Art & Antiques by Dr. Lori: Room Design--Feature Antiques

 
We live in a time when there is an overwhelming abundance of home make-over TV shows, newspaper and magazine articles, and online blogs about redecorating,
redesigning, and reconsidering the objects with which we live.

After watching a TV designer transform a perfectly good bedroom into a jungle
paradise by stapling--yes, stapling--green plastic leaves and flowers directly to
the room’s drywall, I thought that some tips on how museum exhibition designers
feature art and antiques within a design scheme may prove interesting.

As a longtime museum director and curator, I have installed many exhibitions
highlighting art and antique objects. Museum exhibition designers make all
kinds of objects look their best in any environment.  When it comes to displaying objects, museum pros rely on the basics. Three things are important: the object itself, its place within a larger  collection, and the guests who will enjoy these pieces.

Confront the Front

Your home’s front door is like a museum gallery’s main wall.  When you enter any room in your home, there is one wall that is right in front of you or one wall that you focus on the most. This wall is the starting point for any design concept and in museums it is called the confrontation wall. Aptly named because it is the first wall that you  confront upon entering that particular room. This wall shouts out for something important, big, colorful, bright, or sexy. The confrontation wall always makes a statement. Often, in a museum, this wall hosts the most important work of art in the exhibition. Don’t ignore it in your home. Put your best object and the one with the most pizazz right there.

Avoid clutter

Architect Mies van der Rohe was onto something when he said, “Less is More.” Clutter and collections are opposites. Displaying similar items near each other is pleasing to the eye. Arrange collections together by size, color, material, or texture. This method shows the scope of the collection and highlights the similarities and differences. You want visitors to your home to look at a collection and concentrate on it. Collections make great conversation starters. Organization indicates that you have put thought into an assembly and into its arrangement. Clutter is unrelated and messy. It has no place in your interior design scheme so, try to reject the clutter impulse.

History rules

If you have an object that has been handed down in the family over decades or even centuries, consider designing an area within a room around it. If you have your grandmother’s coveted canister set dating back to the early 1900s, feature the
set proudly on the kitchen table as a centerpiece or atop a shelf where
everyone can admire it at holiday time. Is that antique parlor chair from the
Victorian period looking for a new space to shine? Take it out of the living
room where it may get lost in the array of other furnishings and make it the
featured antique object in a guest room or foyer entryway. Talk with your
friends and family about its origin and let the history live on.

Fragile yet Family-friendly

In most museums, changing exhibitions occur about every three months or every
season. You don’t want to feature your snowman collection in July and neither
do the experts. In museums and in your home, objects on display have to
withstand pedestrian traffic and issues like temperature and humidity changes,
sun exposure, etc. Make sure your favorite works of art and antiques are far
from areas of high heat, away from air conditioning vents or radiators, and out
of heavy traffic areas from pets and children.  

One last tip, if someone holding a staple gun is coming toward your bedroom in
hopes of embarking on a re-design, point them in the direction of the nearest
museum. Maybe they’ll learn something.

Ph.D. antiques appraiser, author, and award-winning TV personality, Dr. Lori presents antique appraisal events worldwide. Dr. Lori is the expert appraiser on the hit TV show, Auction Kings on Discovery channel.  Visit www.DrLoriV.com, www.Facebook.com/DoctorLori, @DrLoriV on Twitter, or call (888) 431-1010.