When designing my kitchen I knew I wanted it to be timeless, so naturally I went with all neutral everything. White walls, white tiles, cream cabinetry, brass hardware you get the idea, it's a pretty bland backdrop and that's how I like all my rooms to be really. Because the way I like to bring color character and pattern into my rooms is through my ever-growing collection of vintage and second-hand decor.
The kitchen actually houses the biggest proportion of my finds, since my favorite pieces to collect are ceramics, kitchenware, and glassware. And my kitchen counters and shelves are covered in them.
A lot of the pieces have come from holidays, hours spent looking around markets and brocantes, but when I back at home and can't find the pieces I am looking for second-hand, there's one store I turn to that offers me very characterful kitchenware that I can shop at just the click of a button – Anthropologie.
9 Anthropologie buys that will fill your kitchen with character
If you love decorating with vintage in your kitchen but sometimes just want the ease of not having to hunt for a piece, Anthropologie has plenty of beautiful vintage-style pieces on offer. It stocks some great brands too like Vietri, Le Creuset, and Nordicware, and does collaborations with some amazing artists. These are the pieces I am eyeing up right now to add to my characterful kitchen collection.
I love every piece in the recent collab between Anthro and the British ceramics studio Harlie Brown Studio, but this is my top pick. This would never see the inside of a cupboard and would be propped up against my backsplash with the rest of my vintage crockery finds, it would fit right in despite being the youngest member.
If I spied this mug whilst shopping for bric-a-brac I would swipe it up, along with every matching piece that was on offer. This is giving very retro, almost 70s vibes and reminds me of a tea set I inherited, that I love but it is a rather garish brown and orange and the cups are teeny. This mug however is the perfect coffee size and would look lovely displayed in my coffee station.
I love a plate that has something extra to it, something that elevates my admittedly pretty average cooking into a display that guests will be impressed by. Have a collection of nice plates and that's a lot of the hard work done for you. These plates come in white and blue too, which I will be coming back for in the summer.
I love European decor and kitchen decor specifically, so naturally I am a magpie for anything with a lemon motif. I have a few fruity pieces from the iconic Portuguese ceramic brand Bordallo Pinheiro and this would fit right in alongside those.
Another piece from the Harlie Brown collab on my wish list. I think what makes these pieces look so authentic is that they are hand-crafted and hand-painted, so they do have that unique quality that you would expect from a special vintage find.
More fruity finds. Again, this really gives that vintage-y look because it's hand-painted. I would be tempted to use this as a vase rather than a jug so you can fill it with blooms and keep it on your kitchen table or the island.
I have so much crockery like this I brought back from trips to Italy. I love the whimsical motifs, and on a lot of the ones I own I can't work out what animal or fruit is trying to be depicting but they are filled with character. Vietri ceramics are handmade in Italy in a factory on the Amalfi coast, so until I can get back over to Europe this is the closest way to build out my Italian crockery collection.
Another gorgeous piece from Vietri (just go and look at all its pieces on Anthropologie). I love decanting my olive oil into something that's going to double as decor on my kitchen worktops, and it's nice to take to the table for salads too. There are a few colorways to choose from, but going into spring it has to be yellow for me.
You won't find many stems in my glasses cabinet; there's something very chic about a stemless glass and something even chicer about a stemless with a permanent olive sitting at the bottom. There's a cherry design too, for those of you with a sweet tooth.
I get so much joy out of sourcing one-off finds for my kitchen, but sometimes, I do cheat a little and buy new pieces that seamlessly fit in with my vintage collection of crockery and glassware. And the best place I have found to do that is Anthropologie; it regularly does amazing collaborations and stocks really unique brands that wouldn't look out of place in among the rest of my characterful kitchen decor.
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