A Peek...

Some people make impulse purchases of things like magazines and chewing gum. A rainy day antiquing session led to my purchasing a new bed.

So, the checking account will hurt for a little while. But what can you do when love strikes? I remember once reading an article suggesting that one should only buy furniture out of love, never necessity. The author spoke of being young and abroad and falling for a coffee table that she could barely afford and for which she didn't have the space. She credited this experience for changing her outlook on buying furniture; while her interior changed countless times over the years, it was never without her beloved pieces.

The idea is that if you buy only decor you fall in love with, your interior will take more time to construct, but you'll never grow tired of it, as you'll always find a place for those pieces that speak to you. I adore the interiors of collectors' for this very reason.

As soon as the weather clears up, I'll foray into the world of the French polish. Until then, I leave you with a peak of things to come:

Quickie

Because in the realm of DIY, I always prefer quickies...

It takes about 5 minutes to wrap lampshades in ribbon, but it does so much to create mood lighting and texture. Seriously, what is it with me and texture lately?

Metallic ribbon remnants on vintage lamps.

Secured with glue, because I'm like that.

Ring It Up

According to Peggy Post (of the Emily Post Institute), napkin rings were once used informally at dinner when a household was too large to keep up with the wash. Each person had a unique ring to mark a napkin as their own, so that the napkin could be reused several nights in a row.

1. Thank god for washing machines.

2. Why'd we throw out the baby with the bath water? Cheap metallic rings and those ubiquitous wirey beaded bands are uninventive and make for a boring, repetitive place setting. A boring place setting makes it all the more likely that guests will notice bad food. This obviously isn't an option if you share my (lack of) cooking skills.For more engaging tablescapes, use zippers, chains, pins, bows, bracelets, buckles, ribbons, bow ties, or fresh flowers. Scrounge!! Hell, I'd even use trash if looked appealing.

3. So that your dinner is at least visually delicious:

Napkin rings, left to right: chain belt, vintage pin on zipper, antique cut steel belt buckle, Victorian era bracelet and baroque pearls on velvet bow, vintage Weiss pin, vintage pin on zipper, vintage dress clip on zebra ribbon.

Tablescape with vintage belt buckle and grosgrain ribbon used as napkin ring. Assorted dishes and vases all vintage.

A Tin in a China Closet

Who says curio cabinets should only be stocked with priceless porcelain? Vintage tins can be just as lovely. The cherry on the cake is that it's easy to find interesting ones on eBay for under $20. Look for old English ones; you usually can't go wrong with those.

Assorted vintage tins. Image hosted on imageshack.us

Graphic Design

On my agenda: Incorporating graphic elements into an otherwise non-graphic space. There's something fresh about the softness of rococo roundness and confused patterns encountering a pungent black and white combo. My latest experiments:

www.maisonarchinard.com

Black white and red look lush together.

Interesting facts that are somewhat useless: 1. If a language has only two color terms, they'll likely designate "black" and "white." The third color term, if a language has only three, is red. 2. The contrast between black and white attracts the attention of newborns only seconds old. (Leading to the theory that it's likely that they learn to recognize a mother by her hairline, typically the highest contrast area on the face.) 3. The artist Alexander Calder favored the black/white/red color combo because he believed it most clearly displayed the motion of his mobiles.

What does all of this mean? That my affinity is shared by others and that the color combo might appeal to my reptilian brain. Comforting.

I Want My Geese to Lay Gold Egg(plant)s for Easter...

At least a hundred a day!

And by the way...

Some people are inclined to equate golden decorative vegetables divorced from a Christmas context with egregious tackiness. I beg to differ. Actually, what better way to look forward to spring than with golden vegetation? If only the damn things would sprout out of the ground in this kind of gleaming glory.

Vintage gold glazed porcelain fruits, displayed on vintage tray.

Blue and White

I've been feeling inspired by blue and white lately. It's classical, cool, and somehow, simultaneously conjures up images of hot summers and heaps of snow. Kind of fabulous how drastically one can alter the effect just by changing the shade of blue, right? Powder blue and white looks dreamy and ethereal (think Gustavian interiors), navy is nautical, and prussian blue lends itself to chinoiserie motifs.

Enough said. Since I'm not actively trying to put anyone to sleep here, I will prevent myself from further waxing poetic about blue and white.

Hand painted secretary, vase, and canvas/silk/linen pillows and frescoed raw plaster wall: maisonarchinard.com.

Hand painted vase and decorative box, antique cloisonne boxes: maisonarchinard.com.

Devil's in the Details

If the devil is in the details, then the best way to give him a run for his money is by. . . changing the finials on your lamps. All of them. Even the new ones. ESPECIALLY the new ones. Old finials make lackluster lamps look more expensive and worldly. A few of my favorite antique gobstoppers:

Lamp finials, all vintage

And then a little secret. The best play to find old, heavy, cracked and otherwise interesting finials is secondhand. Rip them off ugly lamps, scour the internet, search eBay regularly, dig them out of the trash! Some of my finials were seriously a steal. A cursory search on Ebay and then Etsy yielded these:

Left to right: Etsy,ornate brass finial from myohmymaggie, $12.00, Ebay fleur de lis finial, Etsy porcelain rose finial from mothtoaflame, $32.00, Ebay ruby glass finials, Ebay amber glass finials, Ebay tole flower finial.

Inspired by Fabergé

Assorted Fabergé enamel boxes

Left: Painted jewel accent table with faux malachite boxes. Right: Painted tortoise accent table with faux malachite boxes.

Painted malachite box detail

Painted decorative box

Ebonized turquoise table

Ebonized turquoise table detail

It's undeniable: Fabergé, the Russian imperial jeweler, knew how to put together drool-inducing objects rich in texture, color and minute detail. And those lumpy briolette diamonds? What bling should be. So, naturally, Fabergé has been serving as my latest muse and inspiration.

Why stop with jewels? I figure the world could use some Fabergé inspired furniture. I wanted these to be extremely decadent, to approximate the mouth watering nature of Faberge's work.  To avoid tackiness deluxe, I incorporated a fair share of patina, a hefty dose of age. My apologies in advance for the lack of briolette diamond encrustation. I do what I can, my dears.


All furniture and painted boxes created, styled and photographed by (In)Decorous Taste.