Keith Merry of Garden Park Antiques in Nashville, Tennessee, and homeowner Pride Scanlan show a wide range of uses for metal architectural elements in a country home. Old gates, fences and metal finials add a unique rustic touch. In Pride Scanlan's home old gates are fashioned into a room divider between the living room and the kitchen, and another piece decorates a wall (figure A). A pair of gates topped with glass stands in as a coffee table. It's fun to fashion architectural bits and pieces into lamps. A silk-and-linen lampshade looks crisp and clean next to a weathered lamp base made from a tin finial taken from an old building (figure B). In the bedroom a fabulous bed frame is made from an old piece of Philadelphia gate fencing and two stoop columns with the house numbers still on them (figure C). When using antique architectural metal in a country home, it's important to leave on the original finish. The patina, especially if it's rough and weathered, provides an unexpected and interesting contrast with fine fabrics and finishes.
RESOURCES :
Keith Merry
Garden Park Antiques
Nashville, TN 37211
Phone: 615-254-1996
Fax: 615-254-6471
Website: www.gardenpark.com/antiques
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