My Kitschy Cat Collection

Hello, I'm Meaghan, and I'm addicted to cats.

I've been collecting vintage nearly all my life; I inherited my love for treasure hunting at a young age. My parents used to take me and my brother to garage sales every weekend, and I was taught to appreciate the value in pieces that have a lot of life left to live.

I've also been a cat mom for two and a half decades (AKA since I was born.) My love of cats and love of vintage have spiraled into an extensive collection of cat figurines throughout my life. If you were to search the shelves in the apartment my husband and I share with our cat, Waldo, you could probably find at least one cat on each shelf.

Cats aren't the only thing I collect, though. As you can see, I've got a LOT of tchotchkes. (What's minimalism? 🤔 )

My favorite cats are probably my Holt Howard Cozy Kittens. I have a salt & pepper set, as well as a "Memo Minder." Each of them have small chips somewhere, but I don't mind. To me, flaws tell a story.

I have an special place in my heart for salt and pepper shakers. I probably have ten sets sprinkled throughout my apartment... and that doesn't include the orphaned shakers I also use to decorate.

In addition to my love for cats, I've always been drawn to Southwestern items. I got the vintage cactus shaker from my grandma, who lives in Arizona.

As a huge fan of color, Mexican folk art has always spoken to me. I get a new handmade kitty every time I go to Mexico. My favorite place to visit is Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo. There is an artist there who carves each piece and paints them by hand. It's truly fascinating to watch how much detail goes into each piece (I have a lizard and a coyote, as well!)

I originally got this cutie to give as a gift, but I ended up keeping it for myself 😅 It's a teeny tiny covered dish! The basket originally held a candle, but I removed it with some hot water and elbow grease. It now holds things like hair ties and jewelry that I just KNOW my cat would knock off the table if it weren't under a lid.

I found this Bakelite cup hanger at the Iowa State Fair. Her hand-painted face is too cute! She's perpetually climbing into one of my many succulent planters.

I threw in a couple cube shelves to add some ~visual interest~ to my book collection. And wouldn't ya know it, I had a couple of cats that were the perfect size to fill in some gaps!

You know when people know you like something, so you start receiving that thing as a gift for the rest of your life? My mom finds me little cats here and there, and this is one that took me a while to warm up to. I mean, it's probably the definition of kitsch. (Obvs not saying kitsch is bad. This is Kitschy Cat Vintage, after all.) But those green eyes eventually won me over. Thanks mom!

...And that's just scratching the surface. The collection keeps growing and changing. Sometimes my maximalistic tendencies overwhelm me, and it's time to spread some cat love to someone new. Other times, I can't resist a pair of big, hand-painted eyes. Cats have always been a source of inspiration to me, and that part will never change.