Hello and welcome to another fun Vintage Lifestyle of Love Blog Hop hosted by my friend Cindy of County Road 407! 

I am happy to be joining Cindy and eleven other blogging friends for this fun bi-monthly hop which focuses on our love of all things vintage. This month’s theme is dishes! How could I resist joining in the fun?

 

 

 

I have been collecting vintage dishes for over 25 years. I started snatching up English ironstone about 15 years ago from yard sales, thrift shops, antiques stores and flea markets and I have hoarded amassed quite the collection. Chips, crazing and cracks make the pieces even more desirable to me, as they seem to add character. Often times perfectly imperfect pieces can be found for less than a dollar.

 

 

Platters, plates, teacups, bowls, saucers, butterpats, bone dishes and pitchers can be found all around on home, often times displayed in unusual ways. 

 

 

 

 In addition to plain ironstone, I am drawn to pieces which feature unique patterns. I love floral motifs, art deco designs and transferware in any color or pattern.

 

 

 

 

 

For several years I  have been displaying a large portion of my plain ironstone in the corner cabinet of our dining room. 

 

After four years of stuffing the cabinet full of ironstone finds, I decided it was time for a change. I have been craving less clutter and a bit of color, so I recently restyled the cabinet for spring. 

 

I am absolutely loving the new look! The cabinet is now filled with favorite vintage treasures, including a few select colorful ironstone pieces. I also hung three brown transferware plates on the plate rack beside the cabinet.

 

 

 

 

 

Since I now have a beautiful vintage style built in china cabinet in the kitchen, there is still plenty of room to display my favorite white and ivory ironstone pieces.

 

 

 

Before renovating the kitchen I displayed layers of ironstone platters, teacups and saucers on a black plate rack in the kitchen nook.

 

A beautiful antique china cabinet in the dining room is filled to overflowing with an assorted collected of vintage ironstone, transferware and china in an array of colors and designs. 

 

Antique China Cabinet Makeover

 

 

 

 

 

 

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When I recently restyled the corner china cabinet for spring, I needed to find a place for the extra ironstone plates and platters that wouldn’t fit in the kitchen cabinets. I never let lack of space stop me from displaying my ironstone collectoins!

 

 

A plate rack above the window is perfect for displaying my collection of vintage ironstone pitchers and a few plates among other farmhousey and shabby-vintage finds.

 

A gallery of ironstone plates and platters adorns the wall above the faux fireplace in the dining room. Of course I am always using some kind of vintage dishes on the farm table table, whether in a full setting or as seasonal decorative accents.

 

 

Additional Vintage Dish Collections

Here are a few posts featuring some off my favorite vintage dishes and ironstone collections.

A set of 30+ Milford Vintage Dishes scored from a church rummage sale for only $5.00 might be my best vintage dishes find ever!

 

Une Petite French Tea Party for Tea with Vintage Milford China

 

 

Vintage Chinese Teacups and Asian Patterned Dishes

I can never pass up true vintage China teacups and dishes.

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage Dishes and Daffodils Easter Tablescape for Two

Setting a table for two is a great way to showcase an incomplete set of dishes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Small Spring Pleasures: Simply Sweet Violets

The colors and patterns in vintage dish designs are often my inspiration for entire vignettes.

 

Vintage Cottage Style Spring Dining Room

 

 

 

 

 

DIY Repurposed Vintage Dishes BirdFeeder

When I run out of room displaying dishes inside, I move on out to the garden! Chips and cracks never stop me from purchasing pretty vintage dishes. I can always find some use for them, especially in the garden. A few years ago I made a beautiful vintage dishes bird feeder using mismatched and chipped dishes found on my junkin’ adventures. I would love to make a few more this spring and summer.

 

I can’t wait for junkin’ season to commence in the next few weeks. Vintage dishes will be at the top of my lists! As you can see, I really need a few more for my collections!

 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing some highlights from my vintage ironstone and china collections and a few of the ways I use dishes in creative ways around our home. There’s a lot more where all that came from! You can check out just about any of my home tour posts to find more ideas for decorating with vintage dishes. Now it’s time to move on over to Common Ground to be inspired by Debra’s gorgeous dishes and vignettes. She loves vintage dishes as much as I do, so I am excited to see what she is sharing for this hop. I also can’t wait to check out all of the other posts via the link up below. I do hope you will visit all the blogs on the hop today too. You are sure to be inspired!

Thanks for visiting!

Amber