I’m Putting a Vintage Casserole Holder in My Living Room (It’s So Practical)

You know casserole dishes, but what about a casserole holder? Also called a serving dish, casserole serving carrier, or warming stand, it’s a rectangular silver frame, usually raised slightly off the surface. It comes with a lid, and it’s sized to fit a dish of food you’re serving to a group. 

It may be old-fashioned, but it makes for a seriously charming serving dish. What’s more, it also works beyond food storage. As it turns out, a casserole holder works as a practical storage solution in the living room: Use it to hold books and more! 

In a video, interior design content creator Laura (@bluepeonyinteriors) shows off a vintage casserole holder she recently picked up. “This vintage find is secretly two decor pieces,” she writes in the caption. “The lid became a door hook and the base became a book holder.” She took the lid off the casserole dish and adhered it to the door with six Command strips and then hung a hat and a coat on it. Then, she uses the base of the casserole holder as a book holder. It doesn’t really require any setup — she just puts it on a shelf or counter and fills the space with the books of her choice. 

 The book holder looks especially nice, as she used “[her] mom’s childhood books from the 1950s,” she says in the video, which are all hardcover with an ornate, vintage look and complementary color palette.

If you don’t have the time or energy to hunt down this particular variety of vintage casserole holder in-person, you can find some nice options online. In fact, there are antique silver claw-foot chafing dishes with ornate handles and detailing on both eBay and Poshmark right now. The eBay tin ($60) is from the ’50s and comes with a glass dish insert, while the Poshmark tin ($35) has an engraving commemorating a 1982 golf tournament. Vintage finds are full of little surprises.