Your Favorite Collection on Display

New TraditionalistsNow that you have your wonderful blue and white porcelain collection of plates  or those crystal goblets from Venice, where are you going to put it? You can’t just place it on that metal bookcase you bought at the local hardware store.  You have to do it justice! The right display cabinet will bring your collection the attention it deserves. 

If you have a somewhat eclectic style – a mix of traditional and contemporary furnishings, these display cabinets will fit into your decor. From the New Traditionalists above, the Cabinet 272 is made of bleached walnut with nickel hardware. The cabinet below from Century is made of maple and finished in black.

New Tradition cabinet from Century Furniture

china cabinet from Century Furniture

For more traditionally designed interiors, the China Cabinet above – also from Century - has an Art Deco feel.  A slightly more ornate and feminine style is the Pompadour cabinet from Grange. Notice the contrasting trim on the curvilinear skirt and cornice. 

Pompadour Cabinet from Grange

Sofiero breakfront from Country Swedish

If you have a light color scheme and a traditional, informal style, you may look at 18^th-century Swedish country furniture. This Sofiero breakfront from Country Swedish has a soft curvilinear top and will complement your china collection.

Oval Cabinet from Barbara Barry Collection for Henredon

This graceful cabinet designed by Barbara Barry for Hendredon would match an elegant contemporary space. The cabinet is made of walnut and decorated with oval tracery.

Interested in learning more about furniture design?  Take a look at Sheffield School's Complete Course in Interior Design.  At Sheffield, you will learn how to transform a space, create color schemes, and select furniture, lighting, and accessories.

mood board: Shabby Chic

Like a grand dame in her waning years, a shabby chic home reflects faded beauty and elegance but with blurry features. Despite this decay, Shabby Chic became a very popular style that gathered steam in the 1980s and continues to be a fashionable choice till today.  In our continuing series on mood boards, we’ll delve into the elements of a shabby chic interior.

Despite its emergence as a somewhat contemporary style, shabby chic has actually been around for a long time – the style really derives from the faded elegance of old British country manors.  The British upper class commissioned furniture makers to create long-lasting quality furniture and basically handed it down to their heirs.  Sometimes their descendents replaced the furniture with newer styles but as fortunes waned, some kept the more popular pieces – the Georgian and neoclassical styles – until it broke down.  What started as mere frugality eventually became a style statement in the 1980s. 

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mood board: Ocean-inspired

The thermometer reads hot, hot, hot – summer is definitely here - and the only thing on my brain is escaping to the beach.  For our Mood Board this month, we’re exploring all kinds of ocean-inspired styles.  Many clients have a secondary home on the beach, near the ocean, or on a tropical island so there is always a demand for that tranquil, summery, ocean-inspired look.

Our first mood board is the Seaside Style - which I chose to be an elegant, sophisticated interpretation of the vacation home genre. 

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