All About Vignettes: May 2018

If you've been following my blog for a while, you know that I have been very much into Mid Century Modern style. My family room still has that vibe, but I find myself drifting back to the style I've never given up. It's more of an Old World, chippy crusty furniture crumbling plaster walls style. I will never give up my love for campaign chests, ghost chairs, and brass, but what I've realized is that I can still hang on to my modern favorites and mix them with my old world loves.

Architectural details have never left me as an Old World design favorite. I've always had columns, corbels, weathered furniture, and architectural prints in my home. When I decided to re-style the modern chrome and glass bookshelves in my family room, my starting off point was a group of framed posters describing different column styles. What I loved about them was that although the subject was vintage architecture, the frames were modern chrome. Modern + Old World works. If you're having trouble agreeing, you might want to read the post I wrote about Piero Fornasetti, a prolific artist, sculptor, craftsman and decorator. Many of his works contain architectural depictions and at the same time seem very modern.

When I felt my style moving away from modern, I seriously thought about getting rid of my MCM bookshelves. What could be more modern than chrome, brass and glass? I decided I was going to make them work. They flank my fireplace and mantel. I rested my framed architectural posters on the mantel. Their chrome frames picked up the metallics in the shelves. I layered some silver wall pockets in front of the frames and added some painted branches from my yard.

CHROME-FRAMED ARCHITECTURAL POSTERS

SILVER WALL POCKET LAYERED OVER FRAMED POSTERS

I've written about styling bookshelves before. I always follow the same guidelines
when selecting what I showcase on the shelves:

COMPATIBILITY, SYMMETRY, BALANCE, TEXTURE, AND REPETITION

These shelves are a mix of Old World and Modern, and a repetition of like objects-----
books, demijohns, clocks, jewelry, the colors black and green, mixed metals, and architectural details.

RIGHT BOOKSHELF

LEFT BOOKSHELF

Books, both vintage and new, are always a part of my design. Several years ago I applied copies of antique architectural bookplates to the spines of books. If you'd like to see the tutorial, go here.

In the next image you'll see one set of the books I created. The bookends that support them are made to look like marbleized columns.

BOOKPLATE SPINES AND COLUMN BOOKENDS

Notice in the next image that I repeated the books and the architectural reference with a different book plate print, and used a Santos bust in place of bookends. I like to add jewelry to objects too. That Santos just needed some pearls.

BOOKPLATE SPINES AND SANTOS BOOKEND

Did you know that you could make copies of clock faces? I made a copy of a clock face and applied it to book spines using the same method I used for the architectural book plate prints. The books fit perfectly into this building representation. I have no idea what this mini edifice was intended for, but it's another bookend alternative for me.

BOOK SPINES WITH A CLOCK FACE AND "BUILDING" BOOKENDS

I actually purchased this next set of books and draped an old chain link belt next to them. Doesn't it look like the purse chain continues off the books? Next to the books are three gathered arrows supporting a black marble sphere. The arrows and sphere pick up the black in the books and the brass on the bookshelves.

CHANEL PURSE, ARROWS, AND MARBLE SPHERE

Since the books with clock face spines are on the left bookshelf, I added balance by placing an actual antique enamel clock face on the opposite bookshelf. It's resting on a brass easel. The chippiness and missing pieces only add to its appeal.

ANTIQUE ENAMEL CLOCK FACE

Of course I kept my ghost chair with its fur pillow. Next to the chair is my very large demijohn.

GHOST CHAIR AND DEMIJOHN

Here's a closer look at the bejeweled demi.

BEJEWELED DEMIJOHN

Again for balance and repetition, I placed a smaller demijohn onto one of the shelves.

DEMIJOHN ON SHELF

I've only shared architectural prints, but architectural fragments are also part of the mix.
The next image shows my absolute favorite ram bookend. Oh how I wish I had its mate. It's resting on some very weathered vintage leather books. Don't miss the inscription on the book. The handwriting is art. Notice that books don't have to be lined up and vertical.

RAM BOOKEND AND LEATHER BOOKS

I used another architectural fragment in this last image. It's made of plaster and appears to be part of a column. I rested it on a book with marbleized pages.