The Butler's Pantry at Fox Hall is adorned with various blue and white plates. Mummy purchased the sizeable round platter over the door when I lived in Taipei as a child… it weighs a ton!
If you, too, are an avid collector of various porcelain plate patterns, you may agree that one can always have more porcelain designs, from plates and platters to service pieces! It is one reason I created the “Equestrian Collection.” With a penchant for horses, I wanted a pattern to use daily for breakfast so that I could happily “gallop into the day!”
A Butler’s Pantry is a clever and efficient place to store various porcelain collections. The week before Lady Carnarvon arrived from Highclere Castle (aka Downton Abbey) to attend a luncheon at Fox Hall, the pipes broke in the laundry room above my Butler’s Pantry. Water gushed through the ceiling, ruining the cabinetry, floor, and beyond… not the best timing for a disaster to happen!
New cabinetry was installed. My vision for a replacement wallpaper was a “blue and white Canton porcelain plate design.” Several wallpaper samples arrived but were not quite right for our c.1803 historic house. So, I temporarily had the walls painted a Canton blue until I found an appropriate paper. A few days later, I discovered some old boxes filled with long-forgotten stacks of blue and white plates in a storage room… an ahh-ha moment! I hung these unused plates all over the Butler’s Pantry walls as a faux wallpaper design! Voila, an actual “porcelain wallpaper,” was created and is SO easy for you to do as well.
Hanging porcelain on the wall offers a charming dimension and sheen. Pictured is the original "Butler's call-box.” Call buttons are in every room at Fox Hall, and arrows dance back and forth when pressed. Our children loved pressing the call buttons in their bedrooms, hoping the butler would appear. Me too!
GrandMillennial Tips:
~If you inherit an abundance of plates, platters, cups, and saucers, or buy them at an estate sale or an auction, think “porcelain wallpaper” for any room in your house, i.e., Powder Room, Laundry Room, Hallway, Kitchen, or Mud Room. Repurposing pieces you already own is always rewarding.
~Start collecting an assortment of patterns and pieces so that you can use them for different occasions. Mix and match them to create uniquely bespoke table settings.
Hanging plates on cabinet doors adds old-school charm. My collection of Meissen cobalt blue plates and Mummy's Imari plates, previously tucked inside a cabinet, now give me great pleasure from their new “visible” location. Over the window are antique tiles that my daughter, Alexandra, purchased in England. You can mix and match patterns, shapes, and sizes as long as the color theme is consistent.
~Plate hangers are available at hardware stores or Amazon.
~I use a dab of poster board putty to secure my hanging porcelain, which keeps them in place.
Extraordinary French decorative arts and porcelains are displayed in many well-appointed rooms at Hillwood Estate.
Treat yourself to a visit to the Hillwood Estate, Marjorie Merriweather Post’s home, heiress to the Post cereal fortune, in Washington D.C. Mrs. Post was an avid collector and one of Washington’s most exalted and admired hostesses of her time. Her Butler’s Pantry, filled with various porcelains, is beyond dreamy. Put this venue on your “must-visit” list.
Here is the perfect gift for someone who has everything or a bride-to-be! Please share this link with friends, especially those who love horses! I am thrilled it is represented here in the Palm Beach Modern Luxury magazine.
Xx
Holly
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