If you’ve read enough of my blog content, you’ve probably realized that I really enjoy antique items. My home is full of vintage art, books, plates, rugs, furniture, and so on. But it wasn’t until we moved into our little rental farmhouse a few years ago that I realized just how much I like antiques.
Our home is estimated to be about 100 years old. While it is incredibly dated in many regards (you’ve seen all the paneling…yuck!), it also contains some of character that I am very thankful for. I began decorating this home and soon realized that I wanted to do what I could to honor the time in which it was built. That, of course, meant bringing in antiques! Read more about How I’m Styling My Antique Finds and Styling Items in an Antique Hutch here!
Our kitchen is the most used room in our house, so many an antique item has been added to it over the years. Decorating with old items can be a bit overwhelming at first. What is my style? How will all of these random items look together in the end? Antiques are so expensive. And so on. So, let’s take some time to walk through my kitchen and maybe it’ll help you to feel more comfortable in adding antiques to your own kitchen!
Here you will find inspiration for adding antiques to your kitchen in order to achieve a ‘farmhouse’ feel. Tour my humble kitchen in order to see a few ways I use antique items in this space. The kitchen, for many people, is the most used room in a home, so why not make it a place you truly enjoy being and find aesthetic value in? Let’s start decorating!
Adding Antiques to the Kitchen
The Walls
Plates and Platters
Platters, plates, and other small dishes are so easy to find at thrift stores, antique malls, and garage sales. Most of the time, random dishes that aren’t in a whole set are very inexpensive as well! I believe I paid a grand total of $2 for this little corner plate wall.
Another plus side to using cheap dishes as decoration is that there’s not as much sentimental or financial value placed on the item. It probably won’t sting as much when one of the kids knocks a $1 platter off the wall rather than great Aunt Marys fine china!
I’ve created a whole tutorial on How to Hang Plates on the Wall right here. This will give you all the information you need to secure dishes to the wall and rest assured that they aren’t going anywhere.
Pots, Pans, and Skillets
Here is a great example of decorating with items that you actually use often. I’ve seen many a cast iron pan hung on the wall and within reaching distance of the stove. How practical is that? How charming is that as well? Nothing says ‘old farmhouse’ quite like pans mounted on the wall!
Just be sure to properly secure items such as these to the wall with adequate hooks, nails, or screws. Cast iron, in particular, is extremely heavy and could do quite a lot of damage if it falls.
Shelving
This includes both open and closed shelves. I so enjoy seeing a closed cabinet covered in layers of chippy paint applied over the decades! Closed shelving is a great option for those of use who need another option for storing unsightly items.
Open shelving is another fine display for items that are aesthetically pleasing enough to have out in the open! Here you’ll see that I have an open shelf that houses some of my baking supplies (displayed in pretty jars or course!), a recipe box, a few elegant dishes and utensils, and a plant.
Shelving offers so much creative freedom for decorating! Fill them with cook books, fine dishes, frequently-used mugs, herbs, and so on.
The Countertops
Crocks and Bowls
Take a look at the different serving and mixing bowls that you currently have in your kitchen. Are there any plastic ones that you can replace with a beautiful antique?
For example, I have one medium-sized crock bowl that sits out on my counter at all times. In the summer it houses the garden harvests, in winter it’s used for mixing ingredients, and the current function is storing egg shells for a Homemade Eggshell Powder.
Here’s the point in me telling you all of the ways I’ve used this bowl…it’s pretty enough that it doesn’t bother me to see it out on the counter every single day! A plastic container or even a plain glass bowl just doesn’t have the same effect for me.
Maybe it’s time to find one or two crocks or bowls that can replace some of the unsightly ones hidden in the cabinet!
Baskets
I don’t have a lot of baskets in my kitchen, but I always keep an eye out for them whenever I go antiquing or thrifting. Every once in awhile I stumble across a sturdy basket for a steal of a deal! The large basket that sits on top of my fridge was only $15!
I don’t recommend snatching up every basket that you see at an antique store simply because many of them are extremely over priced! Be patient and continue looking. Bargain baskets are out there and you’ll be so relieved to spend $5 instead of $45.
I currently have two baskets in my kitchen. One stores protein powder and other bottles of supplements on top of my refrigerator. The other serves as our egg basket, but it honestly needs an upgrade! I’m looking out for a larger egg basket, so this little guy will be repurposed when I find one.
Cook Books
I have a few beautiful cook books that I enjoy keeping out for both display and practicality. I’ve found that I simply don’t reach for cook books stored away in the cabinet. These books have been out on the counter for some months now and I utilize them more than ever!
I am also of the mindset that books should be scattered al over the home, so why not include cook books in that as well?
The Practical
Look out over your kitchen once again. Create a mental list of some of your most frequently used items. Then answer this question: what are 5 of those items that can be replaced with a lovely and homey antiques? Here are a few ideas to get you thinking.
- Dinnerware
- Serving Utensils
- Chairs
- Jars
- Aprons and Linens
Don’t you think that you may find more enjoyment in your kitchen if you find genuine aesthetic value in the items you use on a regular basis? An old, handmade apron can be hung on display in the corner. Serving utensils and wooden spoons kept on the counter in a rustic crock rather than shoved in a drawer. Your tea cup or coffee mug collection hung on a peg-rack. Baking items such as flour and salt transferred from ugly containers and intentionally placed on an open shelf. Storing potatoes and onions in a sturdy basket or large crock. A stitched table cloth draping over the table.
I think you probably have the idea now. It fills me with such joy to take a room that I spend so much time in each day and find new ways to make it cozy, lovely, and inviting. I hope the ideas I’ve given in this blog post inspire you to bring the antiques in and begin to truly enjoy being in your kitchen!
More on Decorating
- How to Hang Plates on the Wall
- Styling Items in an Antique Hutch
- How I’m Styling My Antique Finds
- DIY Sign For The Garden
- How to Sew Cafe Curtains