many people collect Department 56 villages,
and everyone has seen those 'ping pong table sized displays' of them in stores, right?
very impressive feats of visual merchandising, and entertaining, too!
but no one REALLY has that much room in their home to replicate it!
so how do you display a large collection of little houses and churches and people and trees
...in a REAL home?
'Divide and Conquer'!
my client simply cleared off the tops of all of the tables in her formal living room,
giving us room to design miniature landscapes for her elegant villages.
[the more 'playful' collectibles went into the kitchen, as shown in this post]
the sofa table and two shelf units flanking the fireplace offer copious space to display her villages
and her gorgeous antique furnishings added such warmth to the scenes...
from year to year, the setups changed, but we always used her antique wooden boxes as risers,
to lift some of the buildings up in the 'landscape'.
stacks of old books could be used for this, as well...
stacks of old books could be used for this, as well...
simple batting snow adds whimsy - especially when it is separated to appear as a 'shoveled' walkway,
or as a stream (see the shot of the sofa table up above)
the batting snow also hides the boxes that these houses came in, so they can act as risers...
AND it hides the electrical cords!
placing some of the lighted buildings low on shelves brings light and interest to the shelf units,
offering a perfect viewing perspective for children.
this close-up of the sofa table setup reveals that it is double-sided,
making sure that there is a happy view from any vantage point in the room...
the sideboard holds yet another village scene...
one year this setup was built on top of a large mirrored tray,
so that the mirror could peek out of the snow as a frozen lake!
here are just a few more photos of this beautiful home...
as have i... and i will miss the creative and happy hours spent decorating there.
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