Creative Display: Inspiring ideas to make every surface beautiful

by Geraldine James

Treasured personal possessions are what turns a house into a home, but finding ways to display them can be a challenge.

Whether you have a single treasured objet d’art or a collection of nature finds gathered on a country walk, a family of framed photographs or a set of leatherbound books, a trio of glass candlesticks or an ever-growing pile of bone china plates, here you will find new and exciting ways to present them. In Creative Display, Geraldine James shows how you can create the perfect table setting from mismatched plates and cutlery trawled from a fleamarket, how the simplest set of shelves can be arranged to create a miniature still-life, and how essential storage can become something beautiful in its own right. With a natural talent for seeking out the unusual, Geraldine introduces new ways to upcycle the everyday and recycle the reclaimed—a weathered barn door becomes a striking side table, a stack of magazines reinvents itself as a lamp table, and a gently rusting metal radiator cover finds a new life as a display shelf for a treasured collected of seashells. In Geraldine’s hands, the everyday item becomes a work of art and even the most mundane objects can be seen in a new light. In Creative Display you will find new and unusual ways to turn all your treasures into exciting art forms.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, Interior Design, Design

224 pages, Hardcover

First published March 8, 2012

About the author

Geraldine James started her career in fashion as a contemporary designer buyer, and from fashion she moved to home and gift. Geraldine soon developed a passion for collecting and finding the most unusual and beautiful things. She now works as a home buying manager at Selfridges and, as part of her role, spends time traveling extensively to find exciting new products for the store.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gather a bunch of stuff you really love. Include at least one painting or old photograph. Put your stuff on a table or mantle. Arrange and rearrange until you like what you see.

Voila!

That's this book in a nutshell. I just saved you $29.95.

You're welcome.

[Kelly Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this book from my local library because I was looking for a way to display my various collections. I found the examples in this book to be messy and cluttered. They all seem to represent the same style as well, rather than finding examples from lots of homes.

[IE · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book... it was difficult to read and I found the images uninspiring. Maybe other artists might find these paint splattered workspaces inspiring? Most were too messy for me. Many examples of standard dining table layout, it seemed very basic. I would have liked to see more collections showcased.

[Kim Veach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my kind of decorating - too cluttered and too much distress (aka old and tattered) items.

[Ricki Treleaven · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I didn't like Creative Display as much as Creative Walls. Maybe because it wasn't what I had expected. I was expecting a book about how to display collections, and that really isn't what this book is about. Very few collections are included. The book is about how to display the things you love most and how to use them while entertaining. Each space is very personal, and most are either whimsical, quirky, or just plain strange. Most of the spaces belong to creative types like Rachel Ashwell and French artist Laurence Amelie, and they were either a bit sparse or very, very cluttered. The chapters include Heart of the Home (the big family table), Work Spaces, Outdoors, Celebrations, and Upcycling. My favorite chapter is Upcycling: It encourages the reader to find unusual uses for found objects. My favorite example is a very large bellows made from leather used as a coffee table in front of a fireplace.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this on Kirsten's list so I checked it out. It is fun and kind of inspiring. I always like looking through "home" magzines and the articles and displays of decor are never long enough for me. So, this picture book is endlessly delicous with every page an idea on how to show off your collections and what nots. Massing items together never really work out for me but these pages give pictures of the concept in full bloom. And, speaking of bloom, there is a yard and garden section which is really fun. A good book for an evening of page turning

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

Irritating layout and design, multiple fonts on most pages made it very difficult to concentrate on content. White space can actually be your friend and make it easier to digest what are fairly busy, detailed images. Needed stricter editing on the images as well, there was a lot of what felt like needless repetition.

I found the text fairly pretentious; I guess this style of book is always going to be like that to some degree. Some nice ideas, but the author doesnt stray to far from a single style.

[Trisha-lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had been looking for a book about creating little vignettes for my job as property stylist. I love the content and layout (although most items are too eclectic and valuable to leave in empty properties!). The reason I don't give this book more stars is due to the really irritating Hodge podge of type faces used throughout! The hard to read excerpts are particularly annoying and unnecessarily busy. Spoils an otherwise good book :-(

[Jennifer Schooley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I may be influenced by the fact that most of these images are not my aesthetic, but I am basing my rating on the fact that this book already seems like past trends in interior decorating. The ideas seem too time sensitive and not classic enough to last the test of time. This content would be more suitable to a blog or magazine.

[Jennie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of exterior displays here, perfect if you have property or a large space to display. I like the softness of the rooms and use of colour to create muted or bold statements. Personally I found some of the displays to be very cluttered and would have removed several items (I am prone to breaking/knocking things over).

Worth a flip through.

[Haylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the fonts and layout of this book, the cover texture and type of paper the pages are constructed out of. Although the decorating style is not particularly of my own personal liking, I enjoyed the large photos and some of the ideas. One question I do have is who dusts all those collections in all those homes?

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of gorgeous photographs, inspiration and snippets of advice on how to create dramatic displays in your home. It's about turning the mundane into the majestic, creating a living space you can be inspired by and bringing more beauty into your everyday life.

loved it!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun collections, cozy, cluttered styling. Gave me ideas for displaying some of my kids' crazy collections...and what it means to display the things you love.

[Mari-Liis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring, great book.

[Debby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rooms were not my style but enjoyed the ideas.

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh, a couple of ideas, nothing overwhelmingly inspirational.