Thursday, October 17, 2013

Using Natural Curiosities In Your Home

By Catalina Nielsen


People have always enjoyed bringing fascinating objects from the natural world in their homes. In days gone by this was probably limited to random shell collections and bunches of dried flowers. Today strikingly beautiful natural curiosities are being sold that bring all the mystery and beauty found outside into the home in an inspiring way.

Many years ago explorers who discovered new flora and fauna did not have cameras to photograph what they found. Instead they had to meticulously study and draw objects or take back specimens. Engraving plates were made from their drawings. Many of these prints have survived and are found in modern homes.

The urge to collect objects such objects goes back to the beginnings of civilization. From Renaissance times, wealthy individuals would fill cabinets and sometimes even rooms, with beautiful and sometimes bizarre objects from the natural world. These collections included items like skeletons of animals, tusks, horns, minerals and even ethnographic specimens found in exotic places.

Although curiosities are still kept in cabinets by some people, the trend now is to place them throughout the home, adding interest in many different rooms from bedrooms to lounges. Sometimes the addition of a single object found in nature can make all the difference to a vignette. For example, an old suitcase with a stack of books and a twisted branch with tendrils on top can create an eye catching display.

Prints are a popular means of bringing nature into the home. Vintage style prints of edible objects like mushrooms can work well in a dining room. Oceanographic prints have become trendy and fascinating sea creatures like the octopus can pack a real design punch when a print is enlarged, framed and placed in the center of a wall. Seaweeds, shells, jellyfish and other objects found in the ocean are also inspiration for large creative prints.

Prints can work extremely well when grouped together to form a balanced display. Identical frames help to unify the composition. Colors and subject matter must work together. For example, oceanographic prints with a color palette of greys, blues, blacks and whites compliment one another and create a display well suited to a minimalistic interior.

Moss collages and scans of the skeletons of seahorses are some of these unusual items that can add instant fascination to any interior. Some objects like skulls, bones and antlers are considered rather creepy by some people whilst others love them. Antlers have become very trendy of late, being seen in many interiors where they are used in many different ways. Groups of antlers on a wall can have an effective impact, whilst a single pair teamed with other objects from nature like branches can be just as striking. They are even being used in other unusual ways, for example as chandeliers. Skulls and bones with their interesting shapes and neutral color also suit minimalistic interiors.

Natural curiosities provide a great deal of inspiration in the field of decor. Those who are selling these items are very creative in how they are choosing to display them. Feathers, butterflies, leaves and flowers are just some of the colorful items used in large, dramatic prints or grouped inside box frames. An internet search shows many of these items available for purchase at online interior decor stores.




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