REPEATING CORAL

When I was painting my chinoiserie table and chairs coral, I impulsively took the paint brush to some branches in a vase.  At the time there was no plan.  What I later realized was that those curly, gnarly branches repeated the coral in the room, not just in color, but in form too. 

CORAL BRANCHES ON MY BAR CART

Those turned and twisted branches repeat the pattern of coral.

GNARLY "CORAL" BRANCHES

The coral shape repeats itself in the coral framed prints and reflects and repeats in the mirrored frames.

CORAL BRANCHES REPEATING AND REFLECTING IN FRAME

REPEATS AND REFLECTIONS FROM ANOTHER ANGLE

The coral pairs and compliments the copper in the room. Notice the sculptural metal coral on the stand in the upper left corner behind the leopard shaker.

CORAL AND COPPER COMBO

I added a sea life Pottery Barn platter on the bottom shelf.

POTTERY BARN PLATTER ON BAR CART BOTTOM SHELF

I also have some "coral" candlesticks on my table.  I purchased them at West Elm many years ago.

CORAL CANDLESTICKS ON MY TABLE

One of my all time favorite books, CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, rests on my coffee table.  Of course the cover has what else but some coral.

MY FAVORITE BOOK WITH CORAL ON THE COVER

Do you repeat design elements?  Do you have a plan or does it just happen?

LAYERING WINDOWS

When I realized that I layer windows, my first thought was "Oh no!  I've run out of wall space and I've moved on to windows."  After I thought it through though, I realized that there were no blinds or draperies on these windows.  Whew!

I layered a sunburst mirror over the window in my dining room.   

MIRROR LAYERED OVER MY DINING ROOM WINDOW

 I used a ribbon to suspend it from the window latch.

MIRROR SUSPENDED WITH A RIBBON

You've recently seen my vintage bird print in my kitchen.  Again,  I suspended it with ribbon.  Can you see my giant Black-eyed Susans in the background?  My cottage garden is coming through for me again.

VINTAGE BIRD PRINT IN MY KITCHEN WINDOW

 There are large windows on three of the walls in our sun room.  Two have draperies, but the ones facing the back yard are drapery-free.  They were the perfect spot for me to suspend some sea life prints in mirrored frames.  

SEA LIFE PRINTS IN MIRRORED FRAMES

I attached the prints to the window frames with picture hooks.

SEA LIFE PRINTS ON WINDOW FRAMES

PRINTS ABOVE THE BAR CART

ROOM REFLECTIONS IN THE MIRRORED FRAME

Do you layer windows?

To see my post about how I layer my retail space, go here.

Or, click on the image below.

HOW I LAYER A RETAIL SPACE

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Layering

I love the look of layering.  You've seen my layering on tabletops and mantels, but I also love the look when a  mirror, an architecturally interesting plaque, or a picture are layered over a styled bookcase.

The sunburst mirror in this image from Cote de Texas adds an element of surprise to the already beautifully styled niche.

I don't know the source for the next two images but the prints on the front of the bookcase and the antlers in frames in the following really add that special element of the unexpected to the styling.

And, why not add something architectural as Brooke from Velvet and Linen did?

I created a similar effect in my sun room.  I didn't add to a bookcase, but I layered framed prints onto the window frames. ( Don't tell any one I put holes in window frames). 

I have four sets of windows in that room.  Since the two side windows have views of the neighbors, I added draperies for privacy.  Privacy is not a concern in the two sets facing the back yard.  I didn't want to block the view, but I needed something.  Since I already had a shell reference map between the windows, I added some prints of coral in mirrored frames.

One of a set of six prints.  So sorry about the reflections from the drapes, rug, and floor.

These prints are from a large home decor supplier, Two's Company.  They are one of the wholesale sellers that I use for the store.  I love the look of mixing new with vintage.  These framed prints (no longer available) were keepers and would work perfectly in this room since I had shells and coral color as an accent in that room already.
Here they are in place on the window frames.

Some close-ups of the prints, one at night and the other during the day.

Anyone have a trick for taking photos when mirrored surfaces are involved? 

Kathy