Victorian Chic

I recently borrowed this book from my local library, and I love it! The photos are so beautiful. I've gleaned some new ideas already for my house. I guess I'm just an old fashioned romantic. :-)I love lace and old things, so this book is very much my style.

The book showed mostly a display of lace and linens, layered and arranged everywhere.The bedroom seemed the best place to carry out this scheme ofantique linens and numerous laces. The living rooms were a bitoverdone,especially having lace doilies on the backs of furni-ture. In Victorian times, it was a means of protecting orkeeping your chairs clean from hair oils.In our modern times it looks absurd with our daily regimen of a shampoo andshower.The Christmas decorating was superb. It makes you yearn forthr days before noisy toys with batteries and all the glitzChristmas has become.Another part at the end, the outdoor Victorian scenes madea serene picture at the end of a long day.To sit and reflectand enjoy the wildflowers around a porch made more pleasantby the comfortable seating, was carefully accomplished. I gave this a four star because in parts the rooms wereoverblown.However, there are many artistic arrangements of ateapot collection and floral arrangments that reflect theauthor's talent.

Victorian Chic was a delightful revelation of a guide. Characteristic of the lace and linen era, I discovered new and clever ways to display my treasures. I'm inspired to add to my collections knowing how to blend them into our home decor. Ms. Crane makes it all look so easy.

Victorian Chic is a "must-have" for collectors like me wondering what to do with odds-and-ends. Every time I browse the pages of Anita Crane's book, I get new ideas. Especially exciting is the concept of mixing and matching items from different eras in order to achieve a mood.No longer are my closets filled with boxes of garage-sale finds. Using many of Anita's suggestions, my bargain "treasures" are now placed where they can be seen and enjoyed. Perhaps even more important, Anita's book serves as a springboard for my own ideas, encouraging me to explore with confidence new possibilities for old pieces. I can see a teapot as a vase, an empty frame as a work of art, a piece of antique lace as an elegant runner. With the masterful eye of an artist, Anita transforms her world to a gentle era of lace and primitives, soft lights and flowers. Victorian Chic invites us to enjoy it with her, and to create our own worlds using the treasures around us.