PATENT LEATHER AND PLASTER HEADS

 If you're a long-time follower you know that I have a "thing" about many things.  This post speaks to my thing with plaster heads, aka plaster busts, and patent leather.

When we renovated our kitchen I found a corner that was perfect for my favorite patent leather chair and some artwork.  

MY FAVORITE PATENT LEATHER CHAIR IN THE CORNER OF MY DINING ROOM

You probably recognize the vintage framed art that travels around my home.  It's made appearances in many places during this blog adventure.

VINTAGE FRENCH ART

Next to the chair is my patent leather plinth.  I'll confess that it's really high gloss paint.  Humor me please.  I topped the plinth with some books and added one of my many plaster busts. 

"PATENT LEATHER" PLINTH

 I believe that this gentleman had previously been attached to a body.  His loss is my gain.

  If you're ready to accuse me of creepy decor you'll have to get in line. My design choices are frequently the butt of family jokes.  I recently did get my revenge when I found his twin resting on some books in a magazine photo from House Beautiful.  Gotcha!!!!

TWINNING IN HOUSE BEAUTIFUL

Do you have home decor that you love and hang on to in hopes of finding just the right spot?  I do.  This sunburst mirror is one of those special pieces.  It found its MAYBE forever spot layered over the dining room window .  My mantra is that if you love something you will EVENTUALLY find it its perfect location.  I'm not telling how many pieces in waiting I have; so don't ask.

SUNBURST MIRROR LAYERED ON WINDOW

It casts a great shadow too.  FYI, we are not alcoholics.

MIRROR CASTING SHADOWS

What treasures do you have in waiting?

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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My Vintage Bamboo

Previously I blogged about vintage bamboo and how versatile it is.   It's neutral, so it fits in anywhere and one piece can be used in so many ways.  If you missed the previous post, go here.

In this post I wanted to share the bamboo pieces I have in my home and how I use them.

I have several bamboo shelves.  I have two in my sun room on either side of my fireplace mantel.  I use this one for books.

Bamboo Shelf with Books

Although they're narrow, I can pack them with books.
 They're also lightweight and can be moved easily when one of my frequent change ups happens.

To add some variety to the books, I put a pedestal orb, some coral, and a string of amber beads on the top shelf.  A framed watercolor is a backdrop.  I also tucked my foo dog on the lower shelf.

I also have a bamboo footstool.  I love its shabbiness.  I keep it on my stairway landing and use it as a riser for my ever-changing displays.

I have another bamboo footstool.  The top was damaged so I covered it with some P.Kaufmann leopard fabric.  The top lifts and I store my candles inside.  On top is my bamboo tray.  It has a lacquered insert with an image of a bird.

My bamboo footstool with a leopard top.  Bamboo tray with bird.

This tiered cart is made of rattan, but I consider and use it like bamboo.  It's in my dining room and holds of all things my bamboo place mats.  These are the best place mats because they wipe clean and I can even use them as trivets.

Here's a closer look.  The prints are vintage framed botanicals.  My grandfather made the plaster bust.

This two level bamboo stand is in my kitchen.  I use it to hold my metal document boxes.  I'll do another post about them, but I use them to cut down on the kitchen clutter.

Yes, there's more of the rough cedar trim in my kitchen too.

Notice the top of this stand.  I've been told that whenever you see this type of a design on the top of a piece of bamboo instead of a woven top, you can assume that it's English bamboo. 

This isn't one of my better vignettes, but I wanted to share this other style of bamboo stand.  We use it to hold one of our phones.

It's also "English".  Notice the leaf pattern.

I use this bamboo easel to hold a vintage book on a shelf in my pine cupboard.  In the plate grooves are some of my green and white transferware.

I think my most unique piece is this side table.  Not only is it large, but it also has two small fold-out shelves.  They can be down as I have them in the photo, or they fold up and are out of the way.

I think it's my favorite bamboo piece.

The side shelves can be for display, or many times it's where I rest my coffee cup.

Our bed is rattan.  It isn't vintage but I still love the look.

Our Rattan Bed

So, do you have any bamboo pieces in your home?

Kathy