Did you know that the City of Danbury is ranked as the 4th Most Diverse Small City in the country? That attribute is celebrated all throughout the city by way of lively, energetic cultural clubs who not only celebrate their heritage but embrace and influence the Danbury community. To honor the diversity and history of this city, Mayor Boughton installed Heritage Plaza outside of City Hall. Cultural groups are welcome to build a monument of their heritage to add to the plaza, all leading up to the Hatters Monument, dedicated to the history of factory workers here in the Hat City.

Chinoiserie Porcelain vase collectionI just learned about the history of Hat City, when a client casually mentioned the nickname for Danbury “Hat City”. Such a fun perk of moving to a new region of the country, I learn something every day about my new home state!

So – back to Hat City – here is how the name came about — during the Industrial Age in Connecticut – a lot of the manufacturing towns were known for producing one single product. So you have Waterbury brass, and Manchester silk. Danbury grew in the late 1800s to be the largest national manufacturer of men’s hats – to the tune of 4.5 million hats produced annually.

One of the suggestions I often make to my Danbury CT clients, a town so rich in history, is to infuse some of that history into the accessories or art in the home. That can be the interior and or exterior of the home.

For instance, a local antique store may have some cool antique hats or signage from one of the factories, which can become part of a vignette on a wall or table scape.

Accessories like hats and purses, particularly those you might not wear often, can serve as interesting wall art. Just hang a series of hooks on your wall and hang your hats or handbags from them. This can be particularly decorative if you have any antique hats or purses that you don’t get to show off in person very often.

Here are a few tips for displaying a collection in your home.

SHELVES: use narrow, floating wall shelves for more delicate items such as sea shells or thimbles or small collections. This will be proper scale for the proportion to the small scale collection.

WALL DISPLAY: consider the composition you wish to create – lay it out on the floor prior to hammering any nails into the wall. The benefit is you can easily tweak the layout while on the floor. When you feel confidant you have struck the right note, start from the center piece and radiate outward with the installation on the wall.

TOP OF ARMOIRE: Don’t be shy to use that high space which normally sits bare. In this photo, I have used the space on top of a Chinese Wedding cabinet to display my collection of Chinoiserie Porcelain vases.

In need of custom window treatment or interior design help in your Danbury home? Give me a call today to discuss your project.

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