My Hope Chest

When I was in my freshman year at city college, I started becoming interested in collecting home goods. My mom had told me about hope chests, originally a European tradition which young unmarried women would have a large wooden chest, usually made of cedar but in some cases with more expensive woods, and use it to store household goods like linens to use when they were married. The tradition has died down but there are still young women, especially in religious communities, that store household items in the hopes to use them for when they get married. When my mother told me about hope chests I was already starting to look forward to marriage, and so I started my hope chest.


I didn't have an actual wooden chest. Instead I had a large Tupperware bin which I started placing my first collected home goods in. Every time I visited Bed Bath and Beyond (and my visits increased when I started collecting) I would choose items from the cooking department that I knew I would use. The first item I bought was a zester. I had been watching lots of Barefoot Contessa and Everyday Italian, and Ina and Giada would almost always use a zester to get lemon, orange, or lime zest for their delicious recipes. And since my mom did not have a zester in her home, I figured I could buy one and use it when I would cook.

From there I moved to liquid measuring cups, glass bowls, a can opener, a pizza cutter, spatulas and tongs, oil dispensers, and then I branched out and bought wooden and cloth hangers, glass vases, elegant mugs, and candle votives. And in the last five years my "hope chest" has gone from one Tupperware bin to two Tupperware bins, half of my closet, and in other areas of my home where they can be used.

These are all the things in my hope chest that I am waiting to use or don't use very often. There are two Tupperware bins, the top full of kitchen gadgets and some cushy hangers, the bottom one has some pretty mugs, hurricane glasses, and glass vases. This takes up the bottom left half of my closet. I can't wait till I can bring them all out and use them!

For Christmas and my Birthday I always ask for home goods I still haven't collected yet. Last Christmas my dad gave me a toaster, a broom, and a dust pan. Another Christmas a while back my mom gave me two cookbooks and my dad gave me measuring cups and measuring spoons. I've been collecting other kitchen tools, some appliances such as an iron and a hand mixer. My mom gave me a silver Kitchen Aid stand mixer a couple Christmases ago. And I have been saving some items that my mom was going to give away, like my Grandpa's crystal candy bowl and my mom's cowboy boot drinking glasses.

"I spy with my little eye . . ."

When I began collecting home goods, I had realized that this was a good investment. Even if I wasn't going to get married right away, I could still use these things when I moved into my own place. That can opener I had purchased and the round standing mirror my grandmother was about to give away came in handy when I went away to college. I bought a couple candle sticks from Pier 1 that are standing on our dining room kitchen table as part of the fall table decor. And I use my stand mixer occasionally. But these things, useful things, would be ready for whether I moved out of the house and either lived on my own or if I got married. My mother and grandmother joke "Save some items for your bridal registry!" Oh, don't worry, there will be plenty other things to put on the registry.

For instance, one of the things I have not added to my hope chest are linens. Why? Because I don't know what size bed I'm going to have when I move out, or what my decorating style will be at the time. I don't know if by the time I really move out I will want green or purple bathroom towels or red or navy oven mitts. I don't know what size or shape kitchen or dining table I will have, so I haven't bothered much to buy any linens. Oops, I lied, I did buy some white dust rags. But hey, when I move out I won't have to worry about kitchen gadgets and can spend more on bed and bath linens.

Only a small sample of the decorative
things I have collected

Another rule that I had set for myself was to try purchasing "timeless" pieces. That's why I picked clear glass vases instead of overly decorated ones. And why I purchased off-white dinnerware, and white (yet prettily designed) mugs, and a silver stand mixer. I knew those would go with anything. I remember when I started collecting I had wanted everything in my kitchen green and yellow, but now five years later I'm not leaning much toward either of those for my dream kitchen. My preferred color scheme and style change, that's why I've chosen the timeless, neutral pieces. How can you go wrong with white, silver, and clear glass? But a while ago I began to have a fear that in choosing simply white or clear glass items, when I move out I will have nothing but a boring white, silver, or clear glass, colorless scheme in my new home. So lately I have been sneaking in a couple deep blue vases my parents used to keep, a couple tea lights in colored votives, and multi-colored napkin rings. I even splurged and bought a mustard yellow truck figure-thingy. You know, one of those decorative items at Ross and those types of stores that sell brand new things that were designed to look antique? Well, I gave in and bought the truck. It's sitting on one of my bookshelves. It sort of speaks to the country side of me (like the cowboy boot drinking glasses I mentioned).

I think I am going to go ahead and start collecting colored place mats and napkins, and table runners! It really is okay to collect some colored items for your hope chest. Just make sure you are going to love those colored or patterned items for a long while and don't get anything too trendy. I'm more of a classic girl than a trendy girl anyway.

And I can't forget my books with colored covers! I have kept so many books from school and from my leisure reading.  My personal library isn't nearly as large as some of my friends', but I can't help but look to my right from my bed and see my bookshelves full of different colored and different sized books, propped up or stacked, with a few trinkets placed amongst them. Surely my collection of books will add a big pop of color. I'm not kidding, I would be so sad if I had to get rid of a lot of my books to downsize for wherever I was moving.

There are a few places that I just love to shop for items for my hope chest. Pier 1 and World Market are wonderful because their merchandise is quite inexpensive. Both of these stores offer the "global" look which I also like. I've bought candle votives and stands from both. I've also bought some kitchen equipment from World Market, like the oil dispensers and a salt and pepper shaker set, and I bought my beautiful white mugs from there a few years ago, along with some other decorative pieces. From Pier 1 I have purchased the napkin rings and my whole dinnerware set (and it is so true about their slogan "Find what speaks to you"). Also I like to visit Pier 1 when they are putting some of their seasonal stuff on clearance. Back in September they had this adorable blue and brown speckled tea candle shaped as a frog which was part of their summer collection, and I bought it for less than three dollars. It's now sitting on the back porch shelf. My other favorite places to shop are Ross for their cheap decorative items. I bought a platter that I am looking forward to serving Middle Eastern and Indian cuisine on. I mentioned that I liked to shop at Bed Bath and Beyond (and still do!) for their quality kitchenware. Recently I purchased a tart tin and I used it to make my first ever tart (french apple!) and served to one of my bible study groups. And of course there's Target. You can get a lot of good things at Target for not too much. And if you go on a good day, JCPenney or Macy's will have some really good, irresistible sales. You just need to know when the best time to go is.

And, for the record, I never participate in Black Friday. Some people may get a thrill from battling crowds just to get at least their second or third choice items on their lists, or making a day of buying items you really, really, really don't need to buy that very day . . . but I'm just not interested.

I've been told by some people that my collection is a waste of money because I'm buying a bunch of stuff that I'm not using. Some have asked me "are you a hoarder?" From the pictures, does it look like I am the type of person you would typically see on Hoarders? Okay, my closet doesn't exactly look like one of those perfectly organized closets you see on Pinterest. I think the term would be best described for someone who has so much stuff they can't keep it properly and neatly stored, so much stuff that it's in their way. But my "hope chest" is stored neatly away where it is out of my way, not causing a mess, and is easily accessible. And no, I don't think that the items I have purchased are a waste of money. Everything I bought has a use and will be used - and some are currently in use - and if something should happen to me, someone else can use it. And I am investing the money now so that when I move out they will be ready to use and I will have less on my list that I will need to buy. Every day I look forward to marriage and my future home. Maybe marriage will come later than future home, but either way I can't wait to put together my new home.