Getting creative: Weston shop owner turns displays into art

IF YOU GO
What: Elements for Creative Interiors.Where: 4575 Weston Rd., Weston. Hours: Noon to 5 p.m. Monday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, noon to 4 p.m. Saturday.Contact: 954-217-3711.BY PATTI ROTH
roth94@aol.com
The way accessories and furniture are displayed at Elements for Creative Interiors is as inspiring as the items themselves.
Owner Zaida Alvarez, an interior designer, fashions wall art, for example, by repeating individual pieces she sells in her Weston store.
Consider a grouping of five identical shiny silver bells, a demonstration of how everyday items also work as art. Also displayed in this way are glass balls ($22 to $31); bronze sculptures of playful youngsters that seem to float ($109 to $139); and functional items, such as porcelain serving plates, ($27 to $139). The key, Alvarez said, is using related items and grouping them for a bold impact.
``They can be as inexpensive as branches that you find,'' she said. ``You put them together. You hang them. And that becomes an art installation.''
Sometimes even nonmatching items enhance the appeal of a room, according to Alvarez. She likes to incorporate organic elements in the decor, as well as unpredictable textures and styles. Within a crisp modern furniture grouping, Alvarez added two vintage rustic pieces -- a shoemaker's stool ($279), and a side table with a twig base, ($199).
The unexpected juxtaposition shines and provides what Alvarez refers to as the designer's touch. ``It'll make people say whoa, this is artistic.''
Alvarez's furniture and accessories represent different styles. A selection of dining room chairs hangs from the ceiling. The chairs ($299 to $469) appear to be well-worn pieces with chipped and peeling paint, but they are new, designed with well-worn vintage that Alvarez finds inviting and friendly.
Light fixtures also hang high. One is a $32 parasol transformed into a chandelier. Another fixture, made of painted aluminum, resembles an old-fashioned lantern topped by a golden crown. It sells for $899.
The store also showcases the work of artists, including sculpted graphite pieces that Alvarez said work nicely as gifts. The sculptures, such as a feather and a dragonfly on a leaf, are priced from $34 to $69.
Local artists are represented in a colorful painting featuring ackee fruit that was done by the 12-year-old daughter of a client and another artist's decoupage work on coasters, bulletin boards and pedestal plates.
Alvarez also sells furniture pieces she designed. Desks, which are available in different sizes, ($5,000 to $8,000) have an airy lattice-like pattern on the cabinet doors and back panels. The desk, like a dining table she designed, features reclaimed wood from a barn in Pennsylvania.
Design ``is all about what you like,'' Alvarez said.
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