Bring Out Your Silver

Wall Silver

Wow, I’ve been writing my blog for four months now and haven’t delved into the topic of silver – real silver anyway – yet! So here goes….

When I married, silver was not exactly high on the list of things I needed or even wanted. All of that sort of thing seemed unnecessary and even frivolous to me –  flowerchild of the 70s that I was. How things change over the years, don’t they?

It was much later that I grew to appreciate the classic beauty of silver or silver-plated objects not just to haul out over the holidays but to actually use every day in a variety of ways. Silver trays are especially adaptable to practical and useful purpose in every room of the house. I have them throughout The Barn corraling things from bathroom hand towels to books and magazines.

My friend, Diane, who loves old silver and strolling antiques malls even more than I do (which is saying something) showed up at Christmas-time bearing gifts:

Why do these trays look lavender? They are not.

She knew I planned to complete a collection of silver trays for a wall display and, voila, here was a major leap forward on that project!

Diane has a beautiful collection of hotel silver trays. She has arranged them on a kitchen wall. Two things here: old silver looks great in any room and in any style of house, no matter the age. And you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg. Yes, real hotel silver is a bit pricey but vintage silver-plated trays are almost cheap (some under $20) in many of Richmond’s antiques malls.  And probably in your town too. Her arrangement is balanced and symmetrical but it doesn’t have to be.

And D. breaks up all that silver with two porcelain plates. I like it.

Pinterest is full of great photos of things to do with silver trays. The various shapes and sizes of trays in these arrangements is what makes them interesting. In this example, a narrow wall is used to show off a really lovely assortment:

An elegant display – also with balance and symmetry.

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Here silver trays are added to a country vignette which work, doesn’t it?

And here the front door is bedecked with a silver tray:

Love this idea for a Christmas front door.

My silver tray collection is going on the only kitchen wall which isn’t broken up by cabinetry, windows, or doors. Old houses, don’t you know. A few years ago, I had painted and framed in an area on that wall to hold artwork I brought back from a trip. That idea falls into the giant category of “Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time.” And most decidedly it was not. 

Goodbye frame and goodbye paint:

This particular tray is a favorite. It’s quite large and is missing the ivory insert in the curved handles which would make it much easier to hold. I bought it to hang but instead have found that it works much better in my kitchen to hold mail, keys, phones, whatever.

This tray is almost too pretty to hang. Almost.

I’m using this one on a skirted table in the dining room. For now.

One of the tricks in doing a wall arrangement is to lay it all out on the floor first and tweak it accordingly. Once you get the trays the way you want them, prepare for one of two nosy Westies to plop right down and put it all in proper perspective!

And finally up on the newly painted wall:

Beloved Husband hung these perfectly – anything that looks askew is because the picture can’t be taken head-on easily.

I think William Morris had exactly the right idea:

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”