Eye For Design

Monday, May 7, 2012

Decorating With Vintage and Antique Mirrors

Add a little Old-World refinement to your surroundings with a mirror that wears it’s patina proudly.

Vanity aside, antique mirrors are a great way to add charm to you home. The gilt of beautiful frames immediately creates an elegance that can’t be reproduced by any other wall accessory. Whether they acquire their distinctive mottled finish through age or artful distressing, antiqued mirrors offer a sense of history and worldly sophistication. The scale and shape of a large antique mirror calls to mind a grand European salon.

If your taste is more towards contemporary décor, there are plenty of large and unique mirrors for you to use as well. No matter the style you choose make mirrors a part of your interior decorating plan.

We all know how a mirror makes a space look larger, more open, and adds dimension. Mirrors offer an inexpensive way to give the illusion of space. Place them on a wall opposite of a window wall and see how the view is multiplied times ten throughout the rest of the space.

Mirrors placed in a foyer or entryway is a welcomed sight for guests. They reflect light and open up a dark entry and give a place for guests to ‘check’ themselves while entering your home. In a larger foyer, place small table, flower arrangement, lamp and mirror on the wall to expand the living area into this welcomed space.

Below you will find more ways to benefit from using mirrors in you interior design.

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I simply adore large antique mirrors and use them wherever I can!

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Use mirrors to enhance a focal point of your room. This is a LFD project where I used the mirror to enhance the sofa area of the living room.

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In most homes the fireplace is already the focal point of the room in which it resides. In these two LFD projects, I added more emphasis to the fireplace by placing a beautifully framed mirrors above the mantels. This will enlarge the room, and add a reflective surface to the décor you place on the mantle. From candle sticks to seasonal décor, a fireplace begs for a gorgeous mirror to adorn it.

Large mirrors as focal points. Mirrors that sit on the floor, and are seven feet tall, are a beautiful way to add emphasis to an empty corner of a bedroom.

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See how this beautiful mirror brightens this hallway.

Use them as the headboard treatment of your bed. They are beautiful to display decorative accessories on. The reflection really enhances you treasures.

This crazy mirrored furniture trend has me swooning. I think it is absolutely beautiful. I mean, I really love the Old Hollywood Glam vibe it sends out. It is expensive however. I am considering mirroring a small table myself. I have a glass company I work with and hope they will help me cut various sizes of mirrors. It’s a project in the planning stage!

1. Circular mirrors can look very geometric and modern, depending on how they're displayed. Here, circular mirrors of the same style — just in different sizes — are spaced out across an entire wall. The effect is dramatic, bold and modern. 2. Also be creative and different! 3.Fragmentation. This method is based on arranging mirrors in certain order near each other. I think this third picture is unique and lovely.

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Make walls interesting...go against scale. Most people would put a smaller mirror over this chest but see how spectacular this over-sized one is here.

Another grouping of mirrors that makes a stunning reflective stairway wall.

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Here is a lovely vintage mirror.

This Modern Traditional space captures a vintage rustic feel. Everything seems to layer together so well — the gray walls and the large gray-framed mirrors behind the table definitely create a dramatic backdrop in this dining room.

There are so many styles of mirrors to choose from. I love painted mirrors, especially for Vintage and French Country decor.

Chinoiserie mirrors are perennial favorites.

Like I said there are many different styles. Just have fun selecting the right one ....two....or three for you!

Friday, May 4, 2012

Great Ways To Display Your Seashell Collection

One of the best ways to add charm to your home is to decorate with your collection of “treasures.” There is an art to displaying these throughout your home. The desired effect is for you to proudly show off your valued collection in an appealing and creative way. You should live with and enjoy your collections, not just put them away and forget the memories they evoke.

There is such a wide variety of decorative items to collect, everything from antiques to vintage buttons. However, they all have one thing in common, the need to be displayed beautifully as part of your home décor.

I am going to choose something most people have at least a small collection of to show you some beautiful and creative ways collections can be used to decorate your home.

If you are like me, you find it hard to return home from a trip to the beach without seashells picked up on those wonderful walks along the shore or bought at the many shell shops. Here are some lovely ways to use them in your home décor. Learn to display! Be creative! Remember that any collection looks best when displayed in strong groupings.

No matter the what style your home is decorated in, a seashell collection can add a chic touch.

Be creative whether opulent or simple design taste.

A beautiful antique stand is a gorgeous in any decor.

Display in small or large cupboards or use a whole room as your canvas.

Make a beach tabletop or mantle with decorative jars of sand and shells. Even include tags stating the names of different beaches they were collected from.

Make a tabletop display using books, urns, candles and other accessories.

Or just go over the top and create a shell covered chair for a special place in your home. Just have fun!!

Fireplaces with shells and candles during the summer months. Very clever!!

Try some do it yourself projects!!

Then treat yourself for a job well done. I love the graham cracker sand!!

Tips for cleaning seashells.

Remember to leave all live seashells on the beach!!

A seashell that is found already dead is actually a lot easier to clean. Follow these easy instructions:

Soak the seashells in a 50-50 solution of bleach and water. The length of time depends on the type of seashells and the quantity of seashells being cleaned. If there are still barnacles and other matter on the seashells, you can use an instrument, such as a dental pick, to chip off the material. Other useful tools are a toothbrush, grill brush, wire brush or a water pick. If you want to give your seashells a nice finish, you can wipe them with mineral or baby oil.

If sand dollars are dead let them dry for a few days, then put them in a pan with a little bleach. You may need to brush them gently. Do not let them bleach for too long as they tend to crumble. If you have the time you can just let them set all winter and they will dry and whiten by themselves. If you leave sand dollars out in the sun too long they tend to become brittle and break easily. There is a commercial preservative that can be brushed on to harden the sand dollar.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Decorating Your Bedroom........Boudoir Style

For most men the primary attraction in the bedroom is the person they are with. They really don’t notice the room. So many bedrooms are bland with white walls and few romantic accessories, no wonder they don't notice. When asked,“What color is your bedroom?” they usually have to ask the wife. So if you are a woman and you want a gorgeous bedroom, then you should have a one, and make it so beautiful that your man will feel like he's stepped into a fantasy. Men like to complain about canopy beds, but they secretly like them. A lot of men squirm at the idea, but a canopy bed shouldn’t threaten a man who is secure in himself. European men don’t mind them, but American men like being macho, a characteristic instilled in them by their football-playing fathers. They always want masculine bedrooms. Ugh, that’s not very sexy. One of those will NEVER be found in my house. Besides my man, while enjoying sports, is more European in his thinking. Thank God! The bedroom should be an escape from the humdrum into fantasy and romance. All bedrooms should have that French boudoir ambiance.

The right bedroom will make you look more beautiful,soft, and huggable. So what colors work best? Blondes look great against lavender or blue, and brunettes look wonderful surrounded by peach, pink, or lavender. Yellow is a terrible color for a bedroom—it makes your skin look sallow. Green isn’t the best either, unless you have rosy cheeks.

Now go out there and add some romantic elements to your bedroom. Everything seen in these pictures can be done, even on a smaller scale. So grab some fabric for draping your four posters, pretty linens, flowers and romantic dressers and chairs and get those bedrooms fit for a Queen! Trust me, the King will like it!!

You may not wake up to something this beautiful every morning, however you can and should turn your bedroom into an idyllic setting for amour!

This and the next two pictures are some of my own work.

The desk has been custom painted for the room.

These three pictures are from a bedroom recently designed and completely furnished and accessorized by Lisa Farmer Designs. Feminine, but a man could be comfortable here too.