Decorating With Colorful Vintage Ceramic Vases

Thrifty Decorating Ideas Using Vintage Vases

Vintage  ceramic vases from the  1930s, 1940s, 1950s are great to collect and use as decorative accessories in almost any room of your home. Some people like glazed pieces while others prefer matte finishes.

I have found that there are common colors that you will consistently find that these planters and vases came in: aqua, yellow, pink, soft green, jade, chartreuse, white, cream, sky blue. Less frequently you will discover  ceramic pottery in crimson , grey,  peach.


Shapes of Vintage Pottery

When I buy older ceramic vases or planters, I am looking for a  variety of interesting shapes. In my living room, I have a collection of matte cream/white vases arranged on a built in bookshelf. You will find vases and planters with shapes that are rounded,  scalloped, angular, tubular, curvy etc.  You may also decide to choose vases with detail or one's that are plain.




Size Matters When Displaying Vintage Pottery 


When using pottery in displays, you may want  to keep all the sizes of your vases and planters consistent or you may prefer to vary the sizes. Collections of several pieces grouped together often look better with varying sizes. However, you may also want to mingle "single" pieces with 
a book collection and have the vases stand out as solo pieces. 

Hunting For Vintage Vases By Style

The fun part of collecting older pottery is that you can set your collecting parameters. Then, when you go out hunting you have a goal in mind. While prices vary somewhat according to the manufacturer. for the most part, I think it is safe to say that you can find plenty of choices from $18.00-36.00. That is not to say that some very lovely ones might be priced a little higher.  When you handle a lot of older planters and vases, you  become  familiar with "ordinary" versus "less common". You also begin to appreciate which pieces seems to be made finer or with more decorative appeal.

C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of I Antique Online an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café. To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link: C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.com Visit my website, CDianneZweig.com Dianne is a member of: The American Society of Journalists and Authors The Society of Professional Journalists

Decorating Retro Kitchen Shelves With Black And White Check Contact Paper

Creating A Retro Look With Black And White Checks

Want to create an instant retro look for your kitchen or shop?

Just cover your kitchen shelves
with black and white check Contact Paper and instantly you will have a retro hip kitchen.

Shopping The Five And Dimes

Growing up, I remember covering everything with Contact Paper. After all you could walk to the neighborhood Five and Dime and find Contact Paper in every color and pattern imaginable.
I still have bookcases in my basement from my college years covered in Contact Paper to look like "wood grain".

Using Black And White Contact Paper

But more fun than Faux wood decor is covering kitchen shelves with a black and white check design. The photos shown here are of an old 1950s metal kitchen cabinet that I use in my shop, Kitsch n Stuff for displaying kitchen collectibles.

1950s Metal Kitchen Cabinet

The metal shelves were covered in black and white Contact Paper which really has a wonderful funky retro appearance. I use this cabinet for 1950s as well as 1960s collectibles. Look how terrific orange and yellow looks with the black and white. To add a little diversion , I added some vintage pottery in Seafoam green which seems to work quite nice with my orange, black and white theme. By the way, I have also used this cabinet for my 1940s red and yellow housewares and they to look fab on black and white shelves.

Where to Buy Black And White Check Contact Paper

Amazon
Aubuchon Hardware
Buy Cheapr

C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of Iantiqueonline.com an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café.To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link: C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.comVisit my website, CDianneZweig.comDianne is a member of:The American Society of Journalists and AuthorsThe Authors Guild, Inc.

Get That Ocean Feeling Decorating With Beach Decor

Something Is Fishy At The Blue Willow

My dream is to live at the beach, so any chance I get to bring the beach home with me I grab onto. For now, I captured that coastal feeling with photos that you too might enjoy.

Laura who owns The Bleu Willow, a funky shabby boutique in Simsbury. CT used to work in the corporate world helping to get employees settled into their standard workplaces.

Unleashing Your Beach Creativity

Once she left the business world, she unleashed her creativity and has been creating unique displays throughout her cramped boutique in The Farmington Valley area of Connecticut.
Laura likes to decorate her shop with lots of architectural salvage and natural earthy type objects.

Mixing Aqua & Orange

She mixes a lot of orange with her aqua colors and that makes for some lively displays.

Shells, Vintage Buttons, Sea Flora: It All Works

I love the way Laura mixed both vintage and new beach items together. She carries many objects that are made from old materials or crafted with original parts and pieces. For example in her beach themed vignettes, you will find artwork, frames, mirrors, boxes, collages, shadow boxes etc. made out of shells, seaweed, vintage buttons, flora etc. You might also find, straw beach pocketbooks, jewelry, textiles and wall decor, vintage sandcastles, old chalkware, vintage bottles, old buoys, Sailor's valentines, tin pails etc.

1940s and 1950s Beach Collectibles

What is so cool about Laura's shop is how she adds her 1940's and 1950s collectibles to her presentations. And i have to be honest, half the time I can't tell what is fabricated and what is the real McCoy. But Laura is more than happy to tell you where she got what. And apparently, she has plenty of stuff because the shop is packed with that coastal feeling.

Photos courtesy of The Bleu Willow

C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of Iantiqueonline.com an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café.To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link: C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.comVisit my website, CDianneZweig.comDianne is a member of:The American Society of Journalists and AuthorsThe Authors Guild, Inc.