A Blend Of Furniture Styles
Storage is always an issue at our home and we are forever looking for new places to stash our stuff. Sometimes it results in a cull of older items to make way for the new and sometimes it requires the purchase of a new piece of furniture to take up the challenge.
One of our most prized possessions is an old steamer trunk that we keep in our bedroom. It is an antique and it has a largely unknown past, it looks just a little worse for wear but it still carries a burnished glow of solidity and reliability that you get with some antique pieces.
Naturally, the trunk in our room goes largely unnoticed because it is hidden away, usually under mounds of clothes which is a shame because it could really be a wonderful accent piece in any other room. This is the problem with the daily life. It gets in the way of what one might consider the proper way in which one must furnish the house.
The idea should be that if you own a piece of furniture that could become a showpiece, make sure you show it off. Otherwise hide it away by all means. But the reality is we place our pieces of furniture either where they fit best or where they are the most functional. Sometimes you can mix good interior design concepts in with the day to day life but that isn’t necessarily always going to work out.
Antiques are a great way to make use of a piece of history while still allocating it an ordinary functional role in the day to day life. They look especially effective in rooms that have been designed with a certain period in mind and even more so when the pieces are all from that same period.
One of the delights that I still find satisfying is marrying the older pieces with the new so that they blend into one satisfying amalgam of styles. One of these days I will be able to move that old steamer trunk out of the bedroom and into the lounge or the hallway where it can be more fully appreciated.