I believe that Steampunk is more than just brass and watchparts. It's finding a way to combine the past and the future in an aesthetic pleasing yet still punkish way. It's living a life that looks old-fashioned, yet speaks to the future. It's taking the detritus of our modern technological society and remaking it into useful things. Join me as I search for items for my house that combine the scientific romanticism of the Victorians with our real present and imagined future.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Bars for Inspiration
Victorian style -- the good stuff, that we aspire to -- tends to be a bit, well, stuffy. Stuffy is hard to live with, especially today, when you probably don't have household help to keep it clean and neat and your family congregates in an open kitchen instead of the parlour (with the cooking going on in the basement or a separate building). To counteract this stuffiness, and to be more true to the steampunk aesthetic which includes a healthy dose of dirt and grime, I look to the seedier side of Victorian and Edwardian culture to find inspiration for casual kitchens and eating areas where people can gather and chemistry experiments of various sorts would not be out of place.
The Barcelona bar Marsella, which I stumbled across at A Shaded View on Fashion, is one such example. Opened in 1820 and frequented by the artists of the day, its wood cabinetry, opulent chandelier, cafe tables, and dusty bottles are quite the inspiration.
How to get such a look? Lots of wood, patterned carpet, and a bistro table like this one I've been admiring this one from NapaStyle, which I think it would fit right in to a casual kitchen/dining area inspired by Marsella.
credits: pictures are from A Shaded View of Fashion, table is from NapaStyle.
Those tall glass cabinets are magnificent! Thanks for the post
ReplyDeletelooks like my house!!! friend of mine told me about this!! awsome too see others who are like me..i love too scavenge for stuff.
ReplyDeleteGrrrreat timing! I'm in the process of adding a "home office" (ie: lounge!) on my house and I'm looking for inspiration for a nice bar to build. Exactly what I needed to help fuel the creative fires.
ReplyDelete-Jon