|
Vintage Comfort, Wall to Wall
Decorating With Wallpaper By Jaima Brown
(ARA) - There are reasons for the current trend
toward nostalgic references in home decorating.
Vintage objects carry a comforting softness to homes.
They recall a simpler world. Furthermore, they can
be found in flea markets and fairs at affordable
prices, another plus as the U. S. economy continues
its struggle for recovery.
Spring cleaning also offers the opportunity to
resurrect some forgotten treasures. Once cast into
storage, handmade quilts, embroidered linens, tarnished
silver, crackled crockery and even timeworn furniture
pieces now take on added appeal.
Nothing sets the stage for vintage comfort like
new wallpaper in patterns borrowed from the past.
At S.A. Maxwell Co., we've delved into our archives,
resurrected some favorite antique themes, and used
sophisticated printing techniques to give these
patterns a patina of age. They make the perfect
complement for flea market finds and vintage furnishings.
 We
gave an ornate corner cabinet, distressed a bit
from age, a fresh coat of antique, cream-color paint.
It makes an ideal showcase for a collection of Staffordshire
dinnerware. To highlight the cabinet and its contents
even more, we placed it against an old-time tropical
floral-trail print from the Ellison Bay collection
by Maxwell's Piper Designs division.
The deep heritage green background of the wallpaper,
carrying flowers in subtle shades of pomegranate
and ochre, turns this once-shabby cabinet into the
star of the dining room décor. A pair of sconces
with shades of fabric in an inverted conical shape
flanks the cabinet, giving it a warm glow in the
evening.
 Painted
antique furniture also softens a romantic bedroom,
surrounded completely --including overhead -- with
vintage rose patterns from the appropriately named
Vintage Tuscany collection from Maxwell's LV Emmert
Studio. A shelf, high above the headboard, is wallpapered
in a pattern that coordinates with the walls and
the stripe on the ceiling to complete this dream-like
setting.
 The
sink, selected for the powder room in an older home,
is one more example of the popularity of vintage
style. It is a reproduction of an old-style, porcelain
farmhouse sink with porcelain legs. Combined with
a wallpaper pattern from Vintage Tuscany that was
painstakingly printed to replicate an antique painting
technique, it turns the room into a quiet place
of temporary respite. The original doors and woodwork
have been refinished in a rich mahogany stain.
Two niches were created between wall studs next
to the sink alcove and lined with a coordinating
wallpaper pattern that faithfully reproduces the
textural look of a distressed plaster wall. The
scroll and the plaster pattern contain hints of
the same classic colors: navy, red, sage green and
antique cream.
Apothecary jars, found at a flea market, and an
antique linen guest towel from a thrift shop complete
the farmhouse bathroom theme. Photography as well
as patterns in these S.A. Maxwell Co. wallpaper
and border collections provide both design inspiration
and innovative ideas for infusing any home, regardless
of age, with the comfort that comes from vintage
décor.
Courtesy of ARA Content
|
