A Thing Worth
Keeping

People often ask me where something in our house is from, and the honest answer is usually my mother, who had it from my grandmother. Which isn’t much help if you’re hoping to find one. So here is what I’ve learned about starting a collection of your own.

I grew up in a family of women who are all decorators and collectors. We are stage five snoopers. Much of my childhood was spent in antique shops, or peering over other people’s garden gates. Once we were caught, all of us at once, in somebody’s garden and asked if we’d like a glass of wine. Another time we were all taking a look over a gate one by one and met a naked, very surprised man.

What makes it worth keeping

It was never about spending the most, or about precious things that turn a house into a museum. It’s the things that make your heart leap, that you’ll use, and share, and look after. Some of ours came from flea markets. Plenty came from Anthropologie in the nineties. Old and new together is still a collection, as long as it goes together.

I like things to match: a full set of plates, napkins ironed, a neat table. Mix and match, yes, but not a random jumble. My grandmother bought in bulk when she loved something, and I do the same when I can. Buy enough for the whole table. 12-24... I know!

We use the silver every day, not just for special occasions.

Where to begin

Start with what you already have, then plates. I collect lots of them. The small ones are soap dishes in the bathrooms, sit under candles around the house, and catch keys on the hall table. Blue and white is a staple, and always worth buying. My grandmother, Gaga, lived in Japan and brought back plates and art, and those are some of the things I treasure most.

Then glass: colored, etched, old perfume bottles. I decant bubble bath into pretty bottles to keep by the bath, and a glass jar for cotton balls is a good excuse to look at it every day.

Then fabric and prints. Move in slowly and live with a house for a while before you change anything. A book of botanical, bird or shell prints, framed as a series, will fill a wall.

Where to look

When I want something really special, I go to 1stDibs. You don’t go there to save, but every piece adds layers to a house. Here are the ones I’ve saved.

And don’t let any of it get too precious. A guest will spill red wine on the tablecloth, and a cat will knock over a candlestick. I’d rather have the glass candlesticks out than the wedding crystal in a cupboard.