From Pamela Wiggins,
Your Guide to Antiques.
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Not too long ago I read, in the Kovel’s newsletter to be precise, that the “shabby chic” look is going out of fashion. It seems that more formal styles are taking favor with those tired of the well-worn yet romantic decorating techniques that Rachel Ashwell so proudly took credit for in her publications.

Is this rumor true? Possibly. And it shouldn’t be surprising that the tide would turn in decorating desires sooner or later. It always does. In fact, I visited a large antique mall recently and only saw one shabby-yet-chic booth. A year or so ago there would have been half a dozen or more.

If you haven’t quite gotten all the whitewashed furniture and cabbage roses out of your system yet, don’t worry. I still see enough shabbily chic resurrections at shows and flea markets to keep you happy for some time to come. The style just isn’t as plentiful in shops as it was when it peaked a while back.

Of course, there’ll always be someone in the bunch that decides to create his or her own decorating look. And when that happens in conjunction with collectibles, the result can be outstanding.

The Collector’s Eye: Decorating with the Objects You Love by Christine Churchill (Harper Collins) takes the notion of individuality full circle. If you’re wanting some ideas on how to decorate in a way that captures your personality while displaying your collections, this might be the read for you.

This book is sophisticated in some respects and elegant in others. It's not totally unlike a title you might expect from Martha Stewart when she was in her heyday, which probably describes it best of all since everyone seems to know Ms. Martha these days for better or for worse.

Beyond all the similarities with other decorating guides, this particular book takes collectors on some twists and turns they may not expect. In fact, some of the concepts can actually be described as minimalist. If you have a number of collectors in your life, doing things minimally isn’t usually in our vocabulary.

Churchill actually describes these looks as “modern visions” and encourages her readers to go “sleuthing for style relying on their own quirky good taste.” And I’d have to agree. Many collectors do have a wonderful knack for picking up unusual pieces here and there that would work wonderfully in a variety of decorating scenarios.

On the other hand, the author has incorporated some superb group displays that are anything but minimal using a large number of common and uncommon objects, sometimes in the same room. The range of room looks suggested by this forward thinking manuscript can only be described as eclectic.

One section offers kitchen cabinets filled with gleaming mercury glass, which can easily be confused with silver or silverplate at first glance. But unlike sterling, mercury glass can be much more affordable and much easier to maintain.

Blue and white transferware, popular with collectors for decades (if not centuries) now, adorns one wall in another section for a quaint traditional feel. And in another chapter, the bright hues and unusual shapes of Blenko glass from the 1950s and ‘60s adorns white brick walls. The result is nothing short of striking.

One consistency that really stands out in this book is the top-notch photography illustrating all these concepts, which was expertly done by the author’s husband, Keith Scott Morgan. This talented duet has worked on projects for familiar magazines like House & Garden and Country Living in the past, and this experience resonates within the pages of their latest work.

What’s missing in this decorating guidebook? As you may have guessed, shabby chic rooms are noticeably absent.

While there are elements of similarly tattered looks here and there within some of the attractive collection groupings, namely worn and weathered architectural pieces, you won’t find entire rooms devoted to that look within these pages. And as Ms. Martha says, for some folks at least, that’s a “good thing.”