Antique Decorating

"No matter how many doorways I step through," writes Barbara Milo Ohrbach, "I am always intrigued by what people collect and how they live with their antiques." Readers have turned to Ms. Ohrbach's bestselling Antiques at Home again and again, using it as a treasured source and an invaluable primer on collecting. In this new book, A Passion for Antiques, she has responded to the countless requests from her fans to create an all-new guide that takes a look at the endlessly alluring and ever-growing, ever-changing world of antiques.

As a passionate collector herself, Ms. Ohrbach has traveled the world, and her journey has taken her from the finest London antiques dealers to New York City flea markets and elegant Italian homes. Now all of her insider advice and wonderful discoveries reflecting her impeccable taste are collected in this one volume. In it, she shares her secrets for finding, living with, and caring for treasured old objects.

Featuring the exquisite homes of some of the world's most distinguished and dedicated antiques collectors, A Passion for Antiques will inspire all those looking for creative ways to decorate with their most prized possessions. With her usual clarity, Ms. Ohrbach also includes practical tips for properly cleaning and storing precious objects and lists of professional sources for restoring them. Whether you collect vintage clothing or rare silver, you will find invaluable information here.

Ms. Ohrbach's enthusiasm for travel rivals her passion for antiques. For those who, like her, have taken their quest around the world, she has created a stylish guide to her favorite international cities, with information about fashionable antiques shops and shows, the hottest markets, and noteworthy museums, as well as insider tips on where to stay and dine.

Filled with information as priceless as the objects to which it pays tribute and illustrated with more than 250 extraordinary, lush photographs, A Passion for Antiques will delight newcomers to antiques as well as any knowledgeable collector.

For years, collecting antiques has been Barbara Ohrbach's favorite pastime. Cherchez, the elegant home furnishings shop she owned in New York City, reflected her exquisite taste and impeccable eye. In this very personal book, she gives practical advice about collecting and living with antique objects. As she says, all of these treasures from the past are what "give a room its personality and style and a house its soul.

"Antiques at Home is filled with more than 300 photographs of beautiful old objects and rooms, and provides a wonderful look at the world of collecting -- from flea markets to elegant stores. Ms. Ohrbach discusses many types of antiques, including ceramics, silver, and textiles. In each chapter, she interviews some of the most respected people in the antiques business and includes tips for what to look for when buying antiques and ideas on how to decorate with them. Each chapter ends with a special section on how to care for and preserve these objects.

Ms. Ohrbach shares her enthusiasm in searching for antiques and tells us where to find them in an international source guide that reveals her favorite antiques shops, fairs, markets, unusual museums, and historic homes. Decorative arts societies, reference books, decorating periodicals, and restorers are also listed.

Beautiful objects that were used and loved in everyday life in the past have become very special to us today. For everyone who has already discovered the warmth that old things bring to our homes, as well as for newcomers to collecting, this book will be a treasured guide.

Dealer's Choice has an introduction and text by Craig Kellogg, Editor-at-Large for Interior Design magazine. Michael Bruno, founder and president of leading online antiques marketplace 1st Dibs, contributed the foreword.

Typically, books are valued for what's written inside them. But as a collection, they also tell us a lot about their owner, which is why Hueston, an author and contributing editor at Country Living magazine, believes they are so effective as decoration. Here, she demonstrates how a display or library of books can enhance the look of almost every room in your home. Using copious photographs to illustrate her sparse text, she captures the aesthetic appeal of books and how they add color and texture to a space. With a broad sensibility that expands far beyond traditional configurations, Hueston encourages readers to keep books "stacked on an ottoman, piled on the floor, lined up on a bench, or draped over a ladder," in addition to keeping books "confined to shelves and tabletops." Judging books by their covers, as it were-as objet d'art, without regard to content-Hueston includes tips for displaying, organizing and caring for book collections of any size, which should give any book owner more than one new way to enjoy their favorite titles.
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With the plethora of antique malls popping up around the country and the enticing availability of on-line auctions, collecting antiques has reached a new height of popularity. Many are looking to decorate their homes with vintage furniture and fabrics--and hopefully for a song. Written especially for the amateur collector, Everyday Antiques takes you from learning how and where to shop to integrating your newfound treasures into your home.

Author J.J. Despain began collecting antiques almost accidentally--but then got the bug. Now an expert shopper, she shares her experiences and offers helpful hints on spotting unusual and quality items in antique malls, flea markets, and yard sales, to mention a few popular venues. Despain encourages you to "buy whatever you fall in love with and use it in any way it fits into your home or life."

A full-color "Gallery of Decorating Ideas" gives ideas on how to integrate antiques into a modern home. "One of the greatest discoveries you might make," Despain says, "is that what was created years ago, in many cases, is of better quality than what is created today." A solid brass reading lamp from the '20s probably works as well as it ever did (Despain does suggest that you consider a new cord as the old one is likely cloth-covered and frayed, making it a fire hazard).

The combination of savvy shopping and decorating advice coupled with good old common sense makes Everyday Antiques enjoyable and inspiring to read. Often humorous, Despain's language is as comfortable and homey as a 1940s down-filled easy chair. --Dana Van Nest

This is an excellent introduction to the hunting of old objects and the incorporation of those discoveries into a home. It is not, as the editors are quick to point out, a guide to cashing in on the next hot collectible; instead, it is filled with information about the how-tos of antiquing, eight examples of decor, room-by-room ideas, and notes about restoration. Pictures tell the stories well; an architect-collector talks about repurposing objects, exemplifying his philosophy by transforming antique faucet handles into towel holders. Every scrap of data is valuable, whether it's almost the technique of paste wax application to decorations or about purchasing old objects. Great for the just plain curious and the novice; a good refresher for the initiated. Barbara Jacobs

It is difficult to know where to start--or stop--with this "magnificent obsession" book on collecting. Do you begin at the end, where New York Times journalist Elaine Louie (Living with Textiles, 2001) gives snapshots of six different collecting ideas, such as glass or toys? Does it make more sense to leaf through the exquisite color photographs, noting different arrangements and objets d'art? Or is it most practical to begin at page one and read carefully onward, absorbing the author's good advice about using walls, shelves, cabinets, mantels, and tabletops? Any approach will suffice. Information is packed in every sidebar (itemized collectible glass and pottery, for instance); under every caption; within minichapters (as in a showcase of shoe designer's Christian Louboutin's herbariums); and around every story. Louie finds and shares poetry in both the ordinary and extraordinary. Who else could say, for example, that the mantel is the bottom part of a picture frame? Barbara Jacobs
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