Tag Archives: art

How to Decorate With Seashell Art

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One of the nicest ways to decorate your summer home or cottage is with seashell art. Seashell art has a rustic, natural serenity that compliments other types of décor as well including contemporary, Swedish and retro fifties, sixties and seventies designs.

One of the most interesting one-of-a-kind wall hangings to come along late is the Starfish embedded in copper tablet. Starfish have a beautiful natural copper bronze color that naturally compliments copper that has a green patina. The patina color comes from the oxidization of the copper.

You can also get beautiful scallop shells that have been embedded into copper in the same way. The scallop has a very elegant shape that is reminiscent of an open woman’s fan.

This type of art looks great outside, as a plaque in just about any room and as unique décor for a bathroom. They would look quite enchanting in a grouping on a tile wall around a pool, pond or hot tub. You don’t have to worry about this type of copper being around water as it is coated with a special sealant to preserve its color.

Starfish and scallops come in all shapes and sizes so you will find that these come in all shapes and sizes as well. A twenty-two square inch example makes a wonderful centerpiece in any home whether it is on the coffee table or hanging on the wall.

Driftwood and sea glass art objects have a pretty, weathered quality that looks great anywhere in most cottages. It is very common to find picture frames and mirror frames made of this material. Some mirrors are dressed up with panels made up of assorted sea glass stones and seashells.

A popular item is the Ocean in a Box which is a “beach scribble” written in sand on a beach and then handcrafted. Words like “Welcome”, “Faith” and “Time” are scribbled in the sand. You can also get symbols like Peace Signs and Hearts. These pieces are handcrafted by Maine artists so you can also get them customized.

There are also many artists who create unique abstracts out of objects from the beach if you like your collectibles to be a little less New Age or kitsch in look.

How to Decorate With Antique Lamps

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There is nothing that adds more elegance and automatic ambience to a room’s décor than an antique lamp. They are fantastic objects to have in a dining room or living room because they not only make a personal statement about you but because they are great conversation pieces. There is nothing like a 1930s big chandelier with large drops of ice hanging from it to help break the ice with your dinner companions.

One of the most interesting antique lamp fads that is around lately is the passion for chandeliers made out of deer antlers. These date back as far as the 1890s and straight through to today. They were standard lamp fixtures in medieval times in Europe (as they do have a bit of a pagan flair to them) but they are also considered to be part of American and Canadian furniture kitsch.

However keep in mind that when you buy one of these deer chandeliers that it is not always that politically correct. Some unscrupulous dealers are selling this type of thing on eBay as being made out of found antlers when what they have done is take the antlers off of live deer. This is a big ecological no-no.

Yet another very popular type of kitsch antique lamp that is being manufactured right now is the “Sexy Leg Lamp.” This is the lamp that was featured in the movie “The Christmas Story.” It consists of a plastic molded ladies leg wearing a black high heel and it is topped with a shade that looks like a burlesque dancer’s skirt. If you have one of these in your home, your guests are sure to point out that “you have the same lamp that Ralphie’s Dad does.”

A kind of lamp that is getting harder and harder to find but used to be a common sight on top of television sets all over the world is the classic ceramic black panther that is topped with a shade made from paper pressed with glitter.

Perhaps the most popular of the antique lamps are the lava lamps. It is getting harder and harder nowadays to find a real lava lamp from the fifties or sixties. The knock offs that can be had for twenty dollars and be bought in a hardware store are simply not as nice as the ones you find on eBay or in antique shops. This is because the newer replicas tend to be a lot smaller then the original lava lamps that were sometimes tall enough to reach your knee. They also often contain glitter instead of the “lava” and their design is not as nice. If you manage to find a real lava lamp from the fifties then the design from the Atomic Age is certain to become a conversation starter.