Do you have vintage silver pieces shoved to the back of your china hutch? Maybe you were lucky enough to inherit a few pieces from your mother or grandmother. What are you saving them for? It’s time to pull them out of hiding and use them in creative ways to enhance your decor.
Showcasing cherished silver pieces in a china hutch is always a lovely traditional way to display silver in your home. But there are so many other lovely, creative ways to use it.
Take a good hard look at the pieces you have and start thinking outside the box for creative ways to use them in your decor.
You may have a lovely tea set you inherited from your Aunt Sally. Let’s face it, society is much less formal than it used to be and most of us aren’t serving up high tea with a silver tea service any longer. What if I told you that you don’t have to use the pieces together? Sacrilegious, I know. Break up the set and use individual pieces in more practical ways that work with how you currently live your life.
Who says you have to use a creamer for only cream or a sugar bowl for only sugar? What about using one to hold Q-tips. Take something that you use everyday like Q-tips, and make them look beautiful by popping them into a pretty silver container.
Use a pretty silver bowl on your nightstand to hold your jewelry overnight.
One of my very favorite silver pieces is a water pitcher I scored at a local thrift store. Does anyone use water pitchers for water anymore? I love using it as a vase to hold fresh cut flowers or greenery in different spots throughout my home.
Even empty it’s a beautiful piece to showcase on my kitchen counter.
Displaying fresh fruit in a silver bowl is always lovely, but it’s also perfect for nestling a sweet little nest and egg for spring. Quite an unexpected way to use a silver bowl which makes it so sweet and interesting.
What about using a silver bowl to display some of your favorite collections. A silver bowl filled with seashells is a simple but lovely summer accent for your home.
Slide a plant in it’s ugly plastic container into a champagne bucket. A silver champagne bucket is the perfect planter for a lush maidenhair fern atop a narrow fireplace mantle.
Use silver trays as the perfect foundation for creating vignettes anywhere in your home.
Silver trays can also serve as the perfect backdrop to showcase treasured pieces of china.
Using vintage silver pieces in your home will add a touch of refined elegance to your decor in an understated yet sophisticated way. It has an old world timeless, gracefulness, an elegance that enhances any style.
Vintage silver works beautifully in a classic traditional setting, but looks absolutely stunning in a rustic or industrial setting. The unexpected traditional touch rubbing up against something rusty crusty or industrial is such an unexpected combination that creates a lovely tension in your decor. It’s that unexpected accent that will keep your decor looking fresh and beautiful.
Think about it, how many pictures of interiors have you seen that are modern farmhouse? They all have a sameness to them; the same gray and white color scheme, the same accent pieces, the same signs selling farm fresh eggs. It’s not that they aren’t lovely, they are just predictable and often look staged and contrived. You can almost predict what is around the next corner.
Think about doing something a little different, something that is uniquely you; something unexpected, fresh and different from anything else out there. Adding vintage silver to your decor is one way to do just that.
So pull out the silver buried at the back of your china hutch; keep a look out for tarnished pieces that are often overlooked at thrift stores because no one can see past the grimy surface. You can pick up some of the loveliest pieces for a song and with a little elbow grease you will have a truly beautiful accent piece for your home; something that’s truly unique and different.
You are unique and one of a kind. Don’t be afraid to let your decor reflect your individual style and who you are.