proper scale, beautiful wall color or covering and plenty of natural light, my heart skips a beat when it comes to accessories.

Joni of Cote de Texas displays some of her collections in her book case.  The vintage globes and bronze figures lure you into this corner of her family room, I want to have a closer look and my overall impression is that this is a room I’d be comfortable in.  I love the ambiance of this room!

I’m not sure where this comes from since my mom had more of a minimalist approach to accessorizing, but I really love collections out on display in most any room.  Antique or vintage items complete a space for me, the icing on the proverbial cake.

 Dan Carithers

(Below) Dan Marty is one of my favorite “detail/accessory” designers.  There is magic to his assemblage of baskets, vintage medicine bottles, books and shells.

Dan Marty

The challenge for me has always been getting the “arrangement” just right.  I have a few friends that seem to have mastered the skill, or were born with the artistic talent for compiling items in such a pleasing way that you want to study what they’ve accomplished.

I began collecting bronze-like dogs and other creatures some time ago.  I find they are increasingly expensive and sometimes hard to find, but the quest is more than half the fun, don’t you agree?

 I don’t have to tell you that blog land is filled to the brim with amazingly talented folks that have a knack for vignettes.  In fact, one of my favorite “must read” sites are titled Vignette Design.  Delores has the gift for arranging her treasures beautifully.  Another favorite is The Polohouse, a new site to me.  Alison is a designer and I share her love for all things traditional English Country style.  I can always depend on a visit to her site fill my mind with inspiration for my own home.  Jermaine, at French Kissed is a stylist and her vignettes and her photography guarantee beautiful eye candy.

Vignette Design

The Polohouse

Photo by Jermaine of French Kissed

My Friend, Carla, has a collection of Staffordshire figures that rivals any I’ve seen.  Little Red Riding Hood and her twins reside near her stove, their cape guards them from the heat!

My friend, Linda, just started collecting French confit jars.  I hope to visit her (Bainbridge Island) in the fall and can take some pictures of her home for you.

Even a collection of cloth bound books can bring interest when placed on a table or shelf with fresh flowers.

Ralph Lauren

I love this shell collection in this vintage urn…so pretty.

New England Home

Bottom line, rooms, at least for me, are so appealing with just the right amount of detail.  Collections of those things that are dear to you, found while traveling, inherited, scavenged from antique stores and discoveries along life’s path make a home more interesting and welcoming.

If I Forget Thee
The Catalogued Fancies of N.C. Stewart
Share your collection interests with me, I’d love to hear from you.
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Savvy Southern Style for Wow us Wednesday!


{Home}One man’s minimalism is another man’s scarcity

18 Monday Jul 2011

Posted by Karen B. in Antiques, Collections & Accessories, Decorating, Personal Information

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

accessories

I stumbled upon this lovely website, Blue Pool Road, [HERE] of photographer and award-winning designer (former art director for Martha Stewart, New York), Peggy Wong.   I began to wonder why some of us are minimalists of a sort who prefer clean lines and spare space and why some of us (moi) love to have stuff around us.  Is it something we are born with?  Kind of like my dish disease.  I love a variety of dishes and could buy more if it weren’t for the fact that I simply have no additional room for them.

(Above images by William Waldron via Elle Decor)

The above may not even be considered truly minimalist, but compared to what I like…you be the judge.

Since I fall into the latter description it’s easy for me to show you the rooms I love, often filled to the rafters with wonderful accessories and furniture.  Not clutter, just interesting, old items that give you a sense of history.  I can appreciate clean lines intellectually, but I find I must have my favorite accessories around me for it to truly feel like HOME.

I’ve rarely met a basket I didn’t like.

The images above and just below are vignettes arranged by one of my favorite bloggers and stylists, Jermaine of French Kissed


If there is any place in my house where I appreciate a more minimalist approach it’s within my cupboards and drawers.  I love it when a closet or drawer feels under-filled.  You are able to find things much easier and for me that provides a satisfying contentment and that makes me very happy.

 

I love this room and it is pretty sparse, maybe I could be more of a minimalist than I originally thought!

Just don’t take away my decorative stuff.  The plants, candles, books, antique odds and ends that I’ve scoured the dust filled antique store for, and find essential to my well-being.  {Maybe not literally, but you know what I mean if you enjoy antique accessories as much as I do}.

 

So tell me, be honest, are you more a minimalist or a accessories fan?

A wedding shower and beautiful antiques, what more could a girl want?

30 Monday Aug 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Antiques, Decorating, Entertaining

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

accessories, antiques, Entertaining

I recently attended a wedding shower at a good friend’s home.  We started with a choice of raspberry blini, Champagne and/or iced tea.  (Who can pass up raspberry-anything?).  The two hostesses did such a beautiful job with lunch (Mandarin chicken salad, fresh popovers and strawberry butter; killer cupcakes from a specialty bakery in Newport Beach called Susie Cakes).  Due to my love of antiques and wonderful décor I failed to take pictures of the table with the fabulous meal, sorry.

An overview of Anne's living room

This print and wall sconce is in Anne's dining room.


The bride-to-be was in attendance with her mom and her maternal grandmother and all three women are delightful.  It was also fun to see a few friends I haven’t seen in some time.

…but the best part for me was getting to visit my friend’s beautiful home.  Anne has always had a way of creating a warm and welcoming ambiance while featuring amazing antique pieces and accessories.  She graciously allowed me to shoot a few pictures and while this is but a sampling of her home, there are a couple of antique secretaries with an interesting story (that’s part of the fun in having antiques, right?).

Anne's antique Dutch secretary---this photo doesn't do it justice. I love the blue and white ginger jars on top.

Anne explained, “The Dutch secretary (below) is late eighteenth century (and should probably be in a museum some where) and was given to us by Marr’s grandmother whose father was an antique dealer in Los Angeles.  It has beautiful inlaid marquetry of fruit woods into a walnut veneer.  It is all original except for the brass hardware which was replaced many, many years ago.  One of the fun things about it are the little wooden trays that pull out that would have been used to set candle holders on – simple eighteenth century lighting!  When the doors on the upper portion are closed over the shelves you are able to see the fine marquetry work in all its glory”.

The finish on this English secretary is amazing. Antiques give any room a sense of history and provide a warm and welcoming look, don't you think?

The English secretary (above) is as beautiful as the Dutch piece and stands out in Anne’s living room.  It has such a wonderful story as Anne shares, “The English secretary is, I believe, from the Sheraton period and is all in original condition including the glass.  The only change made to this piece was also the hardware – also done many years prior to our ownership.  We bought this piece from an estate sale when we were first married.  The woman who had the sale owned an enormous, beautiful old home in the Hollywood Hills.  Her husband had been in the film industry in Hollywood and had passed on. She was, at that time, quite advanced in years and was selling the contents of her home and moving to Paris to spend her remaining years.  She had a companion secretary that was just like the one we bought but a bit larger, and that was the only piece she was moving with her to France.  I wish now that I had taken time to know her story more thoroughly, I think there was quite an interesting life history there”.

This little painting (left) catches your eye when you pass it and I had to ask Anne if the artist was famous, she explained, “The little seaside painting is one I gave ML (Anne’s hubby) for his birthday some years ago.  It is by a local artist but I don’t know anything about the person.  I liked it because you could almost feel the windy day and smell the salty air from the way the artist painted it.  I also liked the people in their nineteenth century dress standing on the shore and looking out to sea”.

The painting above the mantle has a story as well---if I remember correctly, Anne's grandma purchased this little painting at Harrod's when she was young. I love the art in Anne's house---she has such an artistic flair.

Her kitchen looks very European---quite an accomplishment when you think about the tract look all of these houses originally featured.

Dining room.

Accessorizing…icing on the cake.

16 Monday Aug 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Antiques, Decorating

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

accessories

As a follow up to my post of last week…more thoughts on accessorizing.

The components of an inviting home are many.  A house can have “good bones” as they like to say and still not be warm due to an ineffective layout of furniture, proportion / scale of furnishings and/or any number of other factors.

My friend Carla has a talent for not only finding wonderful antique accessories but for displaying them as well.

That said, I do know,  for me personally, accessories can make or break my impression of a home.  I believe that accessories should be personal and reflect the interests / history of its owners.  The accessories are always my favorite part.  If items are placed well (grouping small items has a greater impact) they create interest and a beauty that for me makes the room sing.  The mementos of ones travels or family pictures make a home seem inviting.

My library features my favorite accessory, dogs!

I realize that this is a topic that has as many opinions as there are homeowners who care enough to ‘feather their nests’.  I don’t like accessories that appear to be too matchy-matchy, too plastic (you know, fake age), or are too contrived.  I prefer interesting items that look as though there was some story to tell…something with history.

Isn't this a beautiful piece?! Carla is Queen of eBay.

You can always add a little history by collecting vintage or antique items that appeal to you.  Collecting is so much fun and the hunt is about 75% of it!  Tag or garage sales, thrift stores and some antique stores that host several vendors have a great many things that aren’t expensive.  Shop your parents, grandparents and relatives houses for items with a family history and many times they will be so pleased you are interested they will give you the first item for your collection.

Accessorizing can be fun and truly provide the “icing on the cake (home)”.

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Wall Art Inspiration for our bungalow

Project Design: Outdoor Living Spaces

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  • Homes that welcome the season
  • A little this and that
  • The color of autumn
  • Wall Art Inspiration for our bungalow
  • Project Design: Outdoor Living Spaces

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