With an eye for the unique, vintage collector and shop owner Melanie Clouser uses her finds to create a warm and thoughtful home

Susan Cannon

Melanie Clouser considers her eclectic 1921 Craftsman house a work in progress.

“I don’t believe a home can ever get to the point of being finished,” Clouser says of her Midtown home. “It breathes and evolves like we do, getting reshaped to fit our lives.”

A self-described vintage collector and owner of interior shop Good Weather, Clouser and her husband Geoff White moved into their Valentine neighborhood home in 2018 and set about making it their own.

Sheer taupe curtains allow just enough light in, casting a warm glow over the living space. Photography by Ian Simmons.

Clouser, who received a BFA in ceramics from Parkville’s Park University, has always had an eye for the unique.

“I remember the first antique mall I went to when I was eight in Saint Charles near St. Louis,” she says. “I recall the smell. I fell in love with a pink satin and velvet antique ballerina costume. It was so beautiful.”

Clouser, who has worked as a visual merchandiser for both small and large retailers, has always had her hand in antiquing and the local vintage community, including selling her finds at Urban Mining Vintage. She opened her own Midtown shop Good Weather in 2023. Her shop will be relocating to Morningside Plaza in East Brookside in March.

The framed photograph of two women canoeing was a gift from a friend. It belonged to Clouser’s mother, who owned an antique mall. Photography by Ian Simmons.

Clouser’s collecting sensibility reflects the evocative spirit each singular object holds, she says, whether it be a vintage sofa or a one-of-a-kind ceramic vessel. “Collecting is an art, and the pieces I surround my husband and I with are a medium through which we express ourselves,” she says.

Clouser’s appreciation for the vintage items she collects and sells speaks to the craft, materials, aged patinas and textures. She is often attracted to the grounding earth-tone palette, but she punctuates many of her decorating vignettes with threads of color.

Clouser not only seeks out local artists but also travels nationally, selling and acquiring pieces for her shop and other projects. She travels to Texas twice a year, setting up shop at the Marburger Farm Antique Show. Some of her more notable clients include Joanna Gaines and SNL comedian and Kansas City native Heidie Gardner.

“I don’t believe a home can ever get to the point of being finished. it breathes and evolves like we do, getting reshaped to fit our lives.”