Blue & White

Blue & White

I have been collecting blue and white for at least 8 years now from dinnerware to decorative objects, even Asian jewelry.  My favorite pieces are my large ginger jars with pink tassels hanging from them in my living room, 

my cobalt blue drinking glasses and a pair of oversized cobalt blue glass hurricane candle holders I use on my patio table.  

Really I could go on and on.  I even carried the blue upstairs into the hallway and I just love the vintage floral prints that are in royal blue wooden frames on my celadon green walls.

I have recently decorated a guest room and used a cobalt blue wall covering with flowers and added several blue and white touches in there as well.  Growing up I lived with it.

My mother collected cobalt blue glassware and antique medicine bottles, it never seems to get old.  I can remember how she cherished her blue Shirley Temple sugar bowl.  She loved it so much so that when I came across another, I bought it for her. 

 My intuition must have been strong, because it was not much later that she was cleaning her China cabinet selves and low and behold broke one of the bowls.  Mom told me that when she was a child, there was a certain day each week that the movie theater gave away China or so called "depression glass" and that's how mom started her blue collection. 

 I can remember sitting at the kitchen table and gazing out into the yard, as the sun illuminated her vintage bottle collection which was prominently displayed on a window shelf.  The cool blue, beautiful then, remains beautiful today.

If you have opened any magazines lately, you will find blue and white is dominating.  From the cover of House Beautiful, 

blue and white ginger jars and other fanciful touches adorn eloquent homes,

 to fashion magazines such as InStyle where royal blue and blue and white China patterned clothing are all the rage. Even patio decor catalogs such as Frontgate and Potter Barn all carry blue and white cushions and entertaining accessories.

I am so passionate about blue, it seems to be the best pop of color when it comes to decorating or donning.  Blue and white is crisp, cool and charismatic.

I am certain a looming question is whether or not blue and white is expensive?  It can be given the craftsmanship, age and quality.  Blue and white goes way back to a major trading post in Canton China. 

With that said, the name "Canton-ware" became an elegant and fashionable household and table top name in the early 1900's in the United States.  Centuries later, blue and white has made a major come back and like I said can be found flooding the press right now. 

One of my fortes is demonstrating how to achieve the look of the moment for less, with my mantra "affordable luxury." You don't have to own priceless pieces to establish the same elegant look I assure you.  All it requires is a good eye and a little imagination.  Yard sales and thrift shops are a great place to start, as I find cobalt glassware everywhere I turn. 

 As for blue and white, antique shops, decor catalogs and stores such as The Christmas Tree Shop, Marshalls/Homegoods and even your local department stores carry a variety of items in this style.  I even will venture to say that I went into the dollar store for safety pins and came out with a stack of cobalt blue porcelain dinner plates. 

 The truth is, it's everywhere.  Just stop for a moment in the stores and take a good look around you, it's been looking back at you longer than you have realized.

GO BLUE!

Jamie Gottschall

IndomitableStyle