LOVE this Art Deco vanity but unsure how fits with rest of house

6 years ago

https://www.chairish.com/product/346530/art-deco-buffet-credenza

The link above is a vanity we both agree upon, yet I have so many questions:

1. We are adding a family room, kitchen, and master bedroom first floor suite to 1950s story and a half.

2. The rest of the house is French Country/Farm house furniture we want to use. Working with decorators in the past they always said to keep the house in the same feel (traditional, transitional, French Country etc.)

3. All of the floors are wood in great condition but since many walls are being removed all have to be refinished.

4. Can we use this piece and keep the wood floors??

5. Would the bathroom floors be best in black tile with a brown decorative tile around the parimeter of the floor, same on shower walls, Or black and white floors.

6. A free standing tub (copper? Black? metal?)

7. Copper sinks?

I think the wood and black high gloss or lacquer is throwing me off. The doors and drawers have already been refinished I could always make it all black gloss or lacquer. It would make designing the bathroom easier for me at least (big black and white tile square floor and my red hand blown glass chandelier over the free standing tub or something).

I don't want to overdue the Deco look but I am not sure whether wood floors would make it look out of place but we are refinishing them anyway

I do have a really old buffet (traditional/transitional) I was thinking perhaps of refinishing if the Art Deco piece does not work. Using that would be a no brainer but I don't love it as much.

thank you all for your input.

Featured Answer

palimpsest

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

I am not sure I would alter an Art Deco piece of this sort to create a vanity, particularly when the house is not primarily Art Deco. It's also a bit tall for a vanity, at 38".

If you lived in an art deco or streamline moderne house and were doing a deco-moderne bathroom with black or colored fixtures and black tile or architectural glass, maybe, But in an eclectic transitional bath in a French Farmhouse style house, no, not so much. This is a statement piece and it's a very strongly designed piece that belongs in a deco environment.

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Comments (7)

palimpsest
6 years ago
This is a black, late deco bathroom with 1970s wallpaper

And this is a Deco bath with green architectural tile:
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I went looking for images of those elements. Ribbed glass panels in cabinet doors is easy enough. Here's one in a bathroom vanity: Ribbed glass (or ''seeded'' glass) is also often found in period light fixtures: As for marquetry countertops, if you asked most kitchen cabinet makers for such, I imagine they would gape blankly at the gabbling woman. But there are plenty of companies doing stock and custom hardwood marquetry inlays using CNC laser cutters. Here's the thing - they are doing it in floors. Google ''hardwood floor inlay'' and see. Yes, many of the rosettes are infeasible for a 26'' counter, but look for the ''border'' designs - or create your own. Assemble a 26'' wide section of inlaid ''floor'' on a 3/4'' plywood substrate, encase it in Waterlox, and I do believe you'd have yourself a marquetry countertop. Another option - perhaps cheaper - is stenciling on hardwood, of which this is an example. And so is this What else? Beveled glass is readily available, as is chrome countertop edging, and any furniture or auto upholstery shop can cover a panel of 1/8'' plywood in soft butterscotch leather framed in silver studs (maybe not actual silver, but close enough). I don't know exactly what version of Art Deco you are headed for, or if you even like butterscotch, but the point is, you are not doing yet another white kitchen, you're doing something that isn't being done by the mainstream, so the ordinary kitchen sources are not making this stuff. Sure, there is cool Art Deco hardware around, but what passes for ''Art Deco'' kitchen cabinetry in the online catalogs is . . . disappointing. You are going to have to make it, or at least source it, yourself - and I think if you're comfortable outside the painted lines, you can. You'll find yourself hiring a floor guy to work on a countertop, hunting down the local hot rod upholstery shops, telling your cabinet maker to fit bathroom vanity faces to kitchen cabinet boxes - they'll still look at you like you're crazy, but you'll know you're not. Go for it, girl!
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Well I thought I would follow up with a few pics of the final result. Thanks for the ideas and suggestions. As you may recall, this was the second of the properties we put an offer on, and the final result ended up looking a bit less French and Provencal than our first property choice, and maybe more urban and Cote d'Azur than the descriptions above (and smaller!). I still have to tweak. Due to challenges in sourcing overseas and the limitations of budgets and sources, some stuff (art, accessories) are not what I'd like it to be eventually. Think we could use a bench in the master, as well, and I'd like to play around with the furniture layout. Oh, and we had a larger table on order for the balcony, this one will move to the side if we go ahead with the replacement. Please excuse the staging. The photos below are from our listing but are better than the iphone pics that I have from our local contacts. Main space Open kitchen Master Likely going to put a larger table and move the bistro set to the side balcony.
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Hi I just found this while searching white goods, I could not resist taking a peek AND I don't have time :) I am a past interior decorator and Artist. I know there is a lot of deco Art but I was just wondering if you can not do a search on local artists through FB. Amazingly you can get some wonderful Art from local emerging artists that is very inexpensive. I am a terrible Art snob as far as I just so dislike Deco Art. I believe rooms can come alive with a real work that is of your taste and has substance and character. Art can work with a room and not be similar. Buying Art for your room may take you some time but it is such a fun experience where you go to showings or visit studios and chat to the Artist. only my point of view :) now back to searching Tappanyaki's . By the way the other advice has been very good just not my opinion.
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Awesome suggestions! I've been sparked! @njmomma: I like this example. As the original buffet comes with a mirror, I don't like it. Perhaps a separate vintage mirror would be nice to reflect some light in the space. Then I can hang pictures around it. @yvonne: I have hordes of pottery and you bring up a good idea; instead of buying more art I should hang my pottery on the wall, after taking off the mirror top. We have quite a few family pictures; in our previous home the buffet was flanked by those vintage items. However as this space has less traffic than the front hallway where I was considering for the family pictures, I'll keep the pottery in this location and the family pictures in the front hallway. @holly: I'm refining my mint favorites. I'm looking at reds, oranges in abstracts and landscapes. However previous suggestions of using pottery may put Minted on the back burner. @tedbixby: yes I have considered putting the wicker chairs on either side of the buffet..To the right of the buffet is a dry sink which is normally in the living room but due to the Christmas tree we had to switch it out with a drop leaf table (which is usually to the right of the buffet under the window). @grover: the room functions as it is. There's a dog pen because we have to pen them when we're gone. We don't use a dining room table, so it doesn't need to function as that. And we have an abundance of antiques but less room than our previous house so we have to find a wall for them. I wish we could put them in storage, but these are my husband's family pieces and he's not interested in doing that. And he's not ready to reduce the inventory, so we have to work with the pieces in the square footage that we have.
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Elle
6 years ago
It is a nice piece. Although it is possible to have incorporate more than one design style in a home, If one style will be predominant an item or a room in a notably different style can seem more out of place. Another concern I would have is the depth of the base on the floor in terms of using it without bumping into it. I would therefore suggest continuing to browse for one that works better style-wise and functionally.
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Patricia Colwell Consulting
6 years ago
IMO a master bedroom and bathroom can be a completely different style than the rest of the house but honestly I would use that piece in the bedroom or dressing room and not mess with it by putting a sink in and altering the top. If you love it make your bedroom an art deco space . My house is mostly MCM but my bedroom has some art deco feel to it and the bathroom has an art deco style vanity.
Eleanor Smith-Litt
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you for helping me settle this. I really appreciate it. I too felt that it was a strong piece which did not have a place in the master bedroom suite.

I really like using antique furniture for the bathroom. Thank you for helping me follow my instinct to have the buffet left by the first owner refinished. It has a farmhouse feel and it weighs a ton.

I like the idea of having a higher sink vanity in order to avoid bending down so far. I hear vanities are being built higher which makes sense to me.

A friend has 750 sq feet of travertine (don't need all of it and will have to be filled, sealed, and polished which would do well for shower walls) with interesting decorative tile around.

The wood floors can be left and only need to be refinished. I so love the idea of copper sinks and the buffet (perfect length, height, and depth) with decorative tile possibly copper.

This may be a stretch but I love this chandelier which may be a nice touch (????)

https://www.chairish.com/product/691327/french-art-deco-chandelier

What do you think? Using what I have a repurposing it saves me so much money I would rather spend elsewhere.

Patricia, I think you introduced me to Chairish...thank you
Eleanor Smith-Litt
Original Author
6 years ago
Happy New Year
Eleanor Smith-Litt
Original Author
6 years ago
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LOVE this Art Deco vanity but unsure how fits with rest of house

palimpsest

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LOVE this Art Deco vanity but unsure how fits with rest of house

palimpsest

Comments (7)

palimpsest

Related Discussions

Elle

Patricia Colwell Consulting

Eleanor Smith-LittOriginal Author

Eleanor Smith-LittOriginal Author

Eleanor Smith-LittOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Eleanor Smith-Litt
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Eleanor Smith-Litt
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Eleanor Smith-Litt
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