This is a thrift-store $10 silver-plate pierced bowl/pedestal that I use to hold whatever coral fragments I find... I have collected these pieces over the years. It adds a nice punch of colour to my otherwise colorless family room.
I also keep a couple of fragments on this coral dish, and I have it in a guest bathroom, by the sink. I think I found these "bamboo coral" fragments on Ebay a few years back.
I bought some red "branch" coral and purchased the lucite bases on-line and glued them on myself. You can tell that these were the first ones I glued, because I hadn't discovered yet that Gorilla Glue expands after a few minutes. The one I did at the top of this post looks a little better. I saved A LOT of money by going through the trouble and time of doing this myself. It was worth it. Gorilla Glue bubbles and all.
I have a set of these chargers that I bought 3 years ago at Z Gallerie. They are so fun! If I'm feeling like the crazy mom I am, woo-hoo crazy- I'll also put these coral-shaped tapers in some candle-holders --with the chargers.... *gasp......That's living on the edge, right?
The above and below pictures are taken of a bulletin board by my desk. I bought the coral shaped push-pins from Ballard Designs a few years ago. I only bought one box and I use regular push pins for the rest. One box is all you need to make it look a little more interesting.
(The photographs above are me and my neighborhood friends swimming, circa 1975-1976. For some reason my mother always put me in THREE pony-tails - one in the middle and two on the sides. As far as I can tell, this was not a fashion statement of the time. hmmmph....)
This is a piece of red "soft" coral I have sitting on a bookshelf above. I think it is naturally coloured, hence the pale shade.
The reason this one above is so intensely red is because my husband put his foot down and said "no more REAL coral" because it was bad for the reefs. So I bought a piece of "faux" coral from Z Gallerie and here sits amongst it's real compadres. I wonder if it feels left-out. ha.
Coral doesn't have to always be used casually. I posted earlier about a shell display I put in a client's dining room, and I added two pieces of red coral for contrast. Every single piece of coral in this client's home from her husband's past aquariums.
While shopping at local antique store Nick Brock Antiques in Dallas, I snapped this photo of a piece of coral (actually there were two pieces) laying on distressed/painted wooden chest along side a gilt fragment and ceramic pottery lamp. Great mix. Works with the dressiest or most casual of environments.
If you don't want real coral, why not buy fabric with it on it? This one is by Dedar and I snapped this photo while at George Cameron Nash Showroom in Dallas's Design District. Fabulous, no?
I mean you can't really appreciate this fabric until you look at it up close. Look at the pedestals! The marbling, the malachite, the urns....
*sigh.... this is just magnificent....
This is a cute top (that I have to be tan (and thin) to wear, hence it has sat in my closet unworn for 3 years) that I bought from Carla Martinengo Boutique in Dallas long ago. *sigh* All I have to do is cut-out carbs and get a spray tan, right? HA!! DOUBLE HA!
At the Anthropologie up the block from me, they have their hardware displayed in bins full of ...what are these...lentils? Anyways, I thought these coral drawer knobs were cute....
ALL IMAGES (except last): CASHON & CO.
