STYLING YOUR SPACE WITH CONTAINERS

We all have special treasures we want to display.   Containers are an easy way to style your finds.  For me, one of the best ways to do this is to gather them together inside cloches, stack them into glass containers, or even place them inside lanterns.

Clear glass containers work well.   In my living room I stacked some mottled ceramic spheres into a large clear jar.  I rested the jar on a mirrored pedestal.

CERAMIC SPHERES DISPLAYED IN MY LIVING ROOM

This next container is tall and narrow.  Small turtle shells climb over each other to reach the top.  I put some sea glass into the bottom of the jar.

SMALL SHELLS DISPLAYED IN A NARROW JAR IN MY HOME

One of my partners, Monica, @Gatehouse Designs, just dropped some leather-bound books into an over-sized jar.

LEATHER BOOKS INSIDE AN OVER-SIZED JAR

She used the same idea with some freeze-dried artichokes.

ARTICHOKES FILL A LARGE CONTAINER

I simply tumbled my collection of shed antlers into a container and let them fall into place.

SHED ANTLERS TUMBLED INTO A CONTAINER

I did the same thing with this driftwood garland.  It filled and overflowed the fluted jar.

DRIFTWOOD GARLAND CASCADING OVER FLUTED JAR

Cloches work just as well as jars.  When they're on a pedestal, I like them even better.

I rolled up some large architectural book plates and placed them inside a very large cloche on a pedestal.

ARCHITECTURAL PRINTS INSIDE A CLOCHE AT THE STORE

In a matching cloche, I simply added a small bust on top of a stack of vintage books.

BOOKS AND A BUST INSIDE THE CLOCHE

This cloche is on my screened porch.  I filled it with shells, coral, and a mercury glass bird.

CLOCHE ON MY SCREENED PORCH

This "cloche" is actually the top half of a demijohn.  There's a picture frame inside and some jewelry draped around the neck of the bottle.

DEMIJOHN WITH A FRAME INSIDE

My collection of artists' brushes is inside this cloche.  The backdrop is a vintage framed ceiling tile.  HINT:  To get all the brushes in place, I turned the cloche upside down, added the brushes, then the base, and flipped it right-side-up while supporting the base from underneath.

MY COLLECTION OF ARTISTS' BRUSHES

And yes, I didn't put a candle into my lantern.  Instead, I added some books, a cast iron bird, and a piece of fan coral.

LANTERN SANS CANDLE

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Un Art

Art doesn't always have to be an oil stretched onto canvas or a print matted, framed and hung on a wall.  For me, ordinary objects can be art as well.

A large garden gate is art layered behind a framed map in my living room.

A Garden Gate as Art and as a Back Drop

In my sun room, a pull-down classroom sea life map is my over-sized art.

Pull-Down Classroom Map As Art

An iron window grate is art on my mantel.

An Iron Window Grill as Art in Family Room

I filled a container with a collection of shed antlers.

Shed Antlers in a Glass Container as Art

The cloche on my porch has a mercury glass bird and coral.

A Bird and Coral Fill a Cloche

More shells fill a large faux shell on my mirrored table.

More Shells as Art

A large garden gate is art layered behind a framed map in my living room.

I placed a remnant of my Trina Turk fabric into a frame for some modern art.

Framed Fabric Remnant as Art

I applied architectural book plates to book spines.

Architectural Book Plates Applied to Book Spines in My Pantry

An architectural fragment, urns, and globes are "art" in our bedroom.

A Column Fragment, Globes and Urn "Art" in Our Bedroom

Faux taxidermy is art too.  My Anthropologie elephant trophy is a fave.

Anthropologie Elephant Trophy as Art

On my screened porch, a large metal ceiling tile is my art.

Antique Metal Ceiling Tile on My Screened Porch

A wall sconce, leather books and an architectural fragment are my foyer art.

Foyer Art:  Wall Sconce, Architectural Fragment, and Leather Books

I've had a pair of these wonderfully weathered farm machinery gears for a while.

They need to find a home in my home soon.

I'd love to know what you have as "un art" in your home.

Gilding the Lily

In an earlier post I gave instructions on how to style a bookcase.
This was the result of my styling.

I like the collected-over-time look of my bookcases, but I've always been drawn to the uniform look of the Restoration Hardware bookshelves with the books covered in

a solid color.  Here's one of the shelves I like.

Restoration Hardware

I decided I'd like to give it a try and found some large books at a sale.
My only requirement was that they were all similar heights.
They were perfect for covering.  I purchased some white craft paper on a roll and I was ready to go.  Anyone who has covered a text book can do this.

I measured the width and doubled the measurement.  To that I added the width of the spine plus 8 more inches to allow for the fold overs on the front and back covers.

Next I measured the height and added 4 more inches to allow for the folds on the top and bottom.

I unrolled the craft paper onto my sewing cutting board.  The grid helps me measure  and draw a straight line.  I used my metal square also to make sure all was straight.  I then covered the books with the same method I use for school text books.

Here they are covered.  You know me though, I just couldn't stop there.  It was time to gild the lily.  So much for the Restoration Hardware look.

I decided to add images to the spine of the books.  The first thing I did was copy an old clock face I had.  I then cut it into thirds.

I glued the image to the spine with Mod Podge.
I also top coated the images to protect and seal them.

I really liked how it turned out.
Since I still had more books, I selected another image and cut it in quarters.

I liked this too so I copied some antique architectural bookplates that I had and cut them into strips and applied them to my other books.

You can see that I used three books for the building and decided to turn the two other books with a different architectural print on their sides.  I staged this photo in my laundry room.  I haven't shared that room yet, but I have three over-sized architectural prints in stainless frames.  I thought they would be a good back drop.  The urn and the finial are also part of the laundry room decor.  Underneath the items is a weathered and mottled mirror.

Yes, I'm out of control with this.  I had several vintage cardboard childrens' animal toys.  I decided to copy the elephant, then I cut him into fifths to fit the books I had.

I did a twist with this one.  I had some orange wrapping paper left over from Christmas.  I have to say that it was much easier to work with the wrapping paper.  I also removed the white back ground from the elephant copy before gluing him down.


I think I like the elephant the best.  What's your favorite?

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