SHRINE

Clearly, I love baubles. More is more.

Did I ever tell you how I feel about minimalism? Sensorial starvation is supremely unappealing.

Styled and photographed by (IN)DECOROUS TASTE. Hand painted screen and crystal stalactite table also by (IN)DECOROUS TASTE.

Purple Haze

Picking up this purple velvet screen from a thrift store was probably one of the better decisions I've made this week. It's old, partially falling apart, made from cotton velvet, and weighs a freaking TON. Someone less inclined toward the hideous might have turned down an Elvis-esque screen upholstered in skinned muppet.

But hey, I love a challenge, pieces that really dare me to make them work, you know?

I knew I had met my match by the horrified snickers that my fellow shoppers shot me upon seeing my zeal for these gems (yup, there's another one, haven't decided what to do with that one yet).

I love items that straddle the line of bad taste. The saving grace for this screen is really the age, patina (worn patches and yellowed areas), weight, and quality of the materials (no polyester here, kids). And I think it's working out pretty well. I'm contemplating painting panels for the inset areas. We'll see where it goes.

Inspired By: Donald Deskey

Came across a fabulous article in the May 1987 issue of The Magazine Antiques about artist Donald Deskey's (1894-1989) screens:

Which were a source of inspiration in the creation of my closet doors:

Deskey was primarily a set and window designer, who created his graphic, art deco/streamline modern screens and paintings for everyone from Muriel Vanderbilt to Saks Fifth Avenue, and became famous for the decoration of Radio City Music Hall in the '20s. He also did ad work in his later years— Deskey was behind the Tide bullseye and the Crest toothpaste packaging. It makes sense considering the graphic nature of his designs but it's surprising nonetheless.

A quote from the article in Antiques:

As a reviewer commented in 1929:

Screens have many uses that are utilitarian; the concealment of passageways, the shielding from drafts, to mention a few, but as a rule their present day use is an artistic one. They shorten the too long vista of a great room; they deepen the shadows in the corners in which they stand, and their angled surfaces offer a peculiar variation of light and shade that in itself is decorative.

Well said, reviewer from 1929; that is positively the most poetic way I've ever heard someone address the topic of a screen! More people should use screens. Even though not all of us have the problem of needing to shorten a "too-long vista of a great room," most could probably benefit from that peculiarly modern pattern of light that screens cast. Or the sense of enclosed intimacy they create.