Becky Luigart-Stayner for Country Living
Turn Your Vintage Enamelware Finds Into the Coolest Home Decor
Give those pots and pans (and trays and mugs!) new digs outside the kitchen cabinet.
When picking for antiques, there is a particular joy about stumbling upon a stash of vintage kitchen collectibles—the nostalgia of hand-powered gadgets with pastel Bakelite handles and so many grandmothers’ treasured recipes awaiting discovery in old Junior League cookbooks. The prize find, of course, is a perfectly chippy piece of enamelware. Find one and it’s just about impossible to pass up.
Country Living photo stylists, who have their go-to tricks to zhuzh rooms and other settings for the camera, will tell you that a good piece of enamelware is essential to the job of conjuring up country-inspired kitchens and table settings to showcase our recipes. Yes, Classic Tuna Macaroni Salad is downright delicious in any serving vessel, but it’s all the more tempting served in enamelware bowls with red gingham napkins.
It almost seems a shame to keep such charm confined to the kitchen. Fortunately, with a little ingenuity, there are solutions. Here, we teamed up with crafter Hannah Greenwood and stylist Christina Brockman to show fun ways to transform vintage enamelware into unique pieces to decorate and organize our homes. Think light fixtures, memo boards, clocks, storage solutions…
No time to craft? That’s okay. You’ll love #7, borrowed from the cutest California cottage featured in Country Living’s collection of house tours.
Get more ideas from the Country Living craft corner:
- Craft Adorable Classroom Valentines in Minutes
- How to Press Flowers: The Simple Secrets of a Timeless Craft
- Welcome Spring with a DIY Terra-Cotta Pot Wreath
Becky Luigart-Stayner for Country LivingMug Medley Pendant Light
Add charm above a kitchen or breakfast nook table with a grouping of bulb-outfitted enamelware mugs hanging from cloth cords. Choose vintage-style bulbs to amp up the nostalgia. (For safety, we recommend having this wired at a local lighting or hardware store.)
Becky Luigart-Stayner for Country LivingPunctual Pan Clock
Could there be a more clever way to keep time in the kitchen? Drill a hole in the center of an enamelware pan, then insert a battery-operated quartz clock movement. Tie a piece of twine through the handle opening, and hang.
Becky Luigart-Stayner for Country LivingOutdoorsy Organizer
Presenting the perfect perch for garden tools. Cut a piece of wood to fit inside your enamelware basin; screw through the bowl and into the wood to secure. Once your caddy is attached to the wall, store a hose by wrapping it around the outside.
RELATED: 12 Ways to Perk Up Your Garden Shed Using Repurposed Vintage Finds
Becky Luigart-Stayner for Country LivingMemorable Memo Board
Enamelware’s magnetic properties make it perfect for displaying odds and ends. Simply hang a tray on a wall using Command Strips or double-sided Velcro, then step back and admire your resourcefulness.
Becky Luigart-Stayner for Country LivingConical Candlesticks
Create a rustic centerpiece for your table with chippy vintage enamelware funnels turned upside down. Insert 1/2-inch-wide tapers into the funnels’ openings; trim as needed to fit.
RELATED: 56 Breathtaking Ideas for Spring Centerpieces and Table Decorations
Becky Luigart-Stayner for Country LivingTiered Herb Planter
Gather three enamelware bowls in descending sizes (new enamelware bowls work too!), plus a 1-inch dowel cut in two (length depends on desired height) and a round wood plaque, both painted white. Drill holes in the centers of the plaque and bowls, and in both ends of dowels. Insert a screw up through the plaque, through largest bowl, and into a dowel. Use a double-ended screw to connect the middle bowl to the top of the first dowel and bottom of the second dowel. Screw down through the top bowl into the dowel to finish.
John Ellis for Country Living