Jan Showers Notebook

ACCESSORIZE!  Last week there were lots of people in my antiques showroom in the Dallas Design District. So many people commented about our accessories---or l'objet as the French would say---I realized that since accessories and accessorizing are two of my favorite things, it was time for me to write about them.   As most of you know who have read my book, Glamorous Rooms, I consider all of the details we add to a room to be uber important. Without interesting, colorful and shimmery objects on tabletops in a room, you might as well look at a woman with no shoes, jewelry, sunglasses or a great handbag.  Same for a man without the right belt, shoes, tie or watch---well, I see fewer and fewer men wearing ties even though all of the men's fashion magazines say that dressing up is in vogue. Sartorial savvy is key to great style.  Well, you get the idea. There IS an art to this. I consider each tabletop to be a wonderful artistic opportunity and create them as though I were painting. Sometimes, things just happen which is also fabulous---I'm sure the same thing happens regularly with a work of art.   Here are some of my favorite tableaux currently:   All of the above we carefully planned. Here are a few that just happened....      BOOKS I never think of books as accessories----I simply love them and want to be surrounded by them. Look at my coffee table!!                                                       GLASS GROUPINGS   Glass is such a passion of mine---nothing makes me happier than to see wonderful pieces of glass together.   One of my favorites is this chartreuse collection----as many years as I've searched for great glass, these are the only ones I've found that are this stunning color. My husband, Jim, loves Dino Martens glass---here are a few pieces he loves----very manly.    A color that always makes me happy---                                                            COLLECTIONS   It is such fun to see collections of things on tabletops. Even though no one smokes in our house, I love these old cigarette lighters---I appreciate them as works of art.       Kim and Justin Whitman, two of my favorite clients,  love collections. Justin has a great collection of bulldogs. And, Kim collects these obelisks.... Here's hoping you have lots of interesting/pretty objects around---no matter how little or how much they cost, as long as you are surrounded by things you love.         janshowers.com