Second Wind : storage

I've always had a love of the Art Deco period and the beautiful furniture

with its curved lines, waterfall trims, two-tone wood, aged brass hardware and ultimately,

just beautiful craftsmanship and attention to detail.

I recently watched and loved The Great Gatsby movie

The interiors

the clothes

the luxe

the Leonardo...

and those heavenly parties - so decadent!!!

It made me relook at the many Deco-inspired items I've collected over the years.

Below are some of the treasures in my home, mixed in with contemporary pieces,

they really bring character and warmth to any space.

This armoire houses all our extra pillows, blankets and duvet covers.

The beautiful curves, mixed wood tones and hardware stopped me in my tracks when I saw it at an antique shop up north years ago.

The dark Asian chest on the floor next to it is going to be relocated (someday!)

aged brass door knobs up close

This lovely sideboard stores all my good table linens and sterling silver cutlery

(lovely things that are only used 1-2 times per year, so sad).

The bar cart was a common fixture in the party days (of the Deco period and of my youth LOL!)

This cart and chair are both finds during one of my Antique trips. The cart was $20!
The chair was quite scuffed up when I found it, so a quick spray spruced it right up.

The pretty, hand-painted emerald green bottle and glasses are vintage Italian glass, given to me by my mother-in-law (one of the few items she's given me over the years that I truly cherish).

I found this vintage radio at a Church sale up in Cookstown while I was Antiquing with one of my BFF's a few years ago. It sits on my stair landing now, surrounded by pictures of my trip to Paris, with said BFF.

This piece has been all over the house over the years because it's compact

and serves as a nice little surface to display things on top of.

When I bought it, I actually wanted to put shelves in the back (its backless now) and some castors, and turn it into a bar. Again, back to the BAR... I really don't drink much at all -

but I do love the look of a pretty bar set up!

I actually have a second bar tray display with lovely crystal bottles and glasses that were also given to me by various friends & relatives over the years. The tall one came from my favourite Aunt's house when she was downsizing to a condo and didn't want it anymore!

But enough about the stuff I already have...

Here are some extravagant pieces I would love to own to add to the collection

courtesy of 1stdibs

So beautiful...

and when I win the lottery

I will be prepared!

Do you ever look at a beautifully designed room and wonder, "Where do they put all their stuff"? I've always admired rooms that take advantage of all the vertical space by putting in custom cabinetry that was designed and built for the items the homeowners want to store. It can become the focal point in a room with little architectural interest as well as a great way to stay organized.

Steven Gambrel

Hallway nooks and odd niches make great spaces for bookshelves and custom cabinetry

that may otherwise be left empty.

Candice Olson basement family room

This basement was given a focal point with custom cabinetry to enclose the fireplace, TV and all the pretty things the client had to display on open shelving.

I'm redecorating a small townhouse living room that was in need of some serious storage as you can see from the dated "before" picture below. My client had a tiny oak cabinet that served her well in 1997 but was forced to keep her favourite treasures in the basement because she had nowhere to display them.

So I worked with a cabinetmaker that specializes in media solutions to design and build a unit that fit her requirements of a bigger, flat screen TV, storage for media equipment to be hidden, and open shelving for her treasured Hummel figurines that she's been collecting for years. We added some curvy legs to make it look more like a piece of furniture, traditional trim across the top to match her adjacent fireplace trim and lighting for a little sparkle in the evening and, to show off her prized collection.

Here's the sketch of the unit that was designed to ensure the shelves would fit my client's specific needs.

We made sure to maximize the space available on this wall. The unit is 88" wide and 84" tall. On the lower center doors we placed metal screens instead of wood panels to accomodate the media units while keeping the side door panels solid to hide all the things they don't want to display. We included glass shelves and doors on the upper cabinets with crystal knobs for an added bit of elegance. We then selected a paint colour that worked with her kitchen cabinetry also visible from the living room.

Here's the new unit (with old TV inside)
against a freshly painted gray wall with a hint of green

The screened-in doors add some additional interest and texture to the piece.

We will be placing baskets on the bottom center shelves to create a uniform and tidy look while keeping all the DVDs and smaller items hidden. My client was so pleased with the final outcome and what a big difference it made in the room - she couldn't wait to display her favourite things that had been in storage for so long.