Vintage Glass: My Growing Collection & The Joy It Brings

During a quick scroll on Facebook the other day, I read a quote that resonated with me: “Surround yourself with things you love and discard the rest.” These words reminded me that we can all too often fill up our homes and hearts, with things that don’t add to the general quality of our lives. In our hearts, we can tolerate worry and invite negativity. In our closets, we can accumulate skirts (when we don’t even wear skirts…anyone?), or outfits for “someday.” And within many of our homes and garages, live a million things we never use and don’t really care about. We all get stuck in some way, surrounded by things we don’t love, afraid to discard or perhaps just too busy to. Carving away at this reality can feel overwhelming, but making room for the positive, and for the things that add joy, is truly worth it.

What I’m learning, more and more with each new day, is that life is short! Time is flying by, and it’s important for our lives and homes to reflect who we really are and what we love. I believe a home should be a sanctuary, a safe and happy space…where we feel like the truest versions of ourselves, and other people feel at home too. I believe it is worth it to hang up, dust off, and put in center stage the things that bring us deep joy, and to discard the rest.

When you look around your home, does it reflect you? Is it filled with your favorite colors, things, and memories? When you walk through your front door, do you breathe deep and feel peace? Sure, things are just things, but if we’re intentional about the spaces we’re creating, and the stuff we’re accumulating, there is real joy to be found, and creativity to be unleashed.

One of the things you will notice as you walk through my home, is my always growing collection of Vintage glass. In each room, there lives a few (or many!) pieces of Depression and Oatmeal glass which I have collected over the last twenty years. From the late-20’s through the early ’60s, manufacturers such as Federal Glass, MacBeth-Evans, and Anchor Hocking Glass, brought a little cheer into some very dreary days by manufacturing the product we now know collect. This mass-produced molded glassware was of relatively poor quality, often with air bubbles, heavy mold marks and other flaws in the glass, yet it came in beautiful colors and patterns. These pieces were available to housewives as “give-aways” that then led to buying more pieces of the set. You would find them in tubs of oatmeal (hence the name) or even at gas stations. They were made durable and beautiful which has let them stand the test of time. I recently read somewhere that the pattern I have the most of, the Star of David, has reached the “age of antiquity!” That just makes me smile.

Every time I look at a piece of Vintage glass, I see a story, and it brings a smile to my face. The timeless feel and pops of color these pieces bring to my home make it feel a little bit more like me, and each new addition brings with it some joy. My eyes are always peeled, looking for a color, pattern or piece I have yet to see, and when I travel, I love scoring new pieces in little antique shops. My home would certainly still be mine without my glass collection, but it is so much better with it! What in your home needs to be discarded so that the things you love have more room? Do you have any growing collections? Share in the comments below, I’d love to know!

Creating homes that bring you joy…
Terry