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HOW TO STYLE OPEN DISPLAY CABINETS

December 26, 2017 /

by Ethan Allen Design Team

On With The Show! How To Style an Open Display Cabinet

Display cabinets offer a creative and sophisticated way to showcase your style and interests, and they add lots of personality to your home. Go beyond traditional curio cabinets or glass door styles and choose open display cabinets; they offer an updated, casual feel that complements many of today’s lifestyles.

Here are a few ways to put your best style on display, right out in the open.

COLLECT YOURSELF

Mix and match your favorite curiosities or unique accents to create a curated look. Treat each shelf as a little vignette, combining artful pieces, books, and other decorative objects you love. Be sure to create a focal point in each space, playing with various heights and coordinating colors for balance. Love the well-traveled look? So do we! Decorate your display cabinet with treasures you’ve collected from your travels and globally inspired accents from our latest look, Passport .

Our Ming display cabinet, decorated with hand-sculpted vases and accents inspired by faraway places, becomes the perfect setting for an intriguing showcase.

GET ECLECTIC

Incorporate a variety of pieces into your collection, but choose a common theme for your cabinet, such as color, subject, type of piece, or material—this helps you avoid a cluttered look. Hand-painted porcelain jars and vases or ceramic platters make stunning choices. If your style leans more on the contemporary side, display one distinct piece per shelf to create a striking art gallery effect.

This themed display of dinnerware and entertaining pieces in our Christopher china and buffet cabinet makes a perfect complement to everyday dining style.

DO IT BY THE BOOK

If you have a ton of books lying around or in boxes, pick your favorites and display them for all to admire. Coffee table books are the best choices to create this look, and they make great conversation pieces! When arranging your books, play with proportion. Stack them vertically or horizontally, or organize them by color to create a curated look.

Unique artwork and dazzling silver accents add visual interest and dimension to stacks of books.

Whatever your style, opt for pieces that speak to you and you won’t go wrong. If you’re not sure where to start, just talk with one of our design pros. They can help you find pieces to complement your personal treasures or build your collection entirely from scratch, and their help is always on the house.

8Dec2017

Behind The Design, Home Styling Tips

Bookcase, Buffet, Christmas, Console, Decor, Decorating, Design Center, DIY, Ethan Allen, Farmhouse, Fireplace, Holidays, How to style a mantel for the holidays, Interiors, Mantel, Style, Styling tips, Table, Tree

HOW TO DECORATE A MANTLE FOR CHRISTMAS

December 8, 2017 /

by Ethan Allen Design Team

How to Style a Mantel for the Holidays

If you have a fireplace—working or not—and it has a mantel, you’ve hit the holiday decorating jackpot. A mantel, or mantelpiece (or chimneypiece in England), is by definition a shelf—but it really is so much more. It’s prime real estate in any room: an instant focal point, an opportunity not to be missed.

Often, the architectural style of a mantel (and surrounding millwork) dictates how you decorate it—but not now. From candles and crystal to cherished collectibles, anything goes during the holidays.

Mantel decorating “rules” still apply:

Choose a center of attention.
Design with odd numbers.
Keep scale and balance in mind.
Add depth by layering.
Stick with your theme.

Following these principles, we styled our own holiday mantel to show you how it’s done. Let us take you through it, step by step.

Focus! Center a large mirror or work of art on the mantel and lean it close to the wall. For our spectacular statement piece, we chose our Aged Silver Provincial mirror; it always sets an elegant mood.
Go green. Place natural evergreen garland along the length of the mantel, dangling some over the sides for a lush look. Drape greenery on your mirror or artwork, too—for dramatic effect.

Add a little color. We chose sprigs of red winterberries.
Go glam with a few metal accents. Our lovely Pomegranates (available in gold, brass, or nickel finishes) and ever-popular Song Birds add some shimmer.
See the light. Amp up the ambience with candles in hurricanes wrapped in red ribbon. DIY tutorial: A RIBBON RUNS THROUGH IT
Turn on the sparkle! We finished our mantelscape with mini battery-powered LED lights.

No mantel? No worries! Try this on any long-ish horizontal surface: a buffet, a console table, or the top of a bookcase or china cabinet.