The Rural Voice, 1995-01, Page 32lotus' len'S shop
"Fur Quality Men's Apparel
& Accessories...
Specializing in Shorts,
Tolls & Oversizes"
DOWNTOWN HANOVER
(519) 364-1060
TOLL FREE (LONG DISTANCE)
1-800-275-5250
HOURS:
MON. - SAT. 9:30 • 5:30
FRIDAYS TILL 9:00 P.M.
VISA
O Qt Advice you can trust!
II II
ColorY.our %%brld
--
hy Shop Anywhere Else?
W ? -S
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• Wall coverings
— patterns for all the rooms in
your home
• Paint and Accessories
— bright long lasting colours
• Custom made blinds and toppers
• Stencil Paints
— quick and easy to brighten
your room
There's a
Color Your World store
in your neighbourhood!
GODERICH
Falconer's
84 Kingston St. 519-524-9671
EXETER
Paro & Red Bickell
45 Main St. 519-235-2340
MEAFORD
Margo Ross
115 Sykes St. N. 519-538-1513
HANOVER
Neil Bruton
428 Tenth St. 519-364-5080
28 THE RURAL VOICE
Home Decorating
Decorating with collectibles
BY PATTI ROBERTSON
Happy New Year! By January
we'll have taken down the tree and
decorations both inside and out. What
better time to take a fresh new
approach in the placement of our
accessories,
particularly those
which can be
classed as
collectibles.
The desire to
collect is in all of
us, everyone from
the frequenter of
flea markets and
yard sales, to the
bidder at high-
priced auctions,
to the kid who
picks up bottle
caps.
Once we've
carried our treasures back home, we
want to show them off, to impress, to
amuse, to educate each other, and
mostly, to enjoy the pleasure of
viewing our treasured find.
Displaying a collection calls for
careful consideration of the collection
as a whole and the individuality of
pieces, plus the interior in which the
treasures are to be displayed.
With this in mind, there are
numerous ways in which our fine
antiques or bargain collectibles can be
effectively displayed.
RULES OF THUMB:
When decorating with collections
we are best to group our treasures with
a similar theme together in the suitable
room, i.e. crocks, redware and splatter
ware in the kitchen or duck decoys and
toy sailing ships in the den. To scatter
our collectibles throughout our home
only dilutes the impact.
Whatever the room, we must decide
what role we wish our collection to
play. Do we want it on centre stage,
the first thing our guests notice upon
entering ... or in the background?
A collection can become the focal
point of any room, the colour and style
of its elements setting the tone for the
rest of the decor. The collection
becomes part of the environment. On
the other hand, a colour scheme may
be kept neutral and furnishing low key
to allow the collection to stand vividly
on its own.
Another consideration is whether
our collectibles are to be strictly for
show or will they serve functional
purposes: e.g. heirloom Wedgwood to
serve company at the dining table?
If we intend to use our pieces, they
will need to be in convenient, easily
maintained display areas.
After determining where and how
prominently we wish to display our
treasures, we can examine various
ways to achieve an interesting
grouping.
Display ideas break down into three
basic categories.
WALL PIECES:
Whether paintings, etchings, prints,
photographs, posters or woven hang-
ings, wall pieces will in$tantly enhance
any room in our home. Important
points to remember are that each piece
should be suitably framed, positioned
and lit with careful consideration.
A professional can assist in
presenting our treasure and aid our
knowledge in this task.
CABINET AND TABLE TOPS:
We need to ask "how protected do
our treasures need to be?" And how
much space do we wish to devote to
them?
Built-in display cases can easily
become an architectural element within
our room. If we live in tight quarters
we may want to arrange our collection
on already existing surfaces, such as
end tables or bookshelves.
Wherever we position our objects,
we will need to be sensitive towards
colour, shape and proportion, similar to
that used in flower arranging. Start
with one major piece placed at the
centre of a shelf, then fill in with the
placement of other pieces around the
centre.
Consciously emphasize variety and
contrast within the collection. Play tall
slender pieces off short, squat ones, or
dark objects against light, or patterned
against solid tones. Do not place
pieces too close together, so each
object can be appreciated.
FURNITURE:
Of all our collectibles and antiques,
our pieces of furniture should be as
much used as displayed. Good quality