Decorating with vintage pieces helps us to recreate stories from the past and connect with our cultural heritage in meaningful ways. Vintage home interiors are old fashioned, elegant and full of character. But if you thought vintage décor was just about throwing together a bunch of antiques, think again. To make your home relevant to today’s world, you should be able to strike the right balance and blend the old with the new. We’ve rounded up some of the best-kept vintage décor secrets; read on to know how to get started!
Furniture That Tells a Story
Vintage décor is all about designing with soul and referring back to the past. Pick pieces of furniture that tell a story. The first place you should look is your parent’s or grandparent’s attics; you’re bound to find heirlooms that hold deep meaning for your family. A dab of paint or polish, redoing the upholstery and repairing broken legs, and you’re good to go!
Choose Period Accent Pieces
The accent pieces you choose should accentuate the period and tie the look together. Mirrors, artwork and lighting sconces can help you achieve the ambience that you are looking for. In this charming bedroom, while the bed takes centre stage, the side units and ornate mirrors help to carry the theme. We love the muted pastel colour palette that’s both warm and romantic.
Read More: Beautiful Vintage Bedroom Designs
Colours Are key
Choose your colour palette and styles carefully, and work on achieving a carefully layered look that shows off all the intricate details of your furniture and accessories. Rich jewel tones have always been popular in vintage décor, with shades like emerald green, turquoise, ruby red and orange being common choices. Blue and orange are paired in this living room, a seemingly unlikely duo that somehow works well together here.
Vintage Lighting
Wall and ceiling lighting fixtures should be carefully chosen so that they highlight the décor elements and showcase their beauty. Crystal chandeliers and retro style wall sconces in wrought iron are perfect choices for this look. Edison filament lamps add to the ambience you are trying to create. 
Carpets and Drapes
Antique carpets and heavy drapes can set the style quotient for the rest of the room. Rich Persian carpets with heavy detailing and luxurious curtains in raw silk look great in a dated setting. This dining room is styled in classical tones, with the lovely floral carpet in deep red taking centre stage.
Go for Gold
Don’t shy away from gold accents, bronze or brass fittings and fixtures. A metallic finish with a patina that has aged well adds to the antique ambience of any space. Pictures or portraits in gilded frames, mirrors with wrought iron frames or brass embellished jewellery boxes are all delightful accessories that can enhance your antique décor quotient. Gilded accents on the furniture or gold-finished handles add to the look.
Vintage Décor Tips You Can Incorporate in Your Home
- Instead of simply recreating a room from the past, create a theme that speaks to today’s world while capturing the essence of the past.
- You can get surprisingly good antique furniture at throwaway prices in flea markets or demolition yards. Look for items that can be restored or repaired.
- Pick up individual pieces that capture your heart, and you can build the entire room around them.
- Choose well-made antiques that have stood the test of time. Wood that is rotting or falling apart cannot be renewed, and too much rust is also hard to fix. If joints are shaky, see whether it’s just a loose nail or a structural issue that can’t be set right.
- Consider layering periods and eras, but keep it within a range. Throw in some modern pieces to get décor that is timeless. The styles should blend well together and not look like they are competing for attention.
- When you are mixing and matching design elements, try to tie them together with similar detailing and colours so that there are no awkward mismatches.
- Last but not the least, go with your heart! If you love it and it feels right, it must be right.
Looking for more vintage design tips and tricks? Our HomeLane designers have many more ideas they’d love to share with you. Let’s connect over a cup of coffee!
