Collecting Collections

Contributor post by Lisa Congdon

I'm back this month with an up close look at some of my kitchen collectables. As I mention in my book, A Collection a Day , my favorite collection is probably my mid-century kitchenware -- most of which is Scandinavian and Japanese. I love the colors, the designs, the simplicity.

photo by Philip Maisel
I started collecting kitchenware about 10 years ago. It began with a Catherineholm piece I found at an antique mall, and it grew from there. Much of my vintage kitchenware I don't use -- it's either too fragile or too precious to me, so I display it in my kitchen instead.

photos by Jen Siska for Dwell Magazine

Recently I did an interview with Drew of Kitsch Cafe about collecting. In that interview I talk a little bit there about taking good care of your collections, which in many cases means not using them (or at least not using them for every day use) to protect them from wear and tear.

But I do use several of my kitchen collectables! In fact, you can see many vintage things in my kitchen thrown in with every day spoons, pots and bowls.



When it comes to your collections, how do you make decisions about what to use versus what to display? Tell us what you think.


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Lisa Congdon is an artist, author and prolific collector of old and unusual things, including bits of nature, and surrounds herself with these things in her home and studio. In 2010 she chronicled all of her collections in her Collection A Day 2010 Project. That project is now a book, published in March 2011.

Site: www.lisacongdon.com
Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/lisacongdon

Jan Halvarson

13 comments:

Layers and Layers said...

fantastic collection. Very envious.

Sam | ashore said...

Kitchen wear is my favorite thing to collect. Nothing I have is too precious, and I don't have much room in my studio apartment for things I can't use. So it's fabulous be able to to aquire something that I will get to look at, and love, and use everyday!

This collection is so interesting. I have a lot of mid-century American (corningware, jadite, ect) but Scandinavian and Japenese is really different!

Lic. Soledad Sgarella - Lic. Sol Bevaqcua. said...

que lindo blog!
what a nice blog!

from argentina,

:)

Will @ Bright.Bazaar said...

Love these displays. I'm kinda bad, I get into ruts of using the same things over and over and leaving lots of my favourite jars etc on display for fear of breaking them!

TangerineHome said...

What a wonderful mid-century modern kitchen collection! I like to use my collections that won't get destroyed if I use them. I use several of my vintage cameras, they are fun to use! If the item is too fragile to use as it's intended use I like to repurpose the item so it's still useful just in a different way.

marcie/REDSTARink said...

I just picked up my copy of the book from the Uppercase booth at the Renegade Craft Fair in LA this weekend. Beautiful!

Victoria @ The FAT Paint™ Company and ÉdinHome said...

What a fabulous collection! Love the colours, shapes and designs... very "playful" in spirit. Makes me happy just looking at everything displayed on the shelves!
Victoria

Jill Franklin said...

I love all the colors and designs.
what's this?

Must.

Go.

Collecting.

GatoChinchilla said...

Wow I remember some similar things when I was little, what a beautiful collection!
regards / Saludos desde Chile!!!

Demi Marie Borja said...

They are really cute and lovely. They all look amazing together. I love your photography style, you keep coming with these adorable pictures! So trendy! :)

Jennifer Seales said...

Gorgeous collection!

d r e w said...

i love lisa. her style is amazing!

Johanna said...

Oh so lovely colors!! <3