You are the potter, your house is the clay. Decorating your home can be a fulfilling artistic experience. One of the most fun ways to give your home an artisan vibe is to decorate with ceramic pottery.
Ceramics have an undeniably collectable quality. They work great as solitary pieces or when bunched together to create a theme. Ceramics are universally popular through all genres of interior design.
You can easily mix vintage and new pieces together to create an eclectic and dazzling look. The good news is that many ceramic pieces are inexpensive.
That is probably why they are so enormously popular right now as a technique for adding decorative dimension to home decor. It is almost impossible to categorize ceramics into one genre since the art form spans centuries, cultures, and various methods of creation.
From plates to mugs to teapots to decorative vases, ceramics really come alive in a home.
A Million Varieties of Sizes
Ceramics come in all shapes and sizes, from over-sized Roman jug designs to petite oriental pieces and all manner of styles in between.
Over-sized ceramic vases make a great focal point for tiled areas of your home such as foyers and open-aired hallways. They can also make attractive guide points for doorways. To brighten up a large ceramic vase, add some over-sized silk florals like sunflowers, daises or ferns.
If you are dealing with smaller ceramic pieces, quantity is key. By grouping a bunch of little vases together, you can make a big impact.
Small ceramic vases look great lined up along your fireplace mantle. You can use small ceramics for decorating above your kitchen cabinets.
If you have a dining room hutch, a variety of ceramic plates can add an eclectic look as an alternative to matching sets of China.
Small ceramic pieces are great little filler pieces to add zest to any bare surface in your home life coffee tables, end tables, and shelves.
Imaginative Themes
Animal ceramics are a highly popular and highly collectable sub-genre of ceramics. Right now, ceramics crafted into bird shapes such as owls is very popular. Dotting your home with animal designs is a cute and wholesome way to bring some artistry into your living space.
Some other popular themes include safari animals and images of the Far East. Pieces carved into animals shapes show off your fun side while maintaining a certain air or design-savvy sophistication.
Splashes of Color
Some ceramics are left rough and unfinished, allowing their natural honey clay color to be enjoyed. Yet, many other ceramic pieces are finished off with color and a healthy coat of glazing. The type of ceramics you use in your home is a matter of personal choice.
The unfinished honey clay look is often more suited for homes that have a naturalistic decor theme or a country or Southwestern look.
Painted and glazed ceramics tends to have a more polished and refined look that is better suited with homes with a more formal design, such as contemporary or Victorian-era underpinnings.
Pet Dish
If you are the type who likes to pamper your pooch, a ceramic pet dish should be high on your list. Let’s face it, plastic pet food bowls can be just plain ugly.
You spend all your time sprucing up your home and scrutinizing over every last inch of your home’s decor, only to have to walk by an unsightly pet dish every day – and while company is over.
Not anymore. There are many varieties of attractive and practical ceramic pet dishes that will add cuteness and charm to your home.
Cook up Some Style
Ceramics are often thought of as a decor concept made for decorative purposes and not for a utilitarian approach. Ceramics are highly useful – especially in the kitchen. Ceramic bowls are great for use as mixing bowls.
Ceramic is also a wonderful material for fruit bowls, drink pitchers, and coasters. Throughout the kitchen, there are hundreds of practical uses for ceramic items.
Ceramic is a perfect choice for sugar bowls and containers for keeping flour and grains on your countertop for easy access.
A Few Notes on How Not to Decorate with Ceramics
Ceramics, due to the process by how they are made, have a certain amount of vulnerability and delicateness. For this reason, there are a number of considerations to be made when decorating with them.
If you live in a home with toddlers or young children, leaving pottery pieces in open areas may be an invitation for disaster. When decorating with over-sized floor vases, make sure that vases are heavy enough so that they will not be easily knocked over.
If a vase is light enough to knock over, try filling the bottom with bricks or stones in order to weigh it down and make it unmovable.
If you are using decorative pieces on surfaces like shelves or fireplace mantles, make sure they are placed high enough so that they cannot be reached by children.
The colorful and fun look of ceramic pieces (especially ones crafted to look like little animals) can appear like toys to children. If you don’t want to see your favorite pottery destroyed, pay attention to where you place it.
Looking for charm? Go ahead and add some ceramic decorations to your home – just don’t be surprised if collecting these gorgeous, timeless pieces becomes a design obsession.