With the advent of the mobile phone era, the desk, wall and floor clocks for some time lost their privileged status as one of the main interior accents. However, no smartphone or electronic timer built into home appliances can replace an authentic cuckoo clock, an antique baroque thing, or a beautiful watch with porcelain figurines of shepherds and floral designs on the mantelpiece. One can argue about the functionality of interior clocks for a long time, but at home, it is much more convenient to keep track of time using beautiful wall models than with a smartphone or other portable gadgets. Do not underestimate the decorative role of classic and original decor a room of any style, size, and purpose.
Main types of interior chronometers
In order for the watches bought at a sale or in an antique shop, regardless of their cost, become the original decor, the main accent or the harmonious interior decoration of the room, it is necessary to approach their choice very carefully. The model should precisely fit into the interior, complementing and decorating it in accordance with the general concept of room design. To achieve this goal, it is worth remembering the main types of interior clocks. All designs can be classified according to several principles: by type of location, size, a material of manufacture and style.
Classification of clocks by size and location
The main groups of clock mechanisms used in everyday life are divided into:
- floor (massive, large structures, sometimes taller than a man);
- wall (mechanisms placed on the walls, medium and large size, of any shape, can occupy an area from a couple of tens of square centimeters to several square meters);
- clock-paintings (original products, in which the machine itself with the arrows is attached directly to the wall, and its surface becomes a brightly decorated, spectacular dial, or a picture of any size, as in the photo below);
- Fireplace (table) clock of small and medium size in any style from baroque to avant-garde and steampunk, installed mainly on tables, mantels, window-sills, and consoles.
What materials are used for the original decoration?
The watch case can consist of almost any materials. Manufacturers use metal and glass, ceramics and plastic, wood, natural and artificial stone, mirrors, mosaic. Antique and expensive products in a classic, retro style are often made of precious woods, marble, bronze, for the decoration is used stained glass, gilding, and crystal, precious and semi-precious stones: malachite, granite, as in the photo below. Ceramic watches can be coated with glaze, hand painted. For modern products, metal, glass, mirror elements, wood, paper, plastic, chrome elements are used, and as an original decor – any details, ranging from cereals and dried plants to family photos.
Style and design
Beautiful mechanical, electronic or quartz, antique or modern watches will turn into an organic element of the interior or it’s original, eye-catching decor only if you match their style, type, color and size with the style and other characteristics of the room. It is not so difficult to choose an accessory of a suitable form and design for a finished living room, bedroom or hallway, since it is a question of an already decorated room, and you just have to maintain its atmosphere with another accessory.
It is worth noting that fashionable eclecticism today allows for some confusion of different styles, including in the design of home interiors. For example, watches in Provence style (round, wooden or white lace with metal decor, decorated with the help of decoupage techniques or craquelure, decorated with delicate floral motifs) will be equally relevant in Chebbie chic interiors and in a neutral classic living room.
Today, large wall models with round Roman numerals are popular. They can be made on a rough wooden base or have a transparent metal structure. These watches will be the perfect decoration of the room in the style of Provence, rustic, chalet, loft. By the way, it is the loft (brick walls, large windows, lack of partitions) to accessories from other stylistic directions. In such an interior, the ancient outdoor clock with a pendulum in a chic mahogany case, and huge picture-watches, and abstract models, and laconic minimalist mechanisms consisting only of hands mounted directly on the wall will perfectly take root.
The interior of art deco is an abundance of mirrors, gilding, flashy, saturated colors, rich textures (furs, velvet), alternating with shiny and glossy surfaces. Hours for such a room can resemble the sun, a circle with metal gilded or silver rays radiating from it, a square decorated with glass or mirror inserts. In the living room in Art Nouveau style, choose a clock with an original decor in the form of floral curls, buds made of light metal, colored glass.
For rooms in the classical and neoclassical style, concise white, malachite, bluish floor, table or mantel clocks of small size are relevant. They can decorate the mantelpiece, the tabletop in the study, the console under the mirror in the living room, a coffee table in the corner of the room. The floor clock of a dark tree with a pendulum will successfully fit into a drawing room in an English, Victorian key.
Wooden walkways are an invariable attribute of a retro-apartment, but a cuckoo clock will take root in a rustic log cabin or in a country-style kitchen, in an interior with embroidered curtains, tablecloths, towels, and wooden furniture.
Minimalism and high-tech accept high-tech models with a minimum number of parts made of metal and plastic, full-wall transparent glass products with laconic metal arrows and numbers marked with strokes.
You can decorate a neutral classic living room with an original decor in the form of a painting clock with floristic, abstract motifs and urban landscape. Very bright look creative products in the form of woody cuts, with details woven from bamboo, rattan, vines. Such watches, like models decorated with live plants, will come to a place in eco-interiors, apartments in the Scandinavian style.
If you like bright images, stylish details that look especially impressive against the neutral background of modern, neoclassical interiors, pay attention to a designer (as in the photo below) or unusual vintage gizmos. The first ones are expensive (if we are talking about piece goods), well, antique watches can be found on flea markets, from junk dealers, in antique shops.
Where and how to hang or put a new element of original decor?
First, you need to decide in which room you want to place the clock as a practical detail of the interior and the element of original decor: in the bedroom, living room, dining room, kitchen, hallway. In the bedroom, the clock is a more decorative function, but it does not take up much space. You can put an elegant trinket on the dressing table, on the nightstand near the bed, on the shelf under the TV. A large wall clock at the head of the bed will look overly intrusive unless this is not a minimalist product with arrows without numbers.
Floor classic clocks are appropriate in a large hallway, lobby, in the office, in the living room. They are installed in a corner, niche, in a wall between the windows, but so that they are clearly visible from anywhere in the room. If we are talking about a picture-clock or another large wall mechanism, it can be hung over the sofa, above the fireplace (or its imitation), on a free wall as a central decorative element.
For the interior of the dining room and kitchen, the clock is also quite appropriate. This may be a small round movement, a product with a square, figured dial. The clock should be placed in such a way that time can be watched by those sitting at the table, and the hostess clapping at the stove.
If nothing fits: do-it-yourself interior clocks
It is not necessary to adhere to clear rules in the selection of perfectly matched clocks. You can focus only on your own taste and fantasy, not forgetting about harmony and the right combination of colors, shapes, sizes. If you have not found a suitable element of decor, create it with your own hands from scrap materials. In addition, exclusive interior clocks will be an excellent gift for a close anniversary, housewarming, New Year, Christmas.
Suitable for the design and size for the interior of a particular room clock can be made of plywood, cardboard, paper, wood saw, old vinyl record, clay, bicycle wheel, as in the example on the photo, textiles, jute, old dishes and other natural and artificial materials, various items and accessories.
The mechanism for future hours can be purchased at the shop for products for creativity, or get things from the old, having served its time things. Decorate the craft to your taste with beads, embroidery, sequins, decoupage, various cereals, dried herbs, artificial flowers. In the course are any items, from family photos to a mosaic of pieces of glass, mirrors, and beads. Choose an idea to your liking or ready-made models for sale and decorate your house with new stylish watches.
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