Sunday, August 30, 2015

What to do When There's No Room for a Server in the Dining Room

what to do.....what to do.....???????
Sooooooo.
I left you guys at this point of decorating Connie and Chris's dining area where I crammed a long table into a not so long space.
There was no room at either end for a piece of furniture.
Unfortunately, they have a large family, and a long table was required for the job.
It looked unfinished with nothing against the walls.
Remember....
I had been given the edict that there were to be no plates hung on the walls in this house!!!!!
Sooooo.....
I whined to Connie about the appropriateness of walls in eating area having stuff on them there related to eating stuff!!!!!
SHE WAS NOT SWAYED.
Her hubby wasn't going to buy it.
Soooooooo.....
When we were at the Boston Design Center looking at antique furniture in Charles Spada's showroom.....
There behind the glass of a display area was......
(at this point there must have been angels singing.....AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!)
a VERY LARGE plate rack hanging on the wall of the display window.
It was wonderful and felt unique.
Connie just loved it.
I pointed out that it's purpose was to hold plates against the wall.
HOWEVER!!!!!
It seemed the rules were that they couldn't be hung against the wall themselves....
BUT IT WAS ALRIGHT IF THEY WERE SITTING ON A SHELF!!!!!!!
Wellll,
coming back to reality,
it was too large for the wall we wanted.
Worse.
There weren't two of them.
I needed two.
That's 2. 
Not 1.
2
So this wasn't going to work.
WHEREUPON!!!!!
Charles informed us that he had a guy that could copy the look of this baby, down to the distressed finish and all.
All I had to do was a drawing showing what I wanted.
I could do that!!!!!
Soooooo...
This is what I sent to Charles.
I wanted the middle two shelves to extend across the whole rack, as we had no clue what we would hang in the center otherwise.
A piece of artwork that low would have seemed awkward.
Besides.....
the more shelves.....
THE MORE PLATES!!!!!
In case you're wondering,
that squiggle to the right is supposed to be me.
I always draw myself into an elevation so that I can get a sense of scale.
I wish my ass was that round.
Well, that's what Fredrick of Hollywood underwear is for.
are they still around?????

Sooooo.....
I sent the drawing in with a purchase order, 
and Connie paid her money,
and 
we got them!!!!!
The cabinet maker did an absolutely bang up job.
The finisher excelled him (or her) self.
At this point, 
Connie hauled out the brown transfer ware that we had collected for her Vermont home.
She had shipped it down to Flerida, just for this use.
Remember her dining room in Vermont?
Well....
all that pottery is now retired in Flerida,, where old things go to collect dust.

I had the cabinetmaker groove two rows into each shelf, in case we wanted to have a platter behind a plate.
I love this shot through the hall from the kitchen into the living room.
It shows how everything flows together.
So,
here they are,
both up on the walls after Connie's handyman did his magic.
It was wonderful,
all I had to do was point.
I didn't even need to hold a hammer!!!!!
(just a tape measure.....)
We had so much fun arranging the pottery.
I had Connie buy some extra stoneware to fill out the shelves.
We had enough for both racks.
Of course if it were my house there would be more stuff, 
but Connie has more restraint than I do, 
she's more mature because SHE IS OLDER!!!!!
So, 
here is one of my famous side by sides, so that you can see what a difference something on the walls with three dimensional qualities has.
It's starting to get cozy.
Just wait till you see it with the draperies!!!!!

On that note,
Latah, Gatah
Photobucket

22 comments:

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

Gorgeous idea. I love the plate racks.

Pollyanna said...

Amazing!

Cathie said...

Betsy, you are so very talented! It's such a treat to read your posts and see what kind of trouble you and Connie are into.

Karen Salp said...

Brilliant! Can you share the paint color of the room.

Sammy said...

So smart...

sweet violets said...

I am so in love with brown transferware........and still in love with her former dining room!!!

Unknown said...

Those plate racks are great,they just make the room.

Bonnie Schulte said...

Wow, I think angels are singing in Connie's house now!!

Dolores said...

OMG..it is looking gorgeous!! I was going to mention that the new shelf rack even distracted from the lack of curtains- but I worried for nothing..:-)
PS Betsy..if you have time, have a look at this wonderful interior design blog by a NY designer, Laurel Bern. Besides knowing her stuff, she's as irreverent, funny and outspoken as you are.. I do not know her, and I swear that I am not affiliated with her at all.

Donnamae said...

What an ingenious idea Betsy! They make the room so cozy...can't wait to see what you do next! ;)

laney said...

...perfect...just perfect...blessings laney

Anonymous said...

WoW! The plate racks finished the room off perfectly. Very pleasing to the eye and cozy. You amaze me! Bobbie

kathaleena said...

Betsy - Thank you for solving my problem: lots of beautiful dishware and limited display space. Genius!

Mary said...

so cool, there are no other words, than SO COOL!

Mary from Virginia

Vikki said...

Love the twin plate racks they make all the difference in the dining room. Vikki in VA

minwks said...

Wow, Now I am impressed. A brilliant solution!
Congratulations to you both!
Regards Janine

cotedetexas said...

beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Picnic Benches said...

Gorgeous idea. I love it! Amazing!

Unknown said...

Brilliant!

Susan Freeman said...

I am a plates on the wall type of gal, but you struck the perfect balance here. I am swooning over these pieces!

Big Texas Hugs,
Susan and Bentley

AndeM1 said...

This is brilliant! I absolutely love this.

Lionors said...

I love the plate racks, but you wrote, "Unfortunately, they have a large family..."

Unfortunately??

You might want to rephrase that.

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