The Collected Kitchen

Welcome

Ask anyone to share memories of their life with you, and they’re bound to share one or two that involve time spent in a kitchen. The scent of celery and onions softening in butter. The bowl that was used for everything from mixing a brownie batter to holding popcorn on movie night. Perhaps they’ll remember music playing on the radio as the dishes were washed. When we gather as a family or with friends, we always find ourselves in the kitchen, the hub of the home. It’s the place where stories are swapped, hands are busy, and hearts come home.

Welcome back to the next installment of Falling for Home: A Weekly Autumn Journal. We’ve reached the midpoint of the series, as we’re journeying our way through topics that are dedicated to timeless seasonal living, traditional Southern décor, and creating a home you love year-round. If you’re just joining me, or you found your way here from Google, Pinterest, or Instagram, you can find links to the other articles in the series at the bottom of this article.

What Is a Collected Kitchen?

A collected kitchen is one that is curated by a combination of preference, utility, and time. You could go online to Amazon, eBay, or Etsy to order a complete set of items to mimic the look. But a truly collected kitchen evolves from time spent discovering what works for you. A collected kitchen is created by picking up items here and there to create a space of function and beauty that is uniquely designed for you.

The true beauty of a collected kitchen is that it’s not staged. The crock on the counter is there because it’s used every time the stove is turned on. The plate hung on the wall holds a memory of weekend antiquing adventures or the grandma who passed it on.

A collected kitchen isn’t sterile or empty. Chances are, you won’t see it on your Pinterest page. The counters will likely have things on them. Because we are using what we find to be the most functional and beautiful, everything isn’t going to match. If you’re looking for a “model home aesthetic,” you won’t find it in a truly collected kitchen. It’s a kitchen that feels like the warm heart of a home, one that’s inviting, personal, and well-loved.

Cream on Cream: A Canvas for the Seasons

We recently restored our 1939 kitchen. During that time, we added some custom cabinetry, installed new countertops and backsplash, and updated the flooring. The one thing that stayed in the kitchen and became a springboard for my whole design was some existing cream-colored cabinetry. As I was designing the space, I really evaluated how I wanted to feel and how it would reflect my personal style.

Truth be told, the kitchen is sometimes an overwhelming and overstimulating space for me. While my family loves my cooking, and I’m often told that I am good at it, it can be stressful for me. I needed my kitchen to be a calm space. I intentionally stayed away from bold colors and stark contrasts between materials. Using various shades of cream, along with natural wood tones in accessories, I created a space that allows me to cook in peace.

Another reason that I chose a monochromatic cream color palette was that it created a canvas for seasonal flexibility. I can mix in and swap out seasonal décor easily because I have a neutral backdrop. In fall, copper pieces warm the kitchen with a soft glow. During the winter holidays I can easily add some evergreen without clashing with anything. In spring, it’s easy to mix in pastel colors because they blend beautifully with the cream canvas that I created.

Objects That Work—and Tell a Story In My Collected Kitchen

Over the years I have found ironstone pitchers in various shapes and sizes. Some of them are the color of parchment paper with brown crazing that has deepened over time. Others, while over 50 years old, look almost new. I group them together to fill display spaces in our cabinetry, but I often get them down to use for floral arrangements or orange juice on a Sunday morning. As a group, in various shades of white and cream, they become functional art.

Through our glass cabinet doors, you can see stacks of milk glass mixing bowls and antique Ball jars. These don’t sit in storage behind glass as museum pieces that are too precious to use. Any time I’m baking, I’ll use either my vintage milk glass mixing bowls or my favorite yellow-ware bowls. The milk glass bowls are extremely thick and were made for durability that is non-existent today. I’ve actually dropped one on the kitchen floor, and it didn’t break!

An old plate rack that I picked up for $10 holds plates and platters that we use for meals. On top of the refrigerator, I keep an extra large wicker basket, which holds seasonal linens and works to fill a void between the top of the refrigerator and our tall ceilings. These natural elements add texture, warmth, and patina to create an authentically lived-in space.

Collected ironstone pitchers and antique yellowware can be seen in the cabinets next to the sink.
Glass canisters and antique Ball jars hold frequently used pantry staples.
A wooden plate rack that I found for $10 organizes platters and plates above our coffee bar.

The Working Kitchen Philosophy

We’ve all been in kitchens that are stark white with not a single thing on the counters. Or maybe you’ve seen a kitchen with open shelves that are full of framed photos and knick-knacks, but not a single cooking utensil. I can only wonder how much memory-making is being done in these kitchens. Are little hands making messes with flour while “helping” with the cookie dough? Are teenagers gathering to try their hand at cooking late at night?

When I look at the crock of wooden utensils next to my stove, I can tell which ones are the most used. My favorite spatula is worn smooth and the wood has lightened from years of washing it. It represents hundreds of meals cooked for family and friends – random Mondays and special Thanksgivings, nights after winning the game and mornings after being up with a sick baby.

A working kitchen is going to show signs of use, and I’m wondering when that began to be a source of shame. Why are we worried about being judged for using the most functional room in our homes?

Items I use daily for cooking are kept right next to the stove.

Paint Palette: The Warmth of Neutral Ground

Throughout the Falling for Home series, I have been sharing paint palettes that reflect the theme of each article. The Collected Kitchen inspired me to share a palette with two warm neutral tones for the wall and trim colors, as well as an accent tone that is reminiscent of patinated copper or vintage pantry paint. This gentle palette lets your meaningful pieces take the spotlight.

Shop the Look

I’m often asked about the vintage and antique pieces in my home. They have truly been collected over the years. You don’t need a full antique collection to create charm, just a few timeless touches that work for your space. If you’re interested in starting your own collection, I’ve compiled a curated list of timeless kitchen essentials, similar to the ones I own. You can click HERE to explore this list on LTK, or you can click the collage below to shop this style.

An Invitation to Embrace Imperfection

It’s easy to feel like our kitchens aren’t good enough to invite others into them. Maybe you’re just starting out, or perhaps you’re worried about being judged about functional “clutter” in your kitchen. Have you hidden away Grandma’s bowl for safekeeping, or are you afraid you’ll scratch your biscuit tin? Maybe you’ve seen the perfect English kitchen on Instagram or the curated collage on Pinterest, and you don’t feel like yours measures up. Whether you have laminate countertops or soapstone (I wish!), your kitchen can be filled with functional and beautiful vintage and antique pieces that are meant to be used and enjoyed daily.

I want to remind you that your kitchen is more than how it’s decorated. It is the most used room in your home, and it holds memories and meaning. Your family and friends aren’t there to judge you by the plates your meals were served on. They’re going to remember the flavors they experienced, the conversations they had, and the memories they made. Don’t wait to start making those memories until you feel like your home is show-worthy. Send the invitation. Cook for your family.

Explore More from Falling for Home: A Weekly Autumn Journal

This article is part of my series called Falling for Home: A Weekly Autumn Journal. Be sure to check out these reader favorites:

You can subscribe here to receive new articles, seasonal inspiration, and vintage-style favorites delivered right to your inbox.

Abby Smolarsky9 Comments

The Velvet Season: Using Texture and Rich Tones in Fall Home Decor

A Five-Year-Old’s Treasure

When I was about five or six years old, I walked a couple of houses down the street to a neighbor’s yard sale. The driveway was lined with various unrelated items my neighbor was hoping to sell. One of those things was a harvest-gold crushed velvet throw pillow. To an adult, it was probably a hideous 1960s relic from a musty basement. But when my small fingers touched that fabric- velvet for the first time- I thought it was the most luxurious thing of beauty that I had ever seen.

Being a child, of course I didn’t have any money to buy it, but I returned several times that day to admire the velvet pillow. Finally, at the end of the day when the lady was packing up her unsold items, the pillow remained, and she gave it to me.

Even now, decades later, I still believe that there’s something decadent and luxurious about a well-placed velvet pillow. It makes the whole room seem more cared for.

This is the third entry in the Falling for Home: A Weekly Autumn Journal, a Friday series dedicated to timeless seasonal living, traditional Southern décor, and creating a home you love year-round. (Find links to previous entries at the bottom of this post.)

A Season of Layers and Light

During the weeks of late summer to early fall, it feels like a quiet transition. Supple textures like velvet mimic the season’s natural softness. The transition to spring is dotted with turbulent thunderstorms, and the starkness of winter jolts us with its biting winds. But the South seems to float imperceptibly from summer to fall. It’s a soft and gentle glide into the autumn season, like fingertips trailing across velvet.

It’s easy to feel the pressure to head to a big-box store each season to buy the newest décor available for our homes. However, today I want to talk about intentionally investing in a few timeless, quality pieces that we can layer with our existing, collected décor to decorate for fall. In this way we will invite calm, rather than clutter, into our homes. We’ll use our creativity in ways that will repurpose objects we own and love with a few new things that we find along the way.

Touchpoints of Texture – Decorating the Living Room

When my kids were small they had several beloved “stuffies.” You know, those precious stuffed animals with ears rubbed thin and matted fur that was once fluffy. However, after a few years’ worth of birthday parties, I quickly learned that if a family member asked what one of the kids wanted for their birthday, my response included that we didn’t need any more stuffed animals.

Throw pillows are our grown-up version of stuffed animals. They really are! Unfortunately throw pillows take up a lot of storage space in our homes. My solution to this is to invest in some quality pillow inserts and only buy pillow covers. Not only does this save on storage, but it’s far cheaper to buy pillow covers than the whole throw pillow.

This season I traded the navy blue pillow covers that I used throughout summer for some rich, copper colored velvet ones. If you’re looking to switch your pillow covers this fall, aim for saturated tones like copper, plum, or chocolate. If you want to add more texture to your space, consider tactile materials like velvet, raw linen, or boucle.

In addition to switching out your throw pillows, another great addition to your fall décor are copper and brown glass pieces. These are easy things to “hunt” for throughout the year as you’re antiquing. A copper boiler or basin can be used to hold books, magazines, and even throw blankets. A collection of brown and amber vases set in front of a window catches the fading sunrays to cast a magical glow around the room.

A collection of brown glass pieces catches the light to cast a warm glow in the space.
An antique copper boiler is used to hold cozy blankets for chilly nights.

As you decorate for fall, don’t overlook lighting. When the daylight grows shorter, we have opportunities in the evening to create a warm, cocooned glow that invites rest with well-placed lamps and even candles. Lighting is a way to add to the rhythm of the season and awaken our senses to calm and comfort. The glow of a lamp in the corner of your living room or the flicker and scent of an autumn candle invites us to the small moments that spark peace within.

Many of my favorite fall items that I used throughout our home this season can be found in this curated grouping on LTK. You can either click HERE to find the complete list, or click the image to be taken directly there.

The Velvet Ribbon Effect – Small Luxuries

If investing in new décor isn’t in your budget this year, or you feel like you already own enough of it, there are ways to take your existing décor up a notch to freshen it up. A budget-friendly fall décor update is using some velvet ribbon. Taking ordinary objects like a stack of books, a candle, or even a piece of artwork, and tying a length of velvet ribbon around them, will transform the ordinary into a piece of intentional seasonal décor.

Well placed bits of velvet ribbon transform ordinary objects into decorative pieces fit for the autumn season.

You can find seasonal velvet ribbon at craft stores or online. Look for shades like cinnamon, olive, rust, or plum to layer with your existing palette.

In my home, I used seasonal toned velvet ribbon around a stack of books, a little amber vase, and large brown bottles. It changed them from ordinary objects into objects d’art. It’s the slightest changes– a bit of ribbon, a tempered light – that tell us it’s time to slow down in this next season.

A length of rust-colored velvet ribbon adorns an otherwise plain ceramic vase.
A group of vintage green books is decorated with some gold velvet ribbon.

Permission to Linger

Will this be the autumn that you finally allow yourself to linger? I want to gently encourage you to embrace the comfort that you create in your own home without rushing into the chaos of the holidays. Remember, when you invest in your own home this season, that quality is better than quantity, collected is better than consuming, and luxury can be quiet and accessible. I invite you to observe your own home and find ways to soften your décor this season.

Invitation

Thank you for joining me with this week’s article from my series Falling for Home. Each Friday from August through September, we’ll meet here at BelleAntiquarian.com to reflect on a slow, intentional rhythm of seasonal living, rooted in tradition, home, and memory. Join me next week for Chicken Mull, a lesser-known Southern heritage recipe.

Never miss a post – use the box below to receive the latest Belle Antiquarian articles directly in your in-box. Want to see more of our daily lives? Find me HERE on Instagram.

Explore More from Falling for Home: A Weekly Autumn Journal

This article is part of my Falling for Home series. Be sure to check out these reader favorites:

Each week during the Falling for Home series I am featuring a paint color palette inspired by the topic we discussed. The Velvet Season inspired me to create a moody, rich palette that brings velvet textures and antique finishes to mind. Perfect for living rooms, libraries, and layered interiors.

Abby Smolarsky10 Comments