SECRETS TO A NATURAL SHELFIE

SECRETS TO A NATURAL SHELFIE

 


WITH THE HELP OF MOTHER NATURE, INTERIOR STYLIST AND BLOOMIST COLLABORATOR HILARY ROBERTSON CREATES SIMPLE, BEAUTIFUL, PHOTOREADY VIGNETTES AND TABLEAUX FOR THE HOLIDAYS.
Interview by Diana Keeler | Photos by David Chow

Sometimes people think that they can’t have everyday things on a shelf — they think they have to have tchotchkes, which honestly can look a bit weird. It’s nice to have things that really do need to be stored on a shelf, but mixed with prettier or unexpected things like wood flowers which come in different heights and sizes and add a woodsy texture to a still life.

If you’re going to have books, don’t have just one book, but a nice hefty stack. Collections of things are great, and objects of varying height — when things are the same height, it looks terrible. You also can’t have things that are all wispy and soft. You need a mixture — of feminine and masculine, hard and soft, and then oversized things to ground it.

Top image from left to right: Tracie Hervy white stoneware slim cylinder vase; hand carved, whitewashed wood chain by Atuto; Tracie Hervy white stoneware tray and tumbler; European recycled glass jar; paper mache bowl. Image left, from left to right: Wood flower by Atuto; handmade ceramic vase by Yuko Sato under small recycled glass cloche; beach stone vase with dried silver brunia

“MIX FEMININE AND MASCULINE WITH HARD AND SOFT. THEN ADD SOME BIG SCULPTURAL THINGS TO GROUND THE PICTURE.”

Above image from left to right: Hand carved, whitewashed wood chain by Atuto; paper mache bowl; Tunisian clay beads.

ANCHOR THE SHOT WITH SOMETHING SOLID

Sometimes I’ll use a chain in a shot because I want something a bit more solid, and the plus is it falls in lots of different ways. You also hang it or use it as an extra-large bookmark. Or I’ll want something that will kind of hang off the shelf — something that can kind of snake around things. Everything else in the typical shelfie is piles of books or a vase or a plant, so it’s kind of nice to have an amorphous shape that you can drape on the shelf.

THINK OF TRAYS AS MINI-STAGES FOR VIGNETTES

I love a tray. Instead of having a vase on its own, you can make more of a statement if you put several smaller things together on a tray.

From left to right: On white stoneware tray by Tracie Hervy, beach stone match striker and recycled glass bud vase; Palo Santo sticks in a white stoneware tumbler by Tracie Hervy; hand carved, whitewashed wood chain by Atuto; small bronze-glazed porcelain dish by DBO Home

“I LIKE A TRAY FOR CONSOLIDATING THINGS, FOR BRINGING SMALLER THINGS TOGETHER”