Jewelry for your home?

The weekly micro-decorating newsletter * Issue 11 of 13, W25 *
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It's a common observation that home accessories are a kind of jewelry, adding a finishing touch the way you would to an outfit. It's less common to note that jewelry itself can complete a room. Forget vases and throw pillows for a moment. A necklace or bracelet might be just the thing to make your interior feel cohesive.

My Mom's dining room table shows how it's done. Beaded strands fall across a jauntily angled book about Mexico, turning a plain runner into an eventful display:

The layered curves are like a fully adjustable line drawing, inviting you to either just admire or be adventurous and try creating some revised shapes yourself.

On my recent visit to Studio 1484, I noticed the same table tactic. Here are turquoise beads on a transparent dish on a vintage book:

Necklaces draped over objects and rings gathered on small surfaces were attention getters throughout the space:

The trick to making this work is combining the jewelry with something else, a framing device of some sort. You'll discover that even luxury retailers are reliant on this simple method. Here's a window at Tiffany's where a dramatically lit half-sphere creates a stage for linked bracelets:

In my own environment, I'm fond of humbler materials. I've been acquiring some necklaces and bracelets of recycled brass and zinc from Cos, and it turns out they combine well with the smaller decorative items I collect. It's fun to experiment with different pairings and see what happens:

It's a natural fit to couple jewelry with a reference to the human body:

As of this writing, CB2 has a stylized brass hand on clearance that makes a glamorous support for earrings and more:

If you're in the mood for investment pieces, I recommend taking a look at Inabstracto's jewelry collection, which includes vintage and Scandinavian showstoppers:

Some of these pieces might be singular enough to command a tabletop on their own, but imagine the pleasure of mixing and matching them with other complementary objects.

You may have never bought jewelry in your life, for yourself or as a gift, but if you approach it as scaled-down sculpture for your home, you're opening up an avenue of exploration that has no limits. Curtains fade, upholstery wears out, throw pillows go out of style, even vases shatter. But a well-chosen necklace adds lasting sparkle, and could do the same for one of your heirs.

In the meantime, as an immediate outcome, will you have the best-dressed home in your neighbourhood? Start your jewelry quest, invite some friends over for dinner, and find out.

Thank you for reading.