Tucked away on a quiet city block, our visual communications manager Kayte’s house looks much like any other Philadelphia row home from the outside—tidy, brick and unassuming. But stepping through the front door is like stumbling upon a hidden magpie’s nest. Every surface is covered with curated objects—jars of buttons, bolts of brightly colored fabric, a drawer of handmade pompoms, matryoshkas clustered on a vintage tray, all carefully watched over by Bruce, her orange-and-white Maine Coon. While we could spend hours poring over Kayte’s collections, it was her brooches and the stories behind these pretty little somethings that truly captivated us.

“My collection obsession began early. When I was a child, I set up a museum in my bedroom and charged people five cents to come look at rocks, arrowheads and seedpods that I had found outside.”

“I love brooches because they’re great conversation starters. They’re one thing I let myself go crazy with—you can wear a wacky brooch with just about anything and get away with it.”

“My mom acquired this teeny fish when she was a little girl. It was lost for a while, but she recently found it in the pocket of one of her vintage dresses and passed it on to me.”