Monday, February 2, 2015

Collections: Adding Depth and Layers

Doug and I bought our home in 2010. It was the height of the blogger craze. Everywhere you looked everyone had the same sea urchin on their coffee table and Ampersand print on their gallery wall. Somewhere along the way, every one's house started to look the exact same. 

I am working on a major house cleanse. As I gather up all of my knick knacks from Home Goods, I have had some time to think about things that really make me happy in my home. 

The best way to add a little authenticity to your home is with collections. I have always had a thing for old family photos. I consider the originals art and put them all over my house. It might be hard to convince your family to let them go, but why leave them in an old album or a shoebox when you could fill a hallway. 

My favorite photo of my grandmother on her wedding day.


 My largest collection is my blue and white porcelain. It makes shopping at the flea market and vintage stores a thrill.  I have paid anywhere from $3-$45 for them. It proves you do not have to spend a ton of money to make a big impact. 
It makes a huge impact when you display your collection together. 

I love vintage china. I mix estate sale finds with my wedding china. I have found full sets at estate sales for $45. It is not about filling your house with expensive things, but hunting things you love. 

My wedding china mixed with a royal blue set I found at an estate sale.

So what do you collect?  

5 comments:

  1. I love your collections and what you have done with the photos! I totally agree on loving the thrill of finding what you love especially at a bargain. I collect blue and white porcelain myself and I know that it will take patience and lots of hunting to collect (or hoard them, not sure which :)) but that is the fun part, right? I can't wait to see how you redecorate/rearrange your home!

    ~Lucy from East Meets South
    http://eastmeetssouthblog.blogspot.com/

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  2. I love your sense of style. I love a good purge too in order to keep things fresh. I'm more of a traditional girl myself so I am thrilled that blue and white and Chinoiserie are in but I will be just as happy with it when it's "out".
    My house drove me crazy when I was home with my newborn last year. It was also hard to balance style, function and safety once he started rolling, then crawling, pulling up and now running and jumping!

    https://www.etsy.com/shop/Preppypagoda

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  3. What pattern is your wedding pattern? Please and thank you.

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  4. I agree. It is hard to be original and authentic with blogs, Pinterest, etc. I can't help but think that the things I love -- blue and white, ginger jars, brass, lacquer, bamboo, chinoiserie and anything from Furbish -- ARE the "new" urchins and ampersand print. But like Natasha says, hopefully, I will still love these things when they go "out" -- if they're not too played out! But I totally get what you are saying, if you love it, it won't go out of fashion. Still would love to see what you are purging of!

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  5. I'm having the hardest time selecting a fabric to recover an antique settee because everything seems sooo played out on blogs and I question if it will be to trendy so I too am going for classic with a twist. Collecting: I also hoard blue and white. I am trying really hard to acquire a nice selection of original art and I am so glad I didn't buy that giant Gray Malin beach photo 2 years ago off of OKL because now it is everywhere.

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