Vintage Kitchen Finds

My kitchen has a vintage look if not authentically vintage fixtures and finishes, but what is inside my kitchen is vintage without a doubt. I have vintage glassware, china, linens, and silver filling much of my cabinet space. Even my bookshelf has vintage cookbooks tucked in among my more recent favorites. My collection of vintage kitchenware is so large that it spills out of my kitchen, into my living room, sitting room, and dining room, and yet still I can't help myself. As any good collector knows, more is always better.

I recently picked up a set of classic white Buffalo China. I have always loved the diner style; I especially enjoy the feel of drinking out of the thick coffee cups. My set of four dinner plates, salad plates, and coffee cups with saucers were hidden underneath piles of junk in a jam-packed thrift store, and I almost overlooked them. Thankfully, I've learned to always open boxes, especially boxes buried under loads of junk! The plates and saucers all date from the early 1970s, while the cups seem to be the same 1940s style but more recently manufactured. I believe I paid only three or four dollars for the whole box--a near identical set now sells at Williams Sonoma for around $175!

And I must really love a good white dinner plate, because last weekend I also purchased a set of seven of these plates by Homer Laughlin. The simple design will look great with both other vintage pieces and my more contemporary ones.

Among my other finds were a number of vessels: pitchers, pots, and vases. This pitcher is a bit fancier than what I'm usually drawn to, but it is so pretty.

So far, my research indicates that it is probably a cut glass water pitcher with a silverplate lid, made in West Germany in the 1960s. Sometimes this type of pitcher was used as a trophy, with the silver being engraved with an event name and date.

I was thrilled to find these serving pieces, especially the pierced pie server. It is very similar to one my mother always used to serve up her famously delicious old fashioned fruit pies. My sister, who bakes wonderful pies, now has that pie server, but I've secretly always wanted it. Being more of a cake baker myself, I could never justify asking for it. But now I have my own and a good excuse to practice the art of pie baking all summer long!

Among my other kitchenware finds was this old china saucer. This just may be the final piece I needed to complete my plate wall in my sitting room.

I also picked up some really lovely silver trays, which will find a home in the built-ins in my sitting room. Now, I just need to find the coffee table of my dreams and that room, my favorite in the whole house, will be complete. I've narrowed it down to two contenders, both brand new from nice furniture stores, but of course I have a little dream that I will find a vintage table. I know if I am just patient, the perfect vintage table will appear when I'm least expecting it. In the meantime, I guess that's my excuse to continue to haunt the local antique and flea markets!