Tag Archives: art

How To Decorate With Copper Tables

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Do you love the burnished look of a copper table? You can buy affordable copper table with round tops and four legs that look perfect next to any bed or armchair or draped with hanging plants.

The great thing about a copper table is that it can suit a lot of different decors from rustic, to nautical to contemporary to post-modern.

If you are a looking for a copper table that seems contemporary then it is good to look for one that has a bit of a retro seventies feel. A great example of this type of table is the Aquidneck Island Copper Table which has a beautiful splayed four legged base crafted out of recycled boat wood.

The top of this type of table is a sheet of copper, crimped like the edges of a coin with a beautiful map of Aquidneck Island etched into the top. You don’t have to go for this classic image however. You can commission any image you want as a graphic on these copper table tops.

Most copper tables are handcrafted by artisans in the Cape Cod area so of course boat themes are to be expected. These tables look great anywhere there is a lobby, living room or outdoor patio near the ocean.

The ultimate nautical theme is the antique compass. Look for the ones made out of rose copper that have the famous compass rose which features an eight pointed compass with a wild rose image in the center. This famous sea faring image as been around since the 1300s.

There is a copper table design that is cropping up in the nicest newest post-modern cottages along the Eastern seaboard that features a gleaming strand of orange copper running counter clockwise in a spiral through a flat bed of bright aqua oxidized copper. The green/blue color is technically known as verdigris and usually would take about thirty years to naturally happen. However a group of Rhode Island artisans has figured out how to accelerate the rusting of copper to create these unusual tables. Not one is like the other as they have to be hand-made and hand-treated to achieve the slightly psychedelic effect of the table top.

When shopping for copper tables make sure that they are protected with a resin coating so that they do not oxidize on you and turn green – unless the greening of the table is part of a chic effect that you want.

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. You are safest to look in antique shops and for chandeliers that look like they have been found on the ground. These antlers will not have sawed off ends. If they do have sawed off ends you might start the wrong type of conversation at your dinner party especially if you have invited any conservationists.

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.