The antique tool box on my kitchen island is my catch-all. Not as in clutter magnet or a place to put all things without a home... but a catch-all as in a place for important things I need during meal time. And it has taken on a lighter summery look...
I love having this caddy on my island... it is decorative and very useful too! Because I have a farmhouse kitchen my decor and philosophy is laid back and functional...just like this vintage, well worn tool box!
The "kitchen workhorses", my Mikasa Italian Countryside dinner plates, are there to grab and when I am ready to put dinner on the plates! It makes me feel like a short-order cook!
Salad plates in the same pattern are my most used dishes. They are easy to grab and go!
A small white pedestal hold a couple of sweet white bowls that are filled with tomatoes! I love to show off my produce. They are like a bouquet of flowers!
As I use up the tomatoes they might be replaced with different white bowls to hold tiny zucchini or a small glass mason jar filled with fresh picked herbs ready to be used in a recipe.
These small blue and white plates are truly a favorite of mine. I love their size... and color!!!
If I need a spoon rest, I grab one. If I need to set a small pitcher of milk or syrup on something, I grab one! If I want to eat a breakfast cookie, I grab one!
They look so pretty against all of my white dishes! They are easy to reach and close at hand in the tool caddy!
Old silver flatware and silver measuring spoons can be found in a pretty little white pitcher.
Why does coffee taste better when it has been stirred with a silver spoon! Ice cream tastes better too..
A larger ironstone pitcher holds vintage flatware with honey colored handles. These make me swoon! Using them when just Bobby and I are eating is a simple luxury!
Next month they will be replaced with red, white and blue pieces.
White napkins with a fun ric-rac trim are folded and laid across the edge of the toolbox. If a friend stops by for coffee or my mom comes to lunch I will have nice pressed napkins on hand!
Annabelle hydrangeas bloom in riotous bursts around our front porch. Don't they pair beautifully with astillbe? A big white pitcher is filled with this snowy and showy profusion! Fresh flowers are a must at StoneGable in the summer!
The kitchen tool caddy is filled with light, bright, seasonal things I use everyday!
Even everyday things should be beautiful!
Yvonne~ You are singing my song~ flowers and produce in your wonderful catchall! Your last photo looks fresh from the pages of Country Living and I adore the lacy, moppy heads of Annabelle Hydrangea!
ReplyDeleteLOVE this~ I am pining and pinning away :)
I love it!I can even see that as a Christmas buffet setting lol!
ReplyDeleteHelen
I was about to say the same thing as Mary mentioned above.....the last photo does look straight out of Country Living magazine. So beautiful! Thanx for sharing :)
ReplyDeletexoxo
jenny
I like how you used the small pitcher to hold utensils. Great images!
ReplyDeleteYvonne,
ReplyDeleteyou have surely made a thing of beauty out of that item.. so many will be copying this- myself included. Please know it is meant as Flattery.
I love your rustic toolbox with all those dainty pretty things in it. It's the perfect juxtaposition.
ReplyDeleteWhoever think functional can't be beautiful should see your catch-all, Yvonne! Such a beautiful display and way to keep those things you use all the time close at hand.
ReplyDeleteYou sure do take really amazing pictures.
ReplyDeleteI love to see each and every single one.
What a great idea! I love your rustic toolbox and your photos are amazing :)
ReplyDeleteHi Yvonne, I am always--I don't say that lightly--ALWAYS--amazed, impressed and inspired when I visit you! The box is beautiful and I can smell those tomatoes. I swoon over hydrangea, my favorite flower. And I didn't miss that "breakfast cookie" either!! Heehee! Such a good reason to keep those pretty plates close at hand. I love this entire idea. Have a wonderful day! Linda
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful idea! I have a caddy and now some new fresh ideas. Thanks for sharing! Blessings, Pamela
ReplyDeleteI love the thought of everyday items being beautiful! What a great way to keep it all handy and at the same time lovely to look at. You always inspire me here. hugs, Linda
ReplyDeleteI've been obsessing over Liberty Blue Ironstone since inheriting a set from my mother this past winter. Always a joy to find, be it at a tag sale, antique shop, or blog! Your photography is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely, yet useful, item your vintage tool caddy is! Such a pretty way to keep the things you use all the time right at hand and enjoy them, too. My hydrangeas are just now beginning to bloom, and our tomatoes have just begun to flower. I can't wait to be able to enjoy them!
ReplyDeleteAhhh soo pretty as usual! Those hydrangeas are so spectacular too. Love the caddy, adds such charm.
ReplyDeleteSuch a pretty vignette in your kitchen! And useful too. Love the flowers.
ReplyDeleteSherry
How absolutely beautiful! I love the hydrangeas and astilbe; ours haven't bloomed yet up here. I have an old cheese box out in the chicken coop. Will bring it in today and try to duplicate your beautiful vignette!
ReplyDeleteNancy
WOW! Love how you've displayed everything....and those those tomatoes look so good! Hugs and blessings, Cindy
ReplyDeleteYvonne I would love to find a tool caddy like yours and keep it on my kitchen island! Beautiful display as always!! I just found a metal plate rack in Hobby Lobby this week that I put my everyday white dishes on for easy reach but I'm still not sure I'm lovin it.
ReplyDeleteSorry, my blogger is totally messed up! I have the name Creations By Cindy and trying to create another blog and it is whipping me!!!! UUH!
ReplyDeleteOh I love this darling Ivonne! I have a cake on my post and swets for tea and so I wanted to join Monday, but I don't know what happened to my computer for three days!!!! Than all of a sudden, by it's own it went on! CRAZzzzzzyyyyyy!!!! Anyway, I love youryour display in, I can post, I love that tool caddy you did your display with pretty dishes, flowers and veggies, I bet C'mas time it'll be great too! Lots of hugs,
ReplyDeleteFABBY
Hi Yvonne,
ReplyDeleteLove it all, as usual you did great!
Tks for sharing!
Dani
Yvonne,
ReplyDeleteHi there...I am Vanessa Harris, Marsha's daughter from Splenderosa!
I just followed your Blog, which I adore & only wish to aspire to. Once I joined your following I realized that you are followed by DueAlberi which is one of my vendors in my E-Boutique. They have lovely fine art prints from Italy & they have made a special size and selection just for Vintage Infused. I would love to chat with you more. www.vintageinfused.com
Hugs,
Vanessa Harris
Vanessa, I am so happy to meet you! Your mother is a treasured friend of mine! Yes, let's chat!
DeleteThis is a fantastic post filled with ideas! I have a metal caddy and was unsure what to do with it. Thanks so much for the inspiration, Yvonne!
ReplyDeleteXO,
Jane
I just love that tool box and everything you've put in it. It's such a generous size too. Your pictures are an inspiration. What a great find. I'm sure you remember everything about the day you bought it.
ReplyDeleteOh my, that's giving me an idea, Yvonne! I have a pine caddy in my sewing room. I'm going to be trying it out a copycat version. Thanks for the inspiration, as usual! xo
ReplyDeleteI like having useful items on an island. I keep Homer Laughlin ironstone platters stacked on mine for ease of use but then sometimes I forget to use them silly me. Your caddy is stock full of white goodness.
ReplyDeleteJust gorgeous! Love having things within reach and you've displayed them beautifully-enjoy:@)
ReplyDeleteLovely post. Great pictures. Thanks for sharing your great ideas with us. I'm inspired.
ReplyDeleteI love your caddy. It has been so very versatile for you. Thank you for the great inspiration!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for inviting me to your blog, you have a lovely space! I'm your newest follower and will come back on Sunday night:) Please come say hello again at
ReplyDeleteStella B's Kitchen
What a lovely display for your kitchen catch all Yvonne! Your blog is always full of beautiful inspiration!! Enjoy your day, Gail
ReplyDeleteHaving seen this in person, it truly is a beautiful display piece and PERFECT for your beautiful kitchen! I love this "summer arrangement"!!! YOur hydrangeas are ahead of mine! But our astilbe is blooming beautifully. Have a fabulous few days:):) XOXO, P
ReplyDeleteI grab salad plates most often too, for breakfast or lunch. I love having little plates on my baking cabinet. Your catch all is wonderful and the flowers and produce are the perfect touch!
ReplyDeleteI adore seeing all the beautiful vintage tool boxes in all the beautiful kitchens out there...yours is a beauty...you have placed your "everyday needs" displayed as a most beautiful "work of art"....gorgeous!!
ReplyDeleteEver since I first saw your vintage toolbox turned caddy for everyday essentials, I have been wanting to do the same thing! I love the idea of having a place on the island for everyday items including some of my ironstone and mix/match silver. So lovely. I've been on the hunt but haven't found anything...yet ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Yvonne,
ReplyDeleteI just hopped over to your blog yesterday and have to say you have made some amazing pieces for your home!!
In response to the Sea Salt comment...it is a paint color by Sherwin Williams that I love!
Thanks for stopping by my blog. :)
~Stephanie @loveolympiajune
Simply gorgeous! There are so many elements to appreciate: the red ripe tomatoes, delicate hydrangea, fresh white dishes, blue and white patterns and silver. I could just sit and stare at it all day....but I love that it is actually functional. I agree, the everyday should be beautiful. Thank you for inspiring. I'll be pinning this to my design inspiration board.
ReplyDeleteSharon @ mrs. hines class
Yvonne,
ReplyDeleteThis is a lovley Farmhouse Box of essentials! I'm smitten with your mustard hued flatware, too! I agree, even everyday dishes should be pretty and enjoyed by the members of the household...not just for company!!!
Fondly,
Pat
I LOVE your display!
ReplyDeleteI have a drawer I took form an old dresser (I needed it to be a shelf there not a drawer) and I have been wondering what to do with that. It is too big to be a tool box but for sure could be painted and put on my counter and there could be container with other well used stuff. It is my "no-food" counter in the kitchen, so we put our keys, grasses, even medicine there. Thank you so much for the inspiration, Yvonne!!!
I love this idea. I'm all for making the every day beautiful!
ReplyDeleteMary Alice
I too have white dishes with interesting rims and edges and agree white dishes are all about the edges. I have colorful dishes as well. I never stack any on the edges, I worry about damage and chipping when items are removed and put back in with use or bumped by supporting pieces around them. The kitchen Catch-all sounds like it gets used that way. Are your Kitchen Vignettes in a different post primarily for show or for use? In either case, do you put anything between plates and bowls, or something on the bottom of your baskets and boxes to protect them? The sides of boxes or baskets don't seem tall to support dinner size plates. What is your recommendation?
ReplyDelete