Holly Holden – interior designer, author, and tastemaker – learned how to repurpose her silver pieces from her mother… Her parents moved 33 times during her father’s career! Today, Holly joins The Glam Pad to inspire us not only to use our silver pieces, but to also consider using them in unexpected and unique ways. Welcome, Holly!
How To Repurpose Your Silver Pieces
by Holly Holden
Recently, I purchased an English silver “biscuit box,” c. 1975. It is the perfect size to store cookies for grandchildren or biscuits for a puppy. When I was preparing for an impromptu cocktail party at “Fox Worth,” our apartment in Palm Beach, I realized that I needed a more diminutive-sized ice bucket than what I had because our Louis XVI side table, where we serve champagne and drinks, has limited surface space. Suddenly, I spied the biscuit box in the kitchen and immediately repurposed it into an ice bucket. It could not have been any more perfect; even the hinged lid helps to keep the ice inside from melting! It was a seamless transition from cookies to ice cubes and has served me well for our Palm Beach parties. I did not have an ice scoop, so I opted to repurpose an antique silver tomato serving spoon, with a shell handle, to serve ice from the biscuit box. I hope to inspire you to think outside of the box!
Here are 14 of my ideas for “repurposing silver accessories”:
1. A silver champagne cooler can be transformed brilliantly into a graceful flower vase.
2. A silver baby cup can serve as an hors d’oeuvres toothpick holder or a small flower vase.
3. A small silver cream pitcher is perfect for bedside flowers, or to serve warm syrup for pancakes.
4. A silver canister can be used for any spice, powdered sugar, and more.
5. A silver tray, when placed under a floral arrangement, can “frame and enhance” the flowers, and it will serve to catch any pollen or falling blossoms.
6. Silver chargers are a splendid size to pass hors d’oeuvres.
7. Silver napkin rings can be filled with greenery to garnish a serving platter of prepared food.
8. A silver cigarette holder can be used to serve candies or toothpicks/skewers.
9. A silver punchbowl can be used to serve biscuits for a large party.
10. A silver mint julep cup can hold make-up brushes or q-tips.
11. A silver coaster is a perfect size to place some chocolates by your guest’s bedside.
12. A silver baby rattle works brilliantly as a carving knife rest.
13. A silver basket can be used for biscuits, chocolates, cookies, bread, crackers, nuts, and petit fours.
14. A silver picture frame can be transformed into a standing mirror by slipping in a piece of “mirrored glass” in the place of a photograph.
Do tell! How do you repurpose some of your silver pieces? I will add your ideas to my silver repertoire and share them with you, too!
Thank you Holly for joining us today, these are such brilliant ideas! Below is a short video of Holly demonstrating her tips that you wont want to miss…
To learn more about Holly Holden, please visit her website hollyholden.com and sign up for her weekly e-newsletter, Secrets to Lovely Living. You can follow her on Instagram @hollyholdendesign. To read more about Holly, as featured by The Glam Pad, please visit the links below… and I also highly recommend her books, Pearls of Palm Beach and The Pretty and Proper Living Room.
- HOLLY HOLDEN’S PRETTY PALM BEACH PAD
- HOLLY HOLDEN’S PEARLS OF PALM BEACH
- THE SECRET CODE OF OLD-SCHOOL INTERIOR DESIGN REVEALED
- CLASSIC DESIGN WITH HOLLY HOLDEN
- CLASSIC DESIGN ON INSTAGRAM WITH HOLLY HOLDEN
- FOUR MUNDANE CURRENT DESIGN TRENDS… AND HOW TO GET THEM RIGHT
- YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED
- CLASSIC CHRISTMAS WITH HOLLY HOLDEN
I love using my babies sterling feeding spoons to stir my coffee! It fills my heart to remember them eating rice cereal with those same spoons…
What a delight and honor it is to be in The Glampad again, Andrea! Thank you ever so much for introducing your darling audience to my weekly newsletter, “Secrets to Lovely Living!” Everything tastes better on silver, right?!!
Xoxo Holly Holden
Thank you Holly for sharing your wonderful ideas.
I use a silver cigarette case as a holder for my medical tablets such as for heartburn, headaches, allergies, etc. It stops them from breaking through the foil wrap and turning into powder in my handbag.
I really enjoyed this post. I love repurposing silver. Holly presented this is such a charming way. We need a silver revival so that younger generations can see it has practical uses. I inherited silver from my mother (mostly small pieces). These are the jewels of my house. I don’t even mind the tarnish—because silver has just statement elegance: tarnished or not. I am not being a snob, but silver passed down between generations has a feeling of stability and permanence even though it is a material thing.
I use a silver wine coaster to place under a decorative soap dispenser in the powder room. I also use silver bread trays in the kitchen to frame small groups of flower vases and candles. Also, use small silver trays to hold my pottery oil dispensers next to cooktop.
What a wonderful post! I too use my mother’s silver pieces throughout my home. It’s such a pretty touch. But I can’t stand tarnish and here in Miami, that is a constant fight. I don’t mind; I polish everything every three or four months.
I have tons of silver. My husband always asks if the Queen is coming. I tell him that if she does, I’m ready!