Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Thrifty Kitschy Collections from my Tiny Kitchen


Remember when I revealed my shameful beer dinner habit? No longer! Now there's groceries in my little vintage kitchen! I tackled my organization issues and my body is thanking me for meeting nutritional needs. I even swept, mopped, dusted...a clean home is a beautiful thing! I missed it.


Yet even when a home is organized, there's always that one room you're embarrassed of. For me, that room is my kitchen. There's no counter space, the shape is awkward, it's not a fun space to use! But until I move to a new space with a For Real Adult People Kitchen (instead of my little Poly Pocket Knock Off Kitchen!) There's plenty of thrifted collections and kitsch bits in the space to make it tolerable.


A favorite collection is a vintage set of vintage aprons I've gathered over the years. My collection has fish, groovy mushrooms, maneki neko, and even penguins! I also have more glasses and mugs than a single gal needs. At least they get use when friends stop by!

My thermos collection is coming along nicely, too. I use these for packing soup for lunch and cold mint tea when I go out and about on photo adventures, thrifting, and exploring.The more the merrier, these get usage!


Next, I need to draft a list of more useful kitchen essentials I should keep an eye out for at the thrifts, like a working blender. And more than one knife. And a sauce pan. Those would be nice.  

By the way, I showed how I made the framed art pieces pictured in this post. (With 100% thrifted materials of course!) There's still not enough color in this room. Looks like I need to make some more art for it!

What kitchen bits and tools do you collect from the thrift store?
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30 comments:

  1. I love your little Polly Pocket kitchen Van x

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  2. Marcia and Kylie: Aw, appreciate it you guys. I was embarrassed to show the space!

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  3. I love your polly kitchen too! you have done a great job making a not so cute space look adorable!!

    Smiles,
    The Joyful Thrifter

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  4. Love the hutch & those (are they aprons?) peeking in from that one photo. Seems very you! :)

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  5. Joyful Thrifter: Thank you! I'll keep working on it until I move up to something with more than one counter!

    LOTCP: Thank you!

    Parsimonia: Yep! The built-in hutch is my favorite part of the kitchen, 2nd to the black & white tile that's difficult to clean!

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  6. Sadly my kitchen isn't nearly kitschy enough. We just have too many appliances to dedicate much space to useful kitchen kitsch. The microwave, the coffee maker, the toaster, the blender. These get used pretty much every day and unless I stow them away in a closet only to drag them out every time we need them, we're fresh out of options.

    I do enjoy cooking though...curry, stir-fry, veggie burgers, power shakes. Love to cook...hate to clean afterward! Though if I had my own vintage mushroom apron, I think I'd enjoy the clean-up process a bit more!

    <3Jackie @ Let's Go Thrifting!
    http://LetsGoThrifting.blogspot.com

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  7. Jackie: Your kitchen is what a kitchen needs to be, efficient! Mine is not. No counters for appliances! No appliances!

    I'm coming to your house for dinner when I'm in Philly. All you've described sounds delicious & I'm jealous because I have no time to cook elaborate meals!

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  8. I think your kitchen looks cozy <3

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  9. I love the sink! My house had an huge old farmhouse sink when I was a girl. (was my great grandmas house back then) When we bought it 6 years ago the owners had taken out all the old stuff and put in new :( I am hoping to replace all that shiny stuff eventually & do an all vintage kitchen. Thanks for sharing!

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  10. Your kitchen is adorable!

    I have a bit of an addiction when it comes to kitchen thrifting. Particularly, I can't leave coffee and tea implements behind. I have seven or eight French presses...

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  11. Miss Lou: Thank you, that's one way to rephrase it ;)

    Deana: That's so funny that you're undoing their hard work to "make it new" to fill it with vintage pieces with character. I'm with you, I wish people would work to preserve vintage fixtures, not remove them!

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  12. Grace: Other than outlandish kitsch playful bits, my favorite thing to thrift for is kitchen implements. Especially coffee and tea ones!

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  13. I think your kitchen is adorable! Small on space but HUGE on personality! My kitchen is really small too. I have a hard time storing and displaying all my vintage and kitschy treasures. I have to share my favorite print that I've got hanging in my kitchen, I think you'd dig it. A friend sent it to me as a surprise gift and it makes me super happy every time I see it.

    http://tinyurl.com/6j7445s

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  14. Oh my... what a teeny tiny kitchen! I haven't seen a sink like that in years.. You need a cute kitchy under the sink curtain to add more cuteness.

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  15. Your kitchen is so sweet and filled with vintage goodies!! Love it!

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  16. love your kitchen! one way to add colour to it would be to create a skirt around your sink with colourful fabric; then you'd also have storage space there for things you don't want to see like garbage/recycling cans or cleaning products.

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  17. Could that be the SAME kitchen I had over 11 years ago on Downing Street?? It looks exactly the same as a kitchen I had in an apartment many years ago. It was a great apartment, hard wood floors, nice sized rooms, but the kitchen layout was a little funky.

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  18. For being tiny, that kitchen sure is cute - Thanks to your thrifty ways! I totally want your aprons, way cool! I've never seen a mushroom one before, which is surprising considering how popular they are...

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  19. Flo: LOOOOVE it, I need that in my kitchen too! I have a cute original watercolor in my kitchen: http://bit.ly/oI7TSv

    TYRaines: I definitely need to build something for storage under the sink!

    Retromodern girl: Thank you!

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  20. Angelika: Yep, that's a next step!

    Carla G: HAHA! That's the street! That would be funny if our craft souls were drawn to the same space! Has to be!

    Jackie: I don't have much luck finding groovy mushroom bits either! It's a shame 'cause I love them!

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  21. I LOVE your kitchen! Ours is pretty tiny too but it's amazing what some lovely vintage and retro items can do to make a space your own, love your collections!

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  22. NOTHING to be ashamed of in that kitchen! I love it and you have done a great job!

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  23. Thrifted Treasure & Zootsuitmama: Thank you! I'll only make it more bearable for here ;)

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  24. What a funny coincidence!! I lived in an upstairs apartment many moons ago over there off of Park Street. It was red brick, on a corner, and my place was upstairs, one bedroom...it was very charming and I loved it!! I even hosted a bridal shower there for a good friend.

    I remember the kitchen having a built in just like yours, with a window and a stove on the opposite wall. I also remember that stand alone sink with the side drying area!! I also had a large walk in closet off of the dining room which held my grocery items and other stuff.

    This is too funny if it's the same place!!

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  25. Carla: Most likely! I do keep my groceries in the closet outside the kitchen door1 It's a quirky space, but it works for now ;) Riverside places always have some kind of quirk.

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  26. I can tell your personality is all over that kitchen! It's fabulous! I keep odd items from incomplete sets of plates, saucers, cups, bowls & glasses that I find while thrifting for my shop so I have a mix & match kitchen. I do have a complete set of mushroom canisters that are my pride & joy!

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  27. Good Gravy, I Loaf Allll Of This!
    <3

    Peace, Love and Puppies
    Raised By Wolves

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  28. I had a sink like that once - if you take Velcro type tape from a fabric store and glue one side to the underneath/back side of your sink, and then sew the other side to some gathered fabric (measured and cut to fit) you can make removable washable (full length) curtains for your sink - then you can store things underneath! You could use an apron for the fabric - one that isn't as 'healthy' as the rest? :)

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