THE EDIT · WORTH LEAVING OUT
Things you don’t need to hide in a cupboard
Useful things that are pretty enough to leave out.
Storage, games and everyday objects earning their square metres.
Some things are useful. Some things are beautiful. The best ones save us from having to choose.
A chess set that stays on the coffee table. Coasters you don’t immediately stack away. Wine storage that becomes part of the kitchen. Even the tissue box can contribute something if you give it a chance.
We’re increasingly suspicious of objects that need to be hidden the second they’ve finished doing their job. If something is going to live on the counter, wall or coffee table anyway, it might as well be very good-looking.
So this edit is dedicated to the useful things we would happily forget to put away.
If it has to live out, it should probably look good.
A little note: This post contains affiliate links, which means Casa Mellow may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Some product images are AI-generated for styling inspiration and may differ slightly from the actual product. Please refer to the retailer’s images for an accurate representation.
01 · THE LIVING ROOM
The chess set that stays on the table
Most board games spend approximately 99 percent of their lives inside a cupboard. This one has other plans.
The brown marble board and contrasting stone pieces make it feel more like a coffee-table object than something you drag out once a year at Christmas. Leave a game unfinished. Move a piece whenever you walk past. Let somebody inevitably claim they know how to play properly.
02 · ON THE TABLE
The coasters you actually want people to notice
Coasters are normally the thing you remember approximately three seconds after somebody puts a cold glass directly onto the wooden table.
These green onyx ones are different. The natural-looking veining makes every piece feel slightly different, and the matching stone holder means they can permanently live on the table without looking like they’re waiting to be tidied away.
03 · THE KITCHEN WALL
The wine rack that earns its wall space
Wine storage has traditionally involved either a cupboard or a wooden rack that looks suspiciously like it belongs in somebody’s basement.
A slim black wall-mounted version makes the bottles themselves part of the room instead. Fill it with labels you like, alternate the bottle necks and suddenly the awkward empty kitchen wall has a reason to exist.
Shop the wall-mounted wine rack →
04 · THE PERSONAL STUFF
The memory board that gets better with time
Not everything on display needs to have been bought because it matched the sofa.
A simple metal magnetic board gives all the things you would otherwise lose in a drawer somewhere to go: Polaroids, museum tickets, postcards, photo strips, restaurant receipts and that one card you inexplicably cannot throw away.
And unlike most decor, it gets more interesting the longer you own it.
The practical stuff deserves a personality too.
05 · THE EVERYDAY STUFF
Even the boring things can contribute
There are objects we use constantly and somehow never consider decorating with. Which feels like a missed opportunity.
The coffee you take with you
For iced coffee that deserves better than a plastic cup.
06 · THE BATHROOM
The towel worth leaving out
A towel takes up a surprising amount of visual space for something whose main responsibility is making you dry.
Which is exactly why we like this burgundy and powder-blue striped one. Hang it over a rail, leave it slightly imperfect and let it do more for the Kitchen than another tiny decorative object ever could.
07 · FOR THE TABLE
Things that make eating toast look considered
Tableware is perhaps the easiest category to justify because technically you were going to eat anyway.
The butter dish with personality
Your butter has been living in foil for long enough. Black dots, white ceramic and suddenly breakfast looks like somebody made an effort. Nobody needs to know they didn’t.
The cutlery that refuses to be boring
Proof that even a fork can contribute to the room.
The cheese knives that stay on the table
A very small excuse to buy more cheese.
Leave the good stuff out
A home becomes interesting when the things in it tell you something about the people who live there.
Leave the chess game unfinished. Keep the wine on the wall. Pin the ticket from last summer to the board. Put the butter in something ridiculous. Use the nice cheese knives on a Tuesday.
Useful doesn’t have to mean invisible.
The cupboard can keep the ugly stuff.
Casa Mellow is about homes with personality, useful things worth looking at and occasionally choosing the leopard print version simply because it exists.
