Not quite big enough for the modern perfumista, but still: "Superb figured walnut perfume cabinet from Barkers of Kensington. This Chiffonier is a stunning piece of furniture in its own right, it is fine quality and veneered in Superbly figured walnut, with classical ormolu figures on the front and Oval inset glass doors. The cabinet was been painted for Barker’s of Kensington department store advertising Perfumes and Colognes, we understand this was done prewar." $4,255.88 at 1stDibs.
Ann S., a librarian in Eastern Pennsylvania, divides her love of perfume into three phases. The first was when she was a girl. “The tops of women’s dressers were these mysterious, adult places” holding sparkling jewelry, cut glass, and, of course, perfume bottles. On her mother’s dresser sat a bottle of Jean Patou Eau de Joy. In this phase of Ann’s perfume life, the two fragrances that stood out were Chantilly, which her mother gave her, and Coty Muguet des Bois, a gift from her aunt. (Ann admits she wasn’t wild about Muguet des Bois. She remembers playing “kidnapper” with her sister, and they doused a washcloth with Muguet des Bois and pretended it was chloroform.)
Phase two of Ann’s involvement in perfume began in high school. Ann is six foot one, so wandering the mall with friends shopping for clothes that never fit wasn’t much fun. It didn’t take long for her to realize that accessories, cosmetics, and perfume don’t depend on size. The first bottle of perfume she bought was The Perfumer’s Workshop Tea Rose. Later she bought Guerlain Jardins de Bagatelle talcum powder and wore it to her prom…
Maybe it’s my interest in perfume, or maybe it’s plain old nosiness, but in movies and interior design magazine spreads, I look first for the perfume. I love to see how other people live with their bottles of fragrance. For that reason, I thought it would be fun to write an occasional series of posts showing real life perfume collections. I’ll kick it off with mine.
The cabinet: I store my perfume in a simple wooden cabinet against an interior wall in my home office. I’d bought a massive old French armoire for my perfume collection, but I couldn’t fit it through the office door…
By request, a poll about storage. Tell us how you store your fragrance collection — samples and bottles — and any other methods you use (databases, etc) to organize and keep track of what you have…
After swapping my vanity and dresser for one low dresser with a mirror, I had more space in my tiny bedroom but lost the perch for my perfume cabinet. I hadn’t been completely satisfied with the perfume cabinet, anyway. It was too deep, making it difficult to see — let alone reach — the bottles in the back. Plus, it was completely made of glass, so I kept a heavy cloth over it to keep out the light. Ugly and impractical. But what better options are out there?
So begins (again) the search for storage for my hundred-plus bottles of perfume. This time I want to do it right and find a cabinet I can use as long as I wear perfume. It’s time to set criteria.
First, I want a cabinet with shallow shelves. When shelves are too deep, it’s easy to forget about bottles stored toward the back. When you do remember them, you have to puzzle through a Rubik’s cube of rearranging to get to them without knocking over other bottles. Also, I want a solid cabinet. No windows and no need to construct goofy curtains to keep out the light.
Finally — and this is the toughest requirement — the cabinet needs to squeeze into a narrow space between a closet and a window…