HOW I ADDED OLD WORLD STYLE TO A VINTAGE CUPBOARD

My grey cupboard has always been a part of my kitchen.  When we renovated the kitchen I thought about selling it, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  There really wasn't a good spot for it in another room.  For now it's in our family room until I come up with another solution.  Here's what it looked like in the kitchen before we renovated.

I wanted to change it up a bit.  My inspiration was this bookshelf designed by Tara Shaw.  I like the look of wonderful books packed in to a space and going in all directions.   If you don't follow Tara, you should.  She's one of my favorite designers.  Here's the link to her Instagram account: 

@tarashawdesign.

TARA SHAW DESIGN

You can see that I did pack in the books and have them going every which way like the inspiration.  Once I got started though, my old world bookshelves took a different route.  I wanted to mix objects and art in with the books and show the pages as well as the spines and covers.  

 

Do you find the wavy rippled edges of old books just as interesting as the spines?  I do.  Many of the books were multiples so I was able to show them from every angle ----the marbleized covers, the spines, and of course the irregular pages.  Don't miss the sphere I used as a bookend.  It's a heavy ball covered in nails.  I purchased it from a friend who found it in Paris.  I have three and they're  definitely favorites.

WAVY EDGE PAGES AND FRENCH NAIL SPHERE

Even better are the books with marbleized pages.  I just had to display the pages instead of the spines.  I tucked a wooden bowl in to the corner.  It's filled with strands of glass beads that pick up the colors in the books.

BOOKS WITH MARBLEIZED PAGES

I also frequently add architectural pieces when I'm styling bookshelves. 

 These plaster corbels are perfect bookends.  

PLASTER CORBEL BOOKENDS

I couldn't forget to add some art.  I've had this vintage oil for many years.  I think I shared this before, but I found it at an auction hidden in the bottom of a box lot.  

VINTAGE OIL IN THE STYLING MIX

There's more art in another corner.  I placed these mini french scenes on to bamboo easels and mixed them in with some books with paper labels.

MINI FRENCH ART ON BAMBOO EASELS

What can be better than bird art on a nest easel?

BIRD ART ON NEST EASEL

These natural wood turned candleholders blended perfectly with all the other warm browns on the shelves.

CANDLEHOLDERS IN WARM TONES

To add a little color, I repeated the glass bead garland.

CANDLEHOLDER WITH GLASS BEAD GARLAND

The large architectural fragment on the leather book repeats the corbel bookends.

ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENT ON A SHABBY LEATHER BOOK

How do you style your bookshelves?  Just books? A mix?  Do you have a theme?

ENJOYED THIS POST? 
 Sign up to receive a notification every time I publish by clicking here.

MIXING MODERN AND VINTAGE. YES IT WORKS.

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.

PLASTER FRAGMENT AND MARBLEIZED BOOK

How do you style your bookshelves?  

ENJOYED THIS POST? 
 Sign up to receive a notification every time I publish by clicking here.