{Global Styling} 3 Ideas for Mixing Antique Furniture & Vintage Textiles

In my past life I was a flagrant minimalist. I'm sure of it.
And now, I'm somehow atoning for the past by hoarding every shiny bobble that crosses my path.

If you read my blog, you know my design mantra as of late is a mix of severe editing + unique displays of my travel tchotchke collection. It's no easy feat! 

But I'm loving how these fellow collectors have managed to incorporate two of my favorite things— Antique Furniture and Vintage Textiles— into stunning displays.  Let's break it down:

1. Armoires

I have a few quilts and weavings from my travels and, unfortunately, they're all hidden away in storage.  One day I'll get those bad boys on display in my house. Personally, armoires are my favorite way to display vintage textiles. Vintage Textiles = Delicate. With an armoire, you can throw open the doors and showcase your stash...without worrying about damaging the fibers via sunlight or messy fingers.

2. Walls

Hanging textiles on walls is an incredibly easy way to display textiles....but it's not always the safest. In my experience, the two best options are:

1. Purchase or create (like I attempted to do in our old condo!) a display frame or splurge on custom framing.
2. Hang your piece from a curtain rod (or just a bamboo stick) via foam-padded clips.

And if you're not too worried about damaging the fabric— and the overall piece isn't too heavy— then you could try a few discreet carpet tacks in the corners as a quick 'n' dirty solution. But beware! The fabric will eventually start to tear or pull. So only go this route if you're not too attached to your textile.

3. Chairs

Yes, I know I sound batty— but chairs are perfect display pieces! Of course, I don't know how realistic they are in this capacity if you have any of the following:

1. A small house
2. Children
3. A husband who complains about non-functional pieces of furniture that are purely artistic.

However, if you are lucky enough to live alone or have perfect children or a husband who doesn't question your design choices.... then I wouldn't be hesitant in the least to incorporate an unusual or antique chair for displaying sequined saris, kantha quilts or your favorite Andean weaving.

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10 // 11

Hope you enjoyed the roundup! I'm always on the prowl for new/interesting/fun ways to display my finds...check out my Boho Living board on Pinterest for more ideas!

How do you display your precious vintage pieces? I'd love to hear your suggestions!

{Global DIY} Travel Coin Charm Bracelet

I'm a budget traveler by necessity, not by choice. However much I'd love to send home containers full of textiles and antiques, we seem to return with a single pocket of treasures: matchbooks, coins, bus tickets, bar coasters and hand-written receipts.

It's certainly sweet....but our home is quickly resembling a den of thieves.

One tchotchke that could use some editing is my overflowing coin collection. Inspired by this tutorial by whatiwore, I've been scheming up a charm bracelet DIY. But since I don't have access to a drill press, I decided to get creative with my more affordable (and apartment-friendly) rotary tool.

#1 - Clean and Buff Your Coins
First, clean those coins! I researched a slew of different ways to clean coins. In the end, I followed this awesome little tutorial. You’ll notice that my coins lack the mirror-like finish found in this tute’s video-- I simply subbed Brasso for Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish.


#2 - Get Drilling

 You'll need:

• Safety Goggles
• Rotary Tool (like a Dremel, or in my case, a look-a-like from Harbor Freight)
• Spring Clamp
• Scrap Wood
• Drill Bits (I used the skinny bits which were packaged with my rotary tool)
• Glass of Water (to cool off the coins)

So to begin, I pretty much just clamped the coin to a piece of scrap wood, popped on my goggles and dove in.

The key for me was to apply gentle, but firm pressure to the coin while drilling. Since the drill bit was so thin, I had to be patient or else jeopardize breaking the bit. Each coin took me about 10 minutes of on-off again drilling.

Caution!! Your rotary tool will make the coin very hot-- be careful! Stop drilling every 20-30 seconds to cool off the metal with water and ensure you’re not melting the plastic spring clamp. Trust me on this one.


#3 - Assemble Your Bracelet

You'll need:

• Jump Rings (I used 10mm )
• Needle Nose Pliers
• Chain bracelet (I bought mine from Forever21-keeping this DIY under $5 total!)

For anyone who isn't used to opening jump rings, let me warn you, you need two pliers: one to stabilize/hold the ring, the other to open the ring. And remember-- since I used a tiny drill bit, I selected my jump rings based on the final size of my hole.

And voila!

I think I'll add three or four more coins to the bracelet-- it's still a little sparse for my tastes. But overall I'm pretty happy with the results! And the best part? These travel tchotchkes move off the cluttered shelf and become a daily reminder of our favorite treks.