This set of four, brass-studded, Leather Bound Trunks ($15,000) likely once served as travel storage for a sophisticated lady on a worldly voyage like Angelina Jolie in Changeling. But, as these How Would Yous tend to go, I'm not interested in offering up suitcases to you. I want to know how you'd use these elegant antique suitcases in your home as décor.
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I love a good plush seat, but sometimes I can't help but sacrifice comfort for good looks. And, that time is now. The Antique Ebonized and Turquoise Silk Chairs ($1,300 for pair) from Paris Hotel Boutique don't look one bit comfortable, but they're just so ravishing.
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I am absolutely in love with this Charles Catteau Deer Vase ($3,900). Created in 1925 in Belgium, its brilliant colors and crackled surface are decorated with four deer. Its unusual appearance is just begging for a room to be decorated around it, don't you think?
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This Wrought Iron Gate ($650) from Italy in the 1900s has clearly seen better days, and might detract from your home's curb appeal if you set it in front of your lawn. But despite its wear and tear, its slightly bent out of shape fleur-de-lys spires, missing pieces, and rusted exterior give it a visually interesting and much-loved architectural quality. So, for this challenge, I'd like you to tell me how you'd use it in (or outside of) your home, other than as a gate.
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This Swedish Pier Mirror ($3,900) would bring a touch of shabby chic to any interior. Decorated with a frieze of molded swags of fruit and foliage, this mirror might look lovely in your entry in its current condition.
But let's not be boring, shall we?
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I've never met a French furnishing I didn't like. The French are relentless purveyors of style, and they win me over again and again, be it with a Chanel frock or a Philippe Starck chair. The Jayson Home & Garden Vintage Chair and Ottoman ($2,995), seating from mid-20th century France reupholstered in dark gray linen, is no exception either.
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This Silver Leaf Decorative Object (contact dealer for price) is eye-catching even in this photo, with its drab gray background. Made in the 1950s, it stands three feet tall and two feet wide, so it's bigger than you might expect.
So for this challenge, I'd like you to tell me how you'd use this unique sculptural object.
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This folky, colorful game board — for God-knows-what game — was originally used in 19th century America and will cost you a whopping $2,250. If I wanted to play a board game, I'd go for a round of Scrabble, honestly. But obviously, the appeal of this piece for many is its antiquity.
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In the New York Times story "The Tyranny of the Heirloom," writer Joyce Wadler explores the idea of the unwanted family inheritance. Melodie Bryant, a New York composer whom Wadler interviews, for example, inherited a portrait of her Great-Great-Great-Uncle Ivins, even though she had no desire to hang the painting in her tiny Chelsea apartment. Add to this a moving accident, which ripped the canvas and cost Bryant $3,000 in repair costs, and you can understand why this portrait became a wall hanging you'd avert your eyes from.
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A certain rocker/blogger's female companion was spotted shopping at Naga Antiques in New York, which specializes in Japanese screens, bronzes, ceramics, porcelains, lacquer, sculpture, and furniture, presumably for her home. Do you know who it is?
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