As a lover of vintage furniture, I appreciate old pieces and love finding ways to style them for today’s purposes. Sometimes, it’s nice to use part of them for their original intent. Secretaries are one of my favorite pieces of furniture. Whether it’s a tall secretary with a cabinet up top or a a shorter secretary in a slant front desk style, decorating these for today’s times is beautiful and functional.
This small secretary used to be in my den and now it’s in my champagne studio (ahem, office). While I don’t use it everyday to sit at my computer and do work, I do appreciate how it stores office necessities and displays lovely items.
This piece belonged to my aunt when she was a child and was given to me a few years ago. Admittedly, I sometimes focus more on furniture for my booth and clients than for my own home. Sometimes I learn a lesson or two and I was ready to apply some new techniques to this secretary.
Lesson One: Appreciate the original finishes. While I love painting furniture bright colors, I also love beautiful wood. This wood was in great condition and just needed a good polish. I recommend Old English or if it’s in a litte rough shape, you may need to invest in Restor-a-Finish. Don’t forget to use the wax, too! The hardware was also in great shape. I always recommend polishing brass hardware with Brass-O or Bar Keeper’s Friend. In this instance, I couldn’t get it polished well. If that’s the case, I usually use Rub-n-Buff to add some warm gold or in a bad case, spray paint. Rub-n-Buff is a wax and I think it has more durability. If you’re spraying hardware on a piece that you use frequently, don’t expect it to hold up well. Trust me, I know. This is why I always prefer to restore to the original brass.
Lesson Two: Add something punchy to make old furniture on trend for today. In this case, it was wallpapering the interior of the cabinet and drop down desk area. I used this Tempaper. You may recognize it from my china cabinet! I had just enough to complete this secretary.
A tip on Tempaper…it takes a lot of patience to do the interior of a piece of furniture. Also, my job on this secretary is not perfect. It was hard to work with the corners inside a piece and there are air bubbles. Having a busy pattern helps conceal that. I also new that I was going to be styling the shelves by adding several objects, so I wasn’t too concerned with mistakes.
Lesson Three: Make the piece inviting. I absolutely love styling a secretary by leaving one door open and adding a lamp (larger than you think) to the desk area. Leaving that door open and the light turned on just gives off a touch of intrigue that makes you want to take a closer look at the objects on display.
Lesson Four: Balance. Because there are two doors, you want to have balance on each side. I try to choose objects that can balance each side. Let’s start at the top shelf. I have a collection of champagne coupes (a nod to the room’s name). On the other side, there is a vintage tin on a stack of books. See how these equally balance each side? On the bottom shelf, I used a large florentine tray add a fun metallic background. On the left, a ceramic element holds up books. Notice these books are on the left and the previous shelf, the books are on the right. On the bottom shelf, the other elephant is peaking through. Because the lamp shade is blocking most of that view, that’s why I used a pair of something on that shelf so you you’re not totally questioning what’s back there.
Lesson Five: Utilization. A secretary is so lovely because it’s built in organization; no trip to the container store necessary! I used these segmented holders to store my stationary and another set of useful books is also on display.
Lesson Six: Trays keep things tidy. I have a bit of a tray obsession. I love using them on vignettes all around my house. They just keep clutter from taking over the entire surface. In this case, it keeps my candles neat.
Lesson Seven: Take it to the top. Always flaunt height, ya’ll! Whether you have standard eight foot ceilings like me or very tall ten foot ceilings, use that beautiful space to dry the eye upward. Just as adding jars or containers to the top of china cabinets brings the eye upward, I added a bright color ginger jar to the top of this secretary. I love the turquoise against the dark wood, too!
Lesson Eight: New uses for old things. I recently styled secretaries as side tables in living rooms for clients. They had these beautiful pieces of furniture but they were over to the side of the room that wasn’t used. We pulled it close to the sofa and when you leave the desk open, it’s the perfect height for a side table. And if you’ve got room below, add an upholstered ottoman or garden stool for another pop of color.
Do you have a secretary in your home? Do you use it purely for decor or does it also have a functional purpose?
I do have a similar secretary. I inherited mine from my Mother. I use it for family photos and dress it for whatever holiday is upcoming. Love the wallpaper and larger lamp!
That’s so fun that you dress it up each holiday!