Creative Ways To Use Ginger Jars That Are Both Pretty And Practical
Ginger jars are having a real moment right now, and it is easy to see why. This one accent piece can be a vase, a lamp, a centerpiece, or even a utensil holder. Here are creative ways to use ginger jars in every room of your home, both decorative and useful.
I never set out to collect ginger jars. It just happened. The first one I brought home was plain white, and I could not tell you exactly why I was drawn to it, other than that shape. That soft, rounded body with a little lid on top just felt right on a shelf.
One jar led to another, and before I knew it, I had a small collection scattered through Tanglewood House. What I love most is how much one jar can do. Tucked into an empty spot in a vignette, it fills the space and adds pattern and interest without any real effort. But here is what surprised me. A ginger jar is not just a pretty face. It is one of the most useful pieces I own.
You do not need a formal home for a ginger jar to feel at home in it either. Our house at Tanglewood is relaxed and lived in, and ginger jars fit right in here just as easily as they would in a more polished space. That is part of their charm. They are not fussy. They just work.
So here are all the ways I have found to use ginger jars, decorative and practical, in a home that is anything but formal.
Quick Start Box
New to decorating with ginger jars, or just looking for fresh ideas? Here is a quick look at what is ahead.
- Fill one with fresh or faux flowers for an instant vase
- Style one as a simple centerpiece for your table
- Use one to corral wooden spoons on your kitchen counter
- Group a few together for a collected, layered look
- Reach for color beyond blue and white
- Add pattern and interest to any vignette
- Layer heights on a shelf or tray with one
- Let an empty jar be the star, no flowers required
- Top a stack of books for an easy finishing touch
- Give an old jar new life as a lamp
Keep scrolling for the full details on each idea, along with photos from around Tanglewood House.
Use A Ginger Jar As A Vase
A ginger jar makes one of the prettiest vases I own. Its ample opening actually helps hold stems in place, so even a simple handful of marigolds or garden zinnias from my garden looks arranged in a small ginger jar without much effort on my part.
I love using mine with fresh cuttings in the summer, and swapping in faux greenery, like preserved boxwood or eucalyptus stems, the rest of the year so the look never really goes away.
🌿 TIP BOX: If your ginger jar has a narrow neck, skip the flower frog. The opening alone will hold stems upright and evenly spaced.
Create An Easy Centerpiece With A Ginger Jar
This is the image that made me want to write this whole post. A single ginger jar filled with several faux hydrangea stems turns into a centerpiece in about a minute, no arranging skills required.
When something is blooming in the garden, I love swapping in fresh cuttings instead. This live flower centerpiece here is nothing more than two rhododendron branches tucked into the jar. It is proof that an easy centerpiece does not have to mean a trip to the flower shop or an hour of arranging. Sometimes it just means the right jar and whatever you have on hand, fresh or faux.
🌿 TIP BOX: Faux hydrangea stems clustered together create that full, lush look without any watering or wilting. For fresh flowers, a couple of full branches, like rhododendron or hydrangea, can fill a jar just as beautifully with almost no effort.
Turn A Ginger Jar Into A Kitchen Utensil Holder
A ginger jar earns its keep in my kitchen too, and this might be my favorite way to use them. Remove the lid, stand a handful of wooden spoons inside, and a purely functional item becomes something worth looking at every time you reach for one. I love that it works on a counter, an island, or even tucked onto a rattan tray with fresh herbs nearby, so it never feels out of place.
🌿 TIP BOX: Choose a ginger jar with a wider opening for this one. It makes it easier to fit several utensils in without them tipping.
Group Ginger Jars For A Collected Look
There is something so satisfying about grouping ginger jars together, different sizes, different patterns, all sharing the same shelf or tabletop. My own collection is still small, and I am in no hurry to grow it quickly. I would rather choose each new jar with real intention than simply add to the pile, so building a grouping like this takes time, and that is part of the fun.
You need at least three jars to really read as a group, and rather than looking cluttered, they come together as a collected, layered display. Three to five jars tends to be the sweet spot; fewer than that, and it reads as scattered rather than grouped; more than that and it can start to feel busy on most furniture.
The trick is variety; no two jars need to match; they just need to share a common thread, like color, to feel pulled together. If most of your jars are similar in size, break up the sameness by adding one taller piece, like a vase or a candlestick, so the eye has somewhere to travel.
🌿 TIP BOX: Place your largest jar toward the back or center of the grouping, then stagger smaller jars around it at different heights. A patterned plate, propped upright behind the jars, is another easy way to add interest if it fits your color story.
Mix In Color Beyond Blue And White
My first few ginger jars were not blue and white. I started with a plain white one, then added a deep green, then a brown-blue-and-blue patterned jar, before I ever brought blue and white into the mix. Honestly, I did not think blue and white would work with the rest of my color palette, so I avoided it for a while. I was wrong.
A chinoiserie ginger jar, in almost any color, tends to fit right into whatever style or palette you already have going, and blue and white turned out to be no exception in our home. If you are not sure a color will work, hold the jar up against a wall, rug, or piece of furniture in the room first; chinoiserie patterns almost always pick up at least one shade already present, which is what makes them blend in rather than compete.
Greens tend to pair beautifully with neutral and warm-toned rooms, while a brown-and-blue combination works well in spaces where wood tones are already at play. In fact, I am eyeing a mustard-yellow, blue, and white jar right now that I think would be so pretty here, too.
🌿 TIP BOX: Do not assume a ginger jar has to match your existing colors exactly. The chinoiserie pattern itself tends to blend into almost any palette, so let yourself experiment with colors you might not expect to work.
Add Interest To A Vignette With A Ginger Jar
One of my go-to accent pieces is always a ginger jar. If a vignette feels a little too empty, or I need something small to sit atop a stack of books or fill a bare spot on a table, a ginger jar is usually my answer.
It brings a lot of visual interest for its size, pattern, shape, and color all in one small package, and it plays well with whatever else is already there. To build a full vignette around one, pair the jar with two or three other pieces of varying shapes, a stack of books, a small plant or candle, and one object with a different texture, like woven rattan or aged brass, so the grouping feels layered rather than flat.
🌿 TIP BOX: When a vignette feels flat, reach for a small ginger jar before you reach for anything else. It rarely clashes and almost always adds just the right amount of interest.
Add Height To A Vignette With A Ginger Jar
I have a few taller, slender ginger jars that I reach for whenever a vignette needs height but I do not want to use candles to get it. They work beautifully on a tray or shelf, standing in as that tall element without adding any flame or fuss. Pair one with a few shorter pieces around it, and you get that layered, varied height look every good vignette needs.
A good rule of thumb is to vary your heights in thirds: one tall piece, one medium, and one short, rather than lining up several jars that are all close to the same height, which tends to look flat instead of intentional.
🌿 TIP BOX: Keep a tall, slender ginger jar on hand for vignettes. It gives you height without candles, so it works just as well during the day as it does in the evening.
Leave A Ginger Jar Empty: It’s Interesting Enough
A ginger jar does not need flowers, greenery, or anything else to earn its place in a room. On its own, lid and all, it is a lovely addition just as it is. When a space looks a little empty, or a piece nearby feels unfinished sitting by itself, a small ginger jar is often exactly what it needs. Tucked next to a lamp, a plant, or a stack of books, it holds its own without competing for attention, which makes it one of the easiest pieces to reach for when you are not sure what a space is missing.
🌿 TIP BOX: An empty ginger jar reads best when placed next to at least one other object with a different texture, like a woven tray or a leafy plant, so the pattern has something to play against.
Top A Stack Of Books With A Ginger Jar
Most of the time, my ginger jars are not filled with flowers or anything else, and that is part of what makes them so interesting to look at. A ginger jar looks just as attractive with its lid on as without, making it an easy finishing touch on top of a stack of books. It is one of the simplest ways to dress up a side table or shelf in just a minute or two.
The small ginger jar with the little wooden finial is my favorite. Love that little extra detail.
🌿 TIP BOX: Choose a ginger jar with a lid for a book topper if you want a more finished, formal look, or leave the lid off for something a little more relaxed and open.
Use A Ginger Jar As A Lamp
Ginger jars make the most beautiful statement lamps, and the green pair on our buffet are proof of that. It was love at first sight, and those two lamps are the reason I started adding more green throughout our home. They bring a big dose of beauty to our living room.
If you would rather make your own, I also converted a ginger jar into a lamp without any drilling or wiring at all, and it was so easy. You can see exactly how I did it here.
🌿 TIP BOX: A ready-made ginger jar lamp is the easiest way to bring this look home instantly, but if you already have a jar you love, turning it into a lamp yourself takes far less effort than you might think.
Ginger Jars Make Excellent Planters
Ginger jars make excellent planters for annuals outside, and I have been using them this way for years. They bring color and a sense of chic style to a porch or patio that a plain pot simply cannot match.
Indoors, a larger ginger jar works beautifully for potting a big plant, or even a small tree, that you can enjoy all year long.
🌿 TIP BOX: Always add a layer of stones to the bottom of a ginger jar planter that has no drainage hole. This gives excess water somewhere to go, away from the roots, and helps your plant stay healthy.
Ginger Jars You Might Like
See the ginger jars I have and love, plus others I have my eye on.
A Few Common Ginger Jar Questions
Here are a few questions I hear often about ginger jars, along with the answers I have picked up along the way.
A ginger jar is a rounded porcelain vessel with high shoulders and a small opening, originally used in ancient China to store and transport spices like ginger and salt. Once they made their way to Europe, they picked up the name “ginger jar,” even though most of them today are used purely for decoration rather than storage.
Not at all, and this is one I learned myself. Blue and white is the most traditional and recognizable style, but ginger jars come in a wide range of colors and patterns, including green, brown, and even Imari-style jars with red and gold accents.
Yes, most decorative ginger jars can hold water for fresh flowers, but I always recommend using a smaller glass or jar inside as a liner if you are not sure whether yours is sealed well on the inside. This protects the jar and makes cleanup much easier too.
A true ginger jar has a simple domed lid with no extra ornamentation, while a temple jar has a decorative finial or shape on top and a slightly different silhouette. Both work beautifully in home decor, and honestly, most people, myself included at first, use the terms interchangeably.
No, and I actually love styling mine both ways. A lid gives a jar a more finished, formal look, while removing it feels a little more relaxed and open, so it really depends on the mood you want for that spot in your home.
Ginger jars have earned a permanent place in our home at Tanglewood House, and I hope this post gave you a few new ideas for yours too. Whether you use one as a vase, a lamp, a planter, or simply let it sit empty and be beautiful on its own, a ginger jar is proof that one small piece can do a lot of work in a room. You do not need a formal home or a big collection to enjoy them, just a willingness to find the spot where one feels right.
If you try any of these ideas in your own home, I would love to hear about it in the comments. And if you are just getting started with your first ginger jar, know that mine began with one plain white jar and a little curiosity, so yours can too.
More Ideas You Will Love
If you enjoyed these ideas for using ginger jars around your home, here are a few more posts you might like too.
How to Make a DIY Lamp From a Ginger Jar With No Wiring
Ready to turn one of your own ginger jars into a lamp? This step-by-step tutorial shows you exactly how, no drilling or wiring required, just a simple, budget-friendly project you can finish in an afternoon.
How To Decorate With What You Have: 20 Smart Ideas That Work
If creative, resourceful decorating is your style, this post is full of smart ways to use what is already in your home. It pairs perfectly with everything we just covered here about ginger jars.
Real Home Decorating Secrets That Actually Work In Everyday Homes
For more practical, doable decorating advice that fits a real, lived-in home, this post is a great next stop. It shares the same relaxed, everyday approach you will find throughout StoneGable.
Blue And White Decorating Ideas That Always Look Fresh And Classic
Since so many of the ginger jars in this post are blue and white, you might enjoy an even deeper look at this timeless color combination. This post shares more ways to bring it into your home beyond just ginger jars.
Happy decorating, friends…
