How to Style Vintage Collections in an Open Floor Plan

Creating a beautifully styled open floor plan can feel like an art form, especially when incorporating vintage collections. One standout piece that can elevate your decor is a vintage cobbler rack, which can serve as a functional storage solution and a beautiful display for your cherished items. By thoughtfully arranging your vintage collections around this unique focal point, you can create a cohesive and inviting atmosphere that reflects your style.

Are you a lover of vintage home decor but unsure how to showcase it in an open floor plan or an ample space with limited shelving? Every piece tells a story, from charming dishes and glassware on rustic shelves to nostalgic linens and unique finds.

Let’s make those unique pieces shine!

In this post, I’ll share tips on seamlessly blending these elements for a stunning open floor plan that showcases your love for all things vintage.

Vintage Cobbler Rack

After plopping this vintage cobbler rack between our open living room and dining room, I stumbled upon today’s blog post idea. I brought it home when I closed my vintage window booth in late August and filled it with what was left in the booth.

What is a cobbler rack?

A vintage cobbler rack is a sturdy, multi-shelf metal or wooden unit used initially by cobblers to store tools, supplies, or shoes. Its open shelving and rustic design make it a perfect display piece for showcasing collectibles, as it offers both functional storage and a unique industrial aesthetic. Today, these racks are popular for adding character and vintage charm to home decor, especially in open floor plans where they can act as a striking focal point.

I found this cobbler rack at Vintage Market Days Vermont several years ago and refinished it. Find more vintage cobbler rack inspiration in these posts:

Store, Stack & Display Vintage Dishes in an Antique Cobblers Rack
Vintage Cobbler Shoe Stand in Decor Ideas
Baby Adidas, Petite Cobbler Rack, & Watercolor Ski Drawings

As fall arrived in Vermont, I began to look forward to finding a space for this vintage piece of furniture, which I adore.

After a couple of months of sitting with this old cobbler rack propped up next to the back of our living room loveseat, it started to grow on me.

What if I emptied it all and styled it to display my favorite vintage collections, which I like to “Dabble and Decorate” with frequently? It would also serve as a unique room divider in our open floor plan space.

I had never thought of using a vintage cobbler rack as an open-floor-plan room divider, and I have to say, I love it!

Vintage Collections

If you’re like me, you have several vintage collections.

Since I am displaying our vintage cobbler rack between our open floor plan living room and dining room, the vintage collections I am focusing on are items I can work with as I set our dining room table, as the cobbler rack displays outward towards the dining room.

Making it pretty and functional.

Favorite vintage collections like these soft blue cream soup bowls, French knife rests, and the Irish Royal Tara dinnerware set I found in Maine last winter. See more in these posts:

How to Style a Cobbler Rack with Vintage Collections

Once you’ve gathered your favorite vintage collections, it’s time to style your new open-floor-plan room divider.

There will be a lot of trial and error, but that is the fun part for me!

Top and Bottom Shelves

Start by styling your cobbler rack from the top and bottom shelves.

Bottom Shelf

The bottom rung on a cobbler rack is usually very low on the ground, so I didn’t want to place breakable vintage collections on that shelf. A vintage rattan suitcase fits nicely on the bottom rung of our cobbler rack. I like the texture and variation it adds to this bottom shelf.

Other vintage pieces that would work well on this bottom shelf are quilts, blankets, baskets, vintage shoe molds, books, magazines, or wooden bowls.

Top Shelf

Next, begin styling the top of your vintage cobbler rack by creating a foundation.

Choose your favorite color palette that will work with your own home decor style. I chose my favorite larger white vintage collections for the foundation of my top shelf. Items like:

You’ll want to use items that can be stacked and add height, like plates and cake stands. Arrange and rearrange until you find a flow that works for your space.

Add smaller collections to fill in the open spaces once you have the top shelf’s foundation. This is where I added:

Middle Shelf

After styling your top and bottom shelves with vintage collections, move on to the middle shelf or shelving on your vintage cobbler rack. This will help you visualize the balance of your new room divider.

I chose this Irish Royal Tara dinnerware set I found at a thrift store last year. It’s one of my favorite finds, and since I don’t use it that often, I felt bringing it front and center would be an ideal way to display these special plates. I also like its white pattern with green shamrocks.

Greens and blues are my favorite.

Next, I chose to add more green and white vintage collections to this same shelf next to the set of Irish Royal Tara.

A favorite stack of white and green platters topped with an old juicer.

Since my middle shelf is a bit whimsical, with platters stacked every which way and the Royal Irish Tara cream soup bowls off-setting, I wanted the shelf below this to be more structured.

Vintage Cake Stands

On the next shelf down, I chose to display a collection of four vintage cake stands in different patterns, colors, and sizes.

The height and the various styles maintain that whimsy while giving the overall cobbler rack a sense of organization and structure.

If you don’t have a cake stand collection, try stacking this shelf full of all similar dishes, glassware, large soup tureens, pitchers, ice buckets, or other similar vintage collections.

Wedding China Collection

Most cobbler racks have six shelves in which to style. And now I had two left.

I chose our wedding china to fill the second to last shelf on the cobbler rack. A complete vintage collection set like this on this shelf, similar to the cake stand rack, makes the cobbler rack look organized and styled.

Green and Blue Vintage Collections

Lastly, I filled the last shelf with vintage collections in greens and blues—my favorite colors and the colors I chose, in the beginning, to highlight next to the white collections.

Second Rack of Vintage Collections

I loved using a vintage cobbler rack with vintage collections, so much so that I styled another petite rack with table linens to separate our open dining room and breakfast nook, which can be moved around very easily with the antique casters.

In Conclusion

Styling vintage cobbler racks with curated vintage collections in your favorite color palette adds a refreshing and timeless elegance to any open floor plan or large room with limited shelving.

By carefully selecting pieces from vintage shops, you can mix best sellers and new arrivals to create a unique, ever-evolving display.

Adding touches of vintage art to the decor brings an extra layer of character, making the space feel thoughtfully curated and inviting.

Whether you’re just starting out or adding to a beloved collection, styling a vintage cobbler rack is a beautiful way to showcase your passion for vintage decor in a cohesive and eye-catching way.

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This post may contain affiliate links, which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

*Several vintage cobbler racks are available for sale on Etsy. However, I have found my vintage racks at antique stores, flea markets, and second-hand shops for under $300 each.