For the display-challenged

To follow up on my previous post about wall displays using vintage and antique items, I know that some people don’t feel comfortable trying to find items which they can mix and match for a wall display. Unless you can put the items side by side or lay them out in an arrangement, it’s hard to know what will work together - and you certainly can’t carry a box full of items when you go shopping. Fortunately, there are some sellers on Etsy that make it very easy for everyone. They sell collections of items that can be used together. There are collections of frames and collections of plates. Simply arrange the frames on your wall and center a plate in the middle of each frame. What’s nice about the plate collections is that the sellers have already mixed and matched the plates for you.

There are collections of other vintage items that can also be used for a wall display. In the treasury that is pictured here, I’ve tried to pair the items which go well together. For someone with a rustic décor, the rusty wagon wheels could be placed inside and around the vintage embroidery hoops. The celadon Asian saucers could be used with the Asian fans. The colorful fiesta plates would look wonderful in the colorful frames. The vintage red frame grouping also has two wall pockets and two candle sconces so that’s an additional way to bring some variation into the display. The fruit labels and the copper molds complement each other so well.

'Collections for wall display' by TouchingThePast

Set of 12 plates for a plate... jawaddel $28.00	Shabby Chic Black Picture Fr... gardenofchic $78.00	Vintage Set of English Plate... LovedByTime $15.00	Silver Black and White Pictu... melissap6908 $40.00
Rusty Red Wagon Wheels, Inst... junquegypsy $58.00	Instant Collection of Vintag... SixtytoSeventy $24.00	Set of 7 Vintage Mixed Engli... EnglishTransfe... $69.99	Frame Collection Gallery Wal... vinskord $136.00
Set of 9 Mixed Vintage Engli... EnglishTransfe... $94.99	Red vintage 9 piece wall gal... onelovelyroseb... $65.00	Lot of Five Vintage Fruit Cr... BlackEyedSusan... $20.00	Vintage Copper Mold Wall Han... melanieperalto... $13.50
Vintage Asian Mid Century Fa... melanieperalto... $24.00	Vintage Celadon Green Asian ... Nachokitty $48.00	Saturday Frame Collection - ... MandolinGoose $42.00	A Quintet of Vintage America... sweetbeecottag... $20.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

When it comes to wall displays, try to think outside the box. You don’t always need to use the expected or the usual when decorating.

When I hung this pair of watercolors, I thought they needed something "more". So, I found a piece of antique ceiling tile at an architectural salvage place for very little money. I actually didn't like the color so I rubbed on some paint. Then, I placed it between the pictures. Even though it is a lot more rustic than the pictures, it fits the style of the room, my office, which is decorated with primitive items.

There are sellers on Etsy who sell ceiling tiles that would look great as a collection by themselves or with other items. Here's one such example:



If you have wall displays using unusual items, I'd love to see them.

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As Promised

In my last post, I said I would talk about how to choose vintage and antique pieces that aren’t from the same maker or pattern and maybe not even from the same era but that you can display together.  To illustrate this, I’m going to refer to items which are currently for sale on Etsy.  Again, in the interest of disclosure, I am an Etsy seller.

In fact, I want to begin with a tole tray that I’m presently offering in my shop.  The tray will serve as the centerpiece of the display that I want to put together.  It’s a lovely piece and offers lots of scope for choosing other pieces for the display since it has several colors in the flowers and leaves.



SYMMETRY

I personally like symmetry in my arrangements, whether it be a wall display or some other kind of display.  So, if I put something on one side of the tray, I will want to find something of equal size and color to balance it out on the other side.  I like to use different patterns in the pieces I select.  Since the tray is floral, I don’t necessarily want to select other pieces with a floral pattern.  I use the word “necessarily” because I don’t think it’s wrong to eliminate floral altogether.

AN ETSY TREASURY

On Etsy, you can create “Treasuries” which showcase up to 16 items from sellers.   The treasuries you create can be a particular theme or just random items you like.  I find them very helpful for decorating purposes.  It’s easy to see if the items in which you’re interested will look good together.  I’ve made the mistake many a time of buying something only to find it won’t work when I get it home.  What’s especially nice about creating a treasury is that you can always edit them – if something sells, you can add another item or you can move items around to see if something looks better.

So, I’ve created a treasury which shows 16 items, but think of it as four rows of four items.  Each row represents items that I plan to display with my tole tray.  You will see that while many of the items are round, there is some variation.  There is also variation in size.  Just as I want different colors and patterns, I also want different shapes and sizes.  So in the first row, the dominant color is yellow; in the second row, the dominant color is green; red is dominant in the third row; and blue and yellow are dominant in the fourth row.  What you choose is very dependent on personal taste as well as existing room colors.   My favorite combination is the first row but because the wall on which I am planning to hang the display is yellow, I will more than likely not choose the first or last row.  I don’t want anything that will blend into the wall color – I want everything to pop.

'Vintage items for a wall display' by TouchingThePast

Chintz Nut Bowls, Rosal... MothersVintage $28.00	2 Aqua Blue Butter Pats... LyndasLoft $12.50	Delft Germany Saucers B... AppelJar $14.50	Original Yellow Fiesta ... PomDecors $9.50
4 Majolica Green Tree P... twinspruceanti... $15.95	Pair of James Kent Chin... PigeonsAttic $12.50	Vintage Chintz Blue and... KlassyKlassics $35.00	TREASURY ITEM Vintage T... krmvintage $14.00
Antique Bone Dishes fro... WillowsVintage $8.00	Vintage butter pats, Ro... cristinasroom $16.00	4 Depression Era Ruby R... LyndasLoft $18.50	Flower Basket Plates Ne... AppelJar $9.95
Set of Two Johnson & Br... PrettyOldFinds $8.00	Brilliant Hazel-Atlas M... julesgraphix0 $30.00	TREASURY ITEM Shabby Ur... stgabrielsgard... $26.00	A set of two chipped pl... floatyparty $12.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

BUILDING THE ARRANGEMENT

Let’s say that I decide on the third row of items for my display. What I would do at this point is to begin laying the display out on my floor. This gives me an opportunity to play around with the arrangement to see what will look the best. Fortunately, I have an obvious way to start – the tole tray will be in the middle. The remaining items I have to use include:

4 6 1/8” ruby red plates
3 6.5” flower basket plates
8 4.5” blue flower butter pats – 5 are maple leaf, 3 are long leaf
2 green-trimmed bone dishes

As I’m building the arrangement, I need to keep in mind where on my wall I will be putting this. Do I want a more vertical arrangement or a more horizontal arrangement? I don’t want the flower basket plates next to the floral tray. So, assuming I want a horizontal arrangement, I am going to put two of the red plates vertically on either side of the tray. Then I’ll center one of the flower basket plates on each side of the red plates. I’ll put bone dishes centered above and below the tray. Because of the fact that there are two shapes of the butter pats, I want to use one of the maple leaves on each side of the bone dishes since there are five and I need four. The handle could face out on the side away from the bone dish. I will use two of the long leaf butter pats either on each side of the flower basket plate with the handle facing away from the plate or between the vertical red plates.

SO WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN’T

As I was working through this on paper, I discovered some problems with my selections. I actually had chosen two large red plates but decided I didn’t want two single plates beside each other (the red and the flower basket). So, I found a larger quantity – four - of smaller red plates. I’m also finding that the handles on the butter pats are problematic and that having different shapes of the butter pats limits what I can do. I do love the butter pats especially when used with the bone dishes above and below the tray, so maybe I need to think about adding in something else with the red plates and the flower basket plates on the side. Could I also bring in the blue and white chintz plates pictured in the second row of my treasury or the delft saucers in the first row?

CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL RE-ARRANGER

I’d love to hear your suggestions and ideas about this display. And if you’d like to come up with display arrangements for the items from the remaining three rows, I’d love to know those too. Pictures of your own arrangements are also welcome. When I first started trying to arrange my vintage and antique items, I was unable to find much help on the Internet. Pictures were especially hard to come by. And even though I’m not looking for display ideas at the moment, I know I will be looking for ideas again at some point in the future. I’m a serial re-arranger.

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I’ll Take One of Everything

My love of all things vintage has resulted in collecting, i.e., filling my house with stuff.  Some stuff is similar and some stuff is random. When I first started buying antiques and vintage items, it was hard for me to decide on anything because I wanted everything.  I know some people collect a certain type of antique and I do that too – for instance, I have a collection of knights - but I also like to mix my collections.  I really do want one of everything and I have found that by mixing the collections, I can almost, if it weren’t for space limitations, have one of everything.

Let me give you an example. When I first saw flow blue porcelain, I knew I had to have some.  I felt the same way when I first saw a majolica piece.  I felt the same way when I first saw a tole tray. And so on . . .  and so on . . .

MIXING AND MATCHING

Instead of trying to collect in only one of those areas, I decided I would purchase some of each and use them together.  Fortunately for me, the colors in these pieces work together and with the colors I’ve chosen in my house.  I suspect that would be true for anyone who loves vintage and antique items. We’re always going to be attracted to the items that have the colors we love and use anyway.

To show you how I use the items together, here is a picture of a display I have on my dining room wall.

The centerpiece is a large red tole tray with yellow and blue flowers.  Around the tray I have used various shapes and sizes of antique flow blue plates and dishes and two majolica butter pats.

STAY TUNED

In my next post, I’ll talk more about how to choose pieces that work together and how to arrange them so they’re a cohesive display.  Personally, I found it difficult at first to think about how best to display the pieces but with some practice and patience, I really believe anyone can make a display worthy of a magazine cover.

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