Shelf styling: Mixing old and new

I love to get creative with my kitchen shelves, and they are often the first spot I style every season.

I’m about to shoot a spring tour so I thought I’d share some of the process I use. Ok, I really just play around with things that have been in packed away in cabinets that I want to see for a change.

I really wanted to get out the different blue china I have as well as anything yellow, so I used the flow blue Podmore & Walker Temple, Blue Willow cups and bowls and a platter I bought in Japan, a couple of hand-painted plates I bought in Turkey, grandmother’s Chinese tea set and rooster/chicken salt and pepper, a Turkish coffee pot, and one from India I inherited from a relative.

I added in some yellow Fire King mugs my mother gave me, as well as some new painted pieces I bought at Home Goods (I know, gasp) a few years ago, and I have a pretty and colorful look for Spring.

These shelves are actually the stair treads I found stacked here that went to the third-floor room where the wormy chestnut beadbard I restored and installed on this wall came from. They are a little larger than the white shelves I had here, and I love the history of them as well.

I do love to use brass this time of year and love it with the colorful china and pottery.

I change these shelves out quite often, and love that it’s such a visible spot and can set the tone for the rest of my decor. I do have a healthy stash of china so I love rotating it around so I can enjoy it all. Of course, a plant in my vintage frog planter is a necessary item in any vignette.

I do love to create using what I have, and this combo has more of an old-world feel but its a timeless look and one I love.

This is what I’ve done for this season, and I’ll share below some other ways I’ve styled these shelves using what I had. I always love to look back at other things I’ve done, and usually remember something I forgot, which always sparks yet another change☺️☺️

Do you like to style open shelves, and please tell me you change them up a lot too??

 

Also I wanted to mention that my emails have not been going out to subscribers since I migrated to WordPress, but I might have fixed the issue. Fingers crossed 🤞

 

 

I’ll be joining: Inspire Me Tuesday

 

18 Comments

  1. Mom
    February 22, 2021 / 5:35 pm

    Beautiful. I especially love the colorful reds and yellows

    • anitaknightdiaz
      Author
      February 22, 2021 / 5:46 pm

      Thank you mom❤️❤️❤️

  2. Carolyn
    February 22, 2021 / 8:08 pm

    I am a forever fan of blue and white whether it’s in “style” or not and always have been. Timeless….

    • anitaknightdiaz
      Author
      February 23, 2021 / 3:35 am

      Blue and white china, or blue and white as in a color palette?

      • Carolyn
        February 24, 2021 / 5:21 pm

        China although blue and red are my favorite colors!

        • anitaknightdiaz
          Author
          February 24, 2021 / 8:51 pm

          I love blue and white china especially too – always classic for sure:-)

  3. maria
    February 23, 2021 / 1:20 am

    Anita, you have such a beautiful eye. I love that you use items you already have because it means you have a collection that sings to your soul and that is so much better than constantly restocking with the same stuff at the same big box place…that looks like every other house….your home is seeped in love, old soul, nostalgia and comfort. it is the true meaning of home. like a hug. i think you rearrange and re-mix because your heart sings and you just follow the music. it’s beautiful. i started following you last year when i think you did more pink/coral in your bedroom for valentine’s day. i was hooked. i love to keep my house full of what is special to me and my family and i never tire of using what i have because it is all so meaningful and comforting to me. I think you are the same plus you have the whispering pines around you literally to reassure you. xo

    • anitaknightdiaz
      Author
      February 23, 2021 / 3:36 am

      Thank you so much for those very kind and encouraging words Maria☺️☺️

  4. Mary Ann Sorensen
    February 23, 2021 / 4:59 am

    Wow! SO many ideas here! Thank you for sharing them with us. : )

    • anitaknightdiaz
      Author
      February 24, 2021 / 8:55 am

      Thank you Mary Ann!!

  5. Catherine
    February 23, 2021 / 7:55 am

    Very nice I also have a shelf in my kitchen.

    • anitaknightdiaz
      Author
      February 24, 2021 / 8:56 am

      Thank you☺️

  6. Penny Spencer
    February 23, 2021 / 4:29 pm

    I love visiting your lovely blog. Your “blue” kitchen was my favorite, but the all white is stunning as well Wish you could visit me and help me “design” my farmhouse with all my pretties.

    • anitaknightdiaz
      Author
      February 24, 2021 / 8:56 am

      Thank you!!

  7. Paula Hensley
    March 3, 2021 / 2:32 pm

    Love the open shelves

    • anitaknightdiaz
      Author
      March 3, 2021 / 9:07 pm

      Thank you so much Paula! I do love having them so I can change things out, plus they seem to really open up my space there as well:-)

  8. Willa Burleson
    April 20, 2021 / 9:01 pm

    I love all the colors you put together and I love the look of days gone by. The front porch look beautiful as is and the pollen is awful here as well. I’ve found that when you get all the colors just right throw in just a little of another color. Just a pop of yellow or a touch of aqua.

    • anitaknightdiaz
      Author
      April 22, 2021 / 3:38 am

      Thank you so much☺️☺️