Law of Motion

Newtons third law of motion states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. I know this is true in motion and I think it is true in the world of design. For instance, when I started this business twenty years ago it was all about color! The opposite reaction to color was to move toward grey so hard that it seemed as if Elsa herself had cast an icy spell over the design world. Everything turned grey! Think about the farmhouse look! Everyone was trying to do some kind of farmhouse and even if they had resisted for a while, something farmhouse would turn up over time in their home. The design world’s reaction to that rustic roughed up look and grey everything, is beautiful warm tan woods and color with more color. This does not mean if you indulged in those looks that all of the sudden you will change your style, it just means that little by little you will add color into your mix and the farmhouse pieces will find their way out the door. Another equal and opposite reaction in regards to China hutches was everyone was getting rid of them and now they are once again finding favor in the design world. After the minimalist push to purge, find Joy and Swedish death clean your home, people are finding joy again in collections. If you have collections, you need to display them. Let’s take a peek into a dining room of a Lantana to see how Vaseline glass can make a most unique collection somewhere in the heart of the Villages.

  •  China hutches
Don’t be so quick to let your China hutch go! I find that most of the time China hutches are not properly used to display items or dishes. So often, the dishes will be stacked so they can be used one day. The glasses will be grouped together on one shelf and there may be two other collections of things that don’t have a relationship to one another. The hutch begins to look like a store hold for a garage sale rather than a display case for beautiful China. The key to displaying your collection is to stick to that collection and do not add too many conflicting items into the group. China plates are meant to be displayed with the large plate at the back standing up and the rest of the setting in front stacked on the shelf. The stacked setting includes everything and the teacup. There will be room to add beautiful crystal in between the standing plates and colored glass can look good as well if it coordinates with the China. Keep it simple and it will be beautiful. I would not worry about tearing apart your China hutch for special occasions, I would keep a backup set of nice dishes. If you want to eat off China for special occasions, there are so many fabulous sets of China for sale for very little in second hand stores.

  •  Collections
If you have a collection and you are looking for a way to display it, then consider a China Hutch. You can pick them up for a song on Marketplace and at secondhand shops. The key to show off your collections is to add color to the back of the China hutch. If I have a client who does not have China, then I will add solid-colored plates to the back of the China hutch. The color adds depth to the display, and it allows other items to be seen. If collections just have mirrors behind them, they will fall flat. All things are seen better with a backdrop of color.

  •  Curio Cabinets
Curio cabinets are great for display as well. The pieces that are shown in the dining room today are a combination of China hutch and curio. They were designed for plates because the glass shelves all have a plate groove, which is a pre-cut channel to hold the plate upright. Two of them pushed together create a large display area for the homeowners Vaseline glass collection. This is a collection that has been passed down in the family. The homeowners embraced the collection and started adding to the collection over time. Vaseline glass is a yellow to green glass in regular light. The curio cabinets were a great choice for display of the Vaseline glass because this glass changes when it is under a black light. When a black light shines on the glass it glows bright neon green because the glass contains small amounts of uranium. The homeowner was able to install black lights in the curio cabinets so the entire collection can be seen for its unique quality.

  •  Wainscot
We installed a simple wainscot behind the curios to make the wall pop and we do not have things on the floor by the curio cabinets. The key to having a collection and keeping it from looking cluttery is to just have the collection and keep the area around the cabinets clean. We did extend the wainscot to the rest of the dining room for visual continuity. The entire wainscot from the top of the chair rail to the baseboard was painted white.

  •  Two large mirrors
The two large mirrors always look great in a Lantana because they look like windows, and they reflect massive amounts of light back into the space. If you have a view, then they reflect that view back into the space and no matter where you are in the room you will have a beautiful view.

  •  Buffet
The homeowners were able to use a buffet in the dining room because we turned the table to run against the side wall. This can be done in the Lantana if the home is stretched, and this one is stretched every way.

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