Today I’m happy to have my good friend Kathryn Greeley of Kathryn Greeley Designs here to share a few tips on how to gather a collected tabletop and how to use your collections wisely. She found all of these pieces on a recent antiquing tour she hosted in central Arkansas. I hope you’ll enjoy her insights as much as I enjoyed the tour and her time here.
Hello dear friends. I am honored to be guest blogging with Tobi today. I had such a wonderful time on my first trip to Arkansas! I met a ton of new friends, and of course, had the pleasure of catching up with a few that I’ve known for many years as well.
There are so many things I enjoyed about the trip. I’d like to share just a few highlights with you before walking you through one of my favorite parts of the trip — the antique tour.
First, I was so honored to be the guest of P. Allen Smith and to work with him on an upcoming segment for his show. I’ll be sure to let you know when this segment will air. I also had the pleasure of meeting his dear, sweet lambs on the farm. What a fun day!
Secondly, I was also honored to meet Tobi’s Design Campers, spend time getting to know them and share a presentation on collections and my design philosophy with them. Thanks to Tobi and the Campers for inviting me to do this.
Now, on to another fun part of the trip — my antique tour. I was so happy to be able to include this as a part of my trip to Arkansas because it truly blends my passion of collecting with my philosophy of creating a “collected, not decorated” space.
It was my goal to teach our participants about the treasures you can uncover in an antique warehouse or dealer mall if you “hunt” for them. I scouted Morris Antiques and I-40 Antique Center a couple of days before the tour and selected some pieces that I knew our participants would love. I then took the opportunity to match these with a few of my favorite fabrics and even pulled some pieces of furniture that work well in the setting.
I started with a collection of flow blue that I found around the shop. I love this pattern and often use it for entertaining. Here’s an example of how I used my own pieces for a dinner party that is featured in my book, The Collected Tabletop.
I shared some of the significant markings with our tour participants and also pulled some pieces that would be excellent starter pieces for their collections.
One of my favorite ways to give the look of a collected tabletop is by mixing new or vintage glassware with antique china. In my book, I share the example of how I mixed blue Royal Lace glass pieces with Mason’s Ironstone Strathmore Blue, which is a vibrant floral pattern.
And here’s how I pulled together a similar look using a set of vintage aubergine glasses and this sweet, floral patterned china I found.
As you can see, I also found some charming fabrics that would coordinate well with this pairing.
I think many of our guests were surprised to find that their grandmother’s china could be freshened with few updated fabrics and tabletop additions. I hope that our tour inspired everyone to use their collections and to coordinate them with a look that works well in your home.
I also want to share a special thank you to Morris Antiques, I-40 Antique Center, Charlotte’s Eats and Sweets and Cobblestone & Vine, who were all gracious participants in this first tour.
If you want to read more about the tour, please take a moment to read At Home in Arkansas magazine’s latest blog post.
I hope to be back in Arkansas soon!
Have a lovely week,
Kathryn
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