DH Giveaway: The Vintage Table

Have you entered yet? I’m giving away this terrific book, The Vintage Table, by Jaqueline DeMontravel, on Saturday.

Anyone who loves vintage tabletop dishes, linens, vases and more, will find this book inspirational. I did.

To get the detail about how to enter (basically, leave a comment under the post) follow this link. The winner will be announced on Saturday and is drawn at random. No tabletop design experience is needed!

Good luck!

DH Giveaway: The Vintage Table

Just a quick reminder to enter this week’s giveaway – a copy of The Vintage Table, by Jaqueline DeMontravel.

It’s not just about your dining room table. It’s about collecting, and designing tabletops of all shapes and sizes. If you like vintage things, collections, things from France, you will find this book very inspirational. I’m raving about it because I’ve learned a lot from it.

My design weakness is styling tabletops. If I have lots of stuff to play with, I can do a great job. But shopping here and there is a real skill. You have to remember the scale of things you saw before. And then you find some new thing that gets you going in a whole new direction. I’m focusing on imporving things in this area and I found The Vintage Table to be a good start.

Don’t worry! I haven’t licked the pages. It’s new.

How To Enter

For all the details on how to enter, follow this link. The contest ends on Friday night and I’ll announce the winner, chosen at random, on Saturday. Good luck!

Collecting: Folkart and Vintage Toys

The Hollands have spent many a year collecting their ecclectic mix of folkart, fine art as well as vintage and not so vintage toys. They were kind enough to send me some photos of just a few rooms of their Baltimore apartment where the collection resides. Let’s take a peek.

An antique medicine cabinet has become the home of a wide variety of Star Wars figurines, and other toys from decades gone by.

Here’s a close-up looks at just some of the residents. I like Pebbles and Felix.

Here’s a view (without the window) of one wall in a little study. Not such a great photo, but you get the idea of how well a mix of folkart can be displayed. It looks higgeldy piggeldy, but somehow it works.

I love this rather artistic shot. The mirror reflects the art on the opposite wall. Not an inch to spare.

Should I say it again? Somehow it works. I would rearrange a bit, but once you get started, you just can’t stop. That Hot Tamale Train is passing through.

Finally, the Hollands (Annie is the big collector of the two) say “thank you” with a little star below yet another shelf of miniature collectibles.

Do you have a collection to show the world? Send your photos my way via the “contact” link. What do you think of this collection? I don’t want to think about dusting it. But it’s a lot of fun to look at.

Design Dilemma: Arranging Art On A Blank Wall

I’ve received a request from Nikki for help with her new home. Nikki wants some advice on what to do with a blank wall.

She says, “The color is changing to a warm yellow. It’s been suggested that we mount a giant stuffed grizzly. Another friend suggested a collection of round mirrors. My aunt suggested a giant clock. I plan to do a photo grouping on a different wall. I suppose I could do another one here. I have no shortage of photographs to choose from.

It’s times like this I wish I had some sort of collection (well, actually… I do have a collection of cameras ranging from modern to plastic toy cameras and much older cameras that used to belong to my grandparents in the 50s/60s. Maybe I could find a way to mount them here? Or just use shelves? Eep. I’m not sure.”

Nikki, I love the idea of showing off your camera collection. Here’s how I would do it. Start with wooden boxes (IKEA has great ones). Paint the boxes inside and out. Use a bright color for the inside back side. The blue from the walls in the kitchen and dining room would be good. Hang these on the wall and place your cameras inside.

One concern is that it looks like this is a major traffic area. Make sure the cameras won’t interfere with people moving around.

Does anyone have a good idea for this wall? Let’s give Nikki an assortment of opinions to choose from. And Nikki, let us know which one you decided on.