Tag: <span>wall decor</span>

I’ve never purchased art for the matting, until now. Set a quarter-inch deep with a massive white border, the matting makes this tiny picture seem so grand. Prints rarely even come this small (or warrant such a big frame) but if you look into the collectible world of early 20th-century cigarette trading cards, you’ll find more. Scenes of beautiful women, baseball players, cinema stars, and other popular imagery used to be printed on stiff pieces of paper and slipped into cigarette packs to keep the fags from bending and add a little Cracker-Jack surprise to the smoking experience.
Art idea--cigarette-cards from japanThough I would have probably purchased this frame even if I didn’t adore the card inside, the 1940s subject matter was a definite selling point. A Japanese woman lounging nude in a living room, with jelly rolls proudly exposed, sitting on a side table admiring her red high heels—what’s not to love? Plus, the Marimekko-like blue floral carpet is pretty spectacular. The simple pen drawing is wonderfully graphic and the scene a bit mysterious.

I found this piece of art at this adorable boutique called Bucks County Dry Goods in Lambertsville, NJ but you can be sure to find antique cigarette trading cards on eBay, as well.

Finds

Framing ideas for RecordsWithout decorating our apartment with Statue of Liberty figurines and Sopranos posters, we wanted to give our Hoboken apartment a sense of place. To do this, there is no man better than Frank Sinatra. Ol’ Blue Eyes was born in Hoboken on December 12, 1915 and the town has been touting him ever since.

Contributing to the Sinatra craze wasn’t necessarily our planned homage but the previous owner of these records convinced us it was the thing to do.

We stopped at this stranger’s garage sale in upstate New York, got chatting, and when we told him we were from Hoboken, he insisted we take his album collection. Though I wasn’t particularly interested in the records (our player is broken and we have Sinatra on CD), his enthusiasm got me thinking about the covers. In simple silver frames, they would make a kitschy-cool collection for our kitchen.

We picked the range of Frank to display: Hollywood Starlet, Rat Pack, and the Chairman of the Board.

framing-ideas-records-hatI took out the records, cut off the back sleeves, and put them in square Ikea frames with wide matting.

With three Sinatra’s greeting me every time I walk walk into my kitchen, I’ve found my sense of place.

Projects

design-ideas-antique-mirrors.jpgWhen my grandmother passed away a few years ago, my aunt Chris decided to decorate a room in her honor. Perhaps the most touching design concept I can possibly think of, the room is filled with Grandma Bunny’s favorite things: family pictures, her signature rabbit tchotchkes, her best dresses, and–my favorite–her hand mirror collection.

My aunt hung the six Bakelite pieces on the wall, clustering four in the center with two flanking the top and bottom. The verticality of the display and the varying shapes give the display real presence. I currently don’t own a single hand mirror but after seeing this collection, they are officially on my flea-market radar.

design-ideas-mirrorsFor anyone charmed by this idea but equally short on supply, Umbra is releasing a great line to get you started. Fairest is a series of frameless mirrors but cut into classic shapes. Sold in a set of five for a ridiculous $26.50, they will be available in late October. Whether you go with all new mirrors, vintage, or a mix–it will be an undoubtedly sweet display.

Etc Finds

WallpaperPasting.jpgIn designing our new apartment, a lot of elements are still fuzzy but one thing I’ve always known is: Each bedroom will have a wallpapered accent wall. Maybe this is because wallpapering is practically forbidden in the land of renters, but it is most of all an excuse for wild pattern. If placed right, it can be the surprise in the room. I chose two fantastically bold prints but put them on the least visible wall, so you have to round a corner or do a 180 to notice them.

WallpaperMasterBedroom.jpg
For the master bedroom, I always wanted an oversize leaf print for the headboard wall. Ferm Living’s Leaf paper was the trellis effect I was going for. I painted the other three walls with the blue leaf’s equivalent: Benjamin Moore #HC-143.

Wallpaper-GuestBed.jpgFor the guest bedroom accent wall, the shimmer and pop of Graham and Browns Elinor in Carmine won me over and to balance the rest of the room I picked B. Moore’s Metallic Veil Cream (metallic sounds scary, I know, but this one is subtle and sophisticated).

WallpaperCutting.jpgI had the papers picked out for months but the motivation to hang them didn’t come as quickly. The more I read up on the topic and the more I talked to those who’ve wallpapered, I felt the consensus was: Get help. Even Good Housekeeping: The Complete Household Handbook, a publication known for its consumer empowerment, suggests hiring a professional! Nervous but not discouraged, we bought the supplies, primed the wall, cut the paper to size, then plumbed, pasted, booked, hung, shifted, smoothed, trimmed, and sponged until it was done at one o’ clock in the morning. And that was only one wall.

WallpaperPlumbLine.jpgAlbeit time consuming, the process is not as difficult as everyone made it out to be.  It just takes an incredibly meticulous and patient person–thank you Mike for getting me through this–and a love of pattern.

Projects