Friday Favorites – The Numbers Game

Decorating with numbers is something I have been into for awhile now. I have several different numbers, in different forms, around our house. It all started when I bought an antique demijohn for my husband for our anniversary one year, and because it was our 20th, I wanted to incorporate the year somehow. I found a cute little vintage hotel room badge with the number 92 on it and I hung it on the bottle. That was it! After that, I was off and running. Since then, I’ve added some 3’s (the number of kids we have), 5’s (the number in our family) and several more 92’s. My husband even got me an antique French street sign with a 92 on it for another anniversary. For whatever reason, I love the feeling I get when I look across the room and see one of these! But really, I see a lot of numbers around now; it seems to fit the vintage/farmhouse aesthetic, not to mention the fact that the Pottery Barns and Home Goods of the world sell them in different iterations. I love it when I see my significant numbers used in different little ways around the house, but I also love numbered baskets, or large numbers on a wall in a play room, or a favorite number displayed in a kid’s bedroom. Like letters in decor (you can read my post about that here), they can be used in so many ways and add such charm to a space.

A clever mix of numbers here – so cute!

 

Adorable for a little boy’s room!

 

LOVE this! And it’s a number 5!!

 

 

I’ve always loved this idea; use roman numerals to mark a significant date.

 

Love this modern art! It’s super large, obviously, but you can get the same effect with smaller sizes.

 

 

Not vintage, but still cute and give a great look.

 

Love these vintage baskets!

 

 

Vintage lockers look really cute in a kid’s room or play room (and the number is free!)

 

These are authentic French hotel door badges. There are literally tons of this kind of thing available on Etsy.

 

 

 

These vintage baskets (with their original numbers!) are gorgeous! I would love to find something like this!

 

I found this quote in House Beautiful, and it just sums up my design philosophy perfectly. These numbers are significant to me, and I collect them because I love to. That is what really makes your house, and your style, authentic to you. Collect what you love. Add slowly, don’t rush it. And don’t follow trends. If you do that, your house will reflect your character, who you are, not just what’s in style. And if you are interested in finding some vintage numbers, Etsy is a great place to start. There are literally thousands there; from old vintage street sign numerals, to the French address or hotel plaques, to old rusted sheet metal numbers. I have found most of mine at flea markets, and the last few on Etsy. Either way, it will tell your story.

Happy Friday!

Sheila