Past Present: Living with Heirlooms and Antiques

by Susan Sully

“Antiques add the touch of time and the human hand. Every dented baby cup, mended tablecloth, perfectly or imperfectly preserved piece of silver or porcelain tells a story that began long ago and hasn’t ended yet. There are no rules about living with them, except to take what’s old and keep it young by making it part of daily life.” The past meets the present in perfect style in this guide to incorporating heirlooms and antiques into stylish and contemporary contexts. Featuring interiors decorated by collectors, antiques dealers, and well-known design professionals, author Susan Sully demonstrates ways to create tradition-inspired interiors that aren’t fussy or stiff and breathe new life into old things by changing finishes and upholstery or combining objects in surprising juxtapositions. Sully also explains how to display collections creatively, to set inviting tables, arrange interesting tabletop compositions, and successfully mix and match objects from varied styles, periods, and degrees of formality. Ranging from a converted 1915 fire station to a French neoclassical-style mansion, the selected homes reveal the beauty and relevance of antiques in every setting, from casual to elegant, rustic to refined.

Genres: Nonfiction, Design

216 pages, Hardcover

First published April 12, 2016

Reviews

[Jan Deelstra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book really deserves another half-star, because it's worthy of a 3.5 star rating. I don't want to spoil anything, and for those who either love antiques, or who have a house filled with heirlooms, this is a nice book to have on hand. Admittedly, I was in the throes of Covid when I was reading it, and my head was not quite "in the game" so I may re-read this at a future date. If so, I will update this review.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Past Present: Living with Heirlooms and Antiques by Susan Sully gives me more confidence in how and where I display my treasures. The author has moved a lot of times in her life and has many antiques that she wanted to display. Some of the places were modern or just did not seem to go with the periods of furniture and other things that she collected. She did not want to just keep them in storage. She wanted to enjoy them again. So to solve this problems she asked for advice from her friends, and three categories of people. Those are collectors, inheritors and curators.

She has filled the book with luscious color pictures of how the treasures you love can fit into whatever environment you have. You just need to try different areas of the house for fit and allow yourself to “reinvent” their purpose. There are descriptions of what you see but the most important part of this book is viewing the harmony of object from different ages and purposes. One of my favorite ways of displaying things that I brought back from my China tour is to put them in front of books in the bookcase. We live in a small apartment now so I am looking forward to our next move, hopefully permanent. I will be using this book for inspiration and also as a confidence builder in the way that I set things.

I highly recommend this book for ideas if you want to show your inherited or collected objects in your home and also bring harmony and peacefulness to it.

I received this finished Copy by making a selection from Amazon Vine books but that in no way influenced my thoughts or feelings in this review. I also posted this review only on sites meant for reading not for selling.