San Francisco prop stylist and floral stylist Krissi Tosi has the eye for arranging quiet elegance and composing a sense of home, a cottage home at that. In 2009, she launched Cottage Farm, named after her Great Grandparent’s farm in Massachusetts. The farm was a new life for her family who journeyed from Sweden and now Krissi’s shop Cottage Farm gives new life to such things as provincial dishes and farmhouse linens.
As a photographer, I am drawn to antiques because they tell a story, and have a certain quality that you just don’t get with something brand new. With the Cottage Farm I get that same nostalgic feeling, a sense of home and comfort. Cottage farm is described as utilitarian elegance for your everyday life, the quintessential lifestyle of someone looking for simple, useful and beautiful.
A few of my other favorite Cottage Farm items are this and that.
Q&A with Krissy
1. When did you start your etsy shop?
I started my etsy shop in 2009. I was in graduate school at the time and had only moved to San Francisco a year before. I was really enjoying perusing all the estate sales and flea markets on the weekends. A friend mentioned to me that she thought I should check out etsy. When I looked at the site it seemed like the perfect match, I could find treasures and then practice my photography for the listing. The shop helped me pay for supplies in graduate school and was a great thing to transition into after I completed my masters.
2. How would you describe your collection?
I describe my collection as “utilitarian elegance for the everyday”. It is important to me to be able to use vintage items in your every day routine. It brings a bit of glamor to daily tasks and chores. I think you should surround yourself with items that are both functional and beautiful.
3. Describe a typical day in your life?
One of the things I love about what I do is that there is no such thing as a “typical day”. Depending on what my schedule looks like I could be shooting new items for the shop, heading to the flower market before dawn, packing up props for a photo shoot, setting up a wedding. In addition to my etsy shop I also work as floral designer and prop stylist.
4. What is your favorite thing to do on a day off?
I love to try out a new recipe. The more complicated or unusual the ingredients the better. I have been really interested in baking in antique molds recently. Its quite nerve wracking actually. It is fun to figure out what things are & in San Francisco you never know where the search for an obscure item can lead you.
5. What inspires you?
History inspires me. Its ever changing and full of wonderful stories that spark my imagination. I am also lucky enough to work with beautiful materials on a regular basis and something as simple as a perfect blossom or piece of elegantly thrown studio pottery be inspiring. I am always inspired by the changing of the seasons, i think this may be due in part to my New England roots.
6. What is your favorite thing in your home?
I have an antique spoon that was passed to me from my grandmother and had been her mothers. It is just a simple piece from the everyday but over the years it has taken on a form specific to its use. I have memories of using it in my grandmothers kitchen, learning recipes that had been passed to her from her mother. I love thinking about each of the three of us using it while making the same recipe. that inspires me!
Krissi’s websites:
A beloved family heirloom, Krissi’s Great Grandmother’s spoon and more snippets of her home.
Thank you Krissi for sharing your beautiful photography work and collection of cottage antiques. To view more of Krissi’s work and lifestyle as well as her amazing floral arrangements visit her blog.
