Classic Blue and White

Hi folks!  Back in August, I wrote a post about summer touches around our house.  In that post, I showed some images of our den, our front porch, and the blue and white dishes on our kitchen shelves.  Most of the comments I received said that the blue and white collection was a favorite.

I love blue and white, too.  I wanted to show you a little more detail of the dishes on our display shelves in the kitchen.

These two pictures are the same except for the color tint of the walls.  It really is tricky to capture the true color of these walls in a picture.  It either turns out too light, or with a slightly greenish cast to the yellow.  In person, this yellow paint doesn't have a smidgen of green in it; I just love the color.

As I wrote in the aforementioned post, I've tried several arrangements on these shelves since Tim made them for us two years ago.  The current look (above) is, by far, my favorite.

The picture above shows how I initially had the new shelves arranged.  I really like my cow creamers, but I just never could get that shelf arranged to suit me.  When I got the Liberty Blue dishes, I took everything off this shelf but the lamp.

The lamp serves as a centerpiece, or focus; I think it grounds the shelves.  This corner was always dark before the kitchen renovation, and it's wonderful to have some light here now.  I found this lamp at a local lamp store called "Lamps and Shades," and it's one of my favorite little shops.  You won't find bargain prices here, but you can find special and classic lamps that are hard to find anywhere else these days.

This was the corner before the kitchen re-model -- just a little reminder of how ugly unattractive the kitchen was before.  Such a difference now!  I realize the corner doesn't look dark in this picture; I'm thinking it was taken in the daytime with all the lights on in the kitchen, dining room, and den.  Trust me, this corner was dark all the time.

This spot was just wasted space until we had the cabinet built here, where we now have so much more storage.

On the top shelf are the teapot, sugar, and creamer from our everyday dishes, Churchill "Finlandia."  I've had these dishes for 18 years now, and I never seem to get tired of them.  The salad plates are a very similar pattern by Johnson Brothers called "Blue Denmark."

Also on this shelf are four little porcelain herb and spice jars that I found at the same lamp store.  They belonged to one of the employees at the store who happens to be German.  The names on the jars are in German, and they are Paprika - Paprika, Zimt - Cinnamon, Thymian - Thyme, Nelken - Cloves.  I think these are kind of unique, which is part of the charm for me.

Here you see the other two herb/spice jars.  Also, you can get a good look at the little handles on the lid of the teapot and the sugar bowl.  Aren't they pretty?  I just love the shape of them.  Later I'll show you the rest of the Finlandia dishes; I love their pattern and shape, and the cups and lids have such pretty handles.

The bottom shelf holds my latest bargain buy -- Staffordshire "Blue Liberty" Ironstone.  I love, love these dishes.  At the back of the shelf are four bread and butter plates featuring Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson.

You can see the plates a little better in these two photos.  You can check out the dinner plates in my Fourth of July tablescape.

On the front of the shelf is the Portuguese ceramic rooster my parents brought me from St. Augustine, along with the creamer, sugar bowl, and two cups and saucers from the "Liberty Blue" pattern.

The sugar bowl is decorated with Betsy Ross displaying her American flag,

and the creamer features the famous ride of Paul Revere, which is also on the coffee/tea cups.  The saucers for the tea cups are decorated with the Old North Church in Boston, Massachusetts.

  With this set of Liberty Blue (which I purchased on e-bay) I also got four berry/dessert sauce bowls and four dinner plates.  My husband bought the creamer and sugar (also from e-bay) for me as a surprise.  All the pieces are in excellent condition, and the price was great.  Not that I need any more dishes, but if I come across any more of the Liberty Blue at a good price, I'd like to get four more place settings.  I love their depiction of historic American scenes, as well as the color and quality of the ironstone.

Well that's it for my shelves; as you can see, I've got a thing for blue and white.  :)  It's a wonderfully versatile color combination -- more on that later.  This post is already too long (sorry about that).  I've been wanting to share an update on these shelves for a while now; it makes me smile to see them, especially when I remember how that space looked before.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend and make time to do something you enjoy.  Thanks so much for your visit!

Denise

I'm joining the following parties:
Home Sweet Home, hosted by Sherry
Metamorphosis Monday, hosted by Susan at BNOTP