if i had a hammer

how pitch-perfect are these hammered silver pieces from west elm? they are so rich looking, and so timeless.

you might remember that a while back i blogged about some great silver-tone pieces from crate and barrel - the russo collection - but they seem to have discontinued them. was it something i said? and they also discontinued their own collection of hammered pieces, the astor collection. why i will never know. all the more reason to be thrilled with west elm's, which could be easily used in conjunction with any other silver pieces, hammered or not, astor included. so THERE crate and barrel.

i love these pieces for serving functions, but also for display. both the rectangular platter and the round tray would look stunning on a bar (or bar cart), a sideboard or coffee table, a look perfected by my friend kelly over new year's weekend.

my favorite pieces are the bowls (small, large and oversize) and the pitcher. the bowls (including a small dipping bowl for $5 - yes, you read that right) are beautifully shaped and perfectly hammer-flecked.

the large one placed on a kitchen counter with brilliant green apples or bright oranges would look amazing and would fancy up the space in a second.

and the oversize one is just made for tabletop impact, don't you think? if i had seen it before, it would have been the lead photo in last week's post on bowls, for sure.

and can't you just see this pitcher on a bar too? or on a bookshelf as an interesting objet? it even looks great with a few branchy stems in it, as above. i think calla lilies would work too.

i love pieces like this...so multi-purpose, so stylish. they would make a great gift - particularly the handled tray, the bowls and the pitcher, to my mind. and i love that they are so modern, yet so timeless. to me, that's the picture of good design. what do you think?

all photos from www.westelm.com