Originally if you thought of vintage style, your first thought would be antique. But now this style has blossomed into a whole different sub culture. It can now mean anything from second hand to items that come from a certain era, such as the 1940s. As a rule of thumb, anything between 50 and 100 years old could be considered vintage, but again this is not strict.
One of the reasons vintage decor has become so popular is that it is an affordable trend so anybody can adopt this style in their home without breaking the bank. There is no style set in stone so you can decorate your home with anything from restored family hand-downs to random collectables you have purchased at your local flea market.
There is a huge potential to be able to collect vintage items, but if you were to sell you collections, value would often be put down the individual buyer and the current fashion as opposed to a generic value. Let’s have a look at some vintage items that can add vintage style to your home.
Vintage Chairs
Chairs can make a great feature to any room of the house and are a great starting place if you are looking to add style to a room. A simple search of the net for “vintage chairs” and you will be presented with literally thousands of websites that will offer a huge range of chairs that you can browse.
Anything from matching 1950s mahogany dining room chairs to a restored leather French Louis Carver that would be perfectly suited to a spacious bathroom or reception room.
Prices tend to vary depending on condition, the materials used, and to what standard they have been restored. You can pick up chair sets anywhere from £100 upwards and individual chairs for anything from £15.
Vintage Dressers
As dressers could be considered a main feature of a room and are often more decorative and carefully made, you can generally expect to pay more for them than items such as coffee tables and rugs. A vintage dresser in your house can certainly add the wow factor in itself, but if you consider that they have plenty of shelving space, spacious worktops and in some cases glass cabinets, they also create the perfect place to display some of your smaller collectables.
As with most vintage items, prices can vary. A small 1940 solid oak dresser of average condition might be available for around £100. But if you are looking for something larger like a pine or solid oak Welsh dresser with several cabinets, you should expect prices to start at around £500 if it is in good condition.
Small Vintage Items
If you don’t have much of a budget and are simply looking to add a few vintage items to add a more eclectic style to your home, you may wish to consider some smaller items. Mixing old with new is one option and should be done with care, but if you can pull it off, any guests to your home are going to be very impressed.
The key to successfully combine both modern and vintage is balance. Some ideas to consider could be placing vintage lamps on a shiny or glass table, adding old fabrics to pillows placed on modern styled sofas or a 1940s vase on a new pine dresser. The idea here is to try and create a contrast between the larger and the smaller items.
If you are on a budget, try to have small vintage items. In terms of where to buy smaller vintage items, your best bet would be at car boot sales or flea markets. You’ll be able to browse through a huge array of various ornaments and decorative objects from different eras. Before you know it, you will back at home with a grand selection of your vintage finds.
The great thing about this type of design and decor is that it doesn’t have to be anything specific. It can range from a disused sewing machine in your porch area to pocket watches from Australia left stylishly on a living room side table or display cabinet. One piece of advice I would give is not to overdo it. Keep it simple and choose items you generally like as oppose to buying them because they are “vintage”, which is a mistake I have seen many people make.
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Rowena Anderson is a pioneer in the art of vintage decor. She has built a reputation in the industry for combining the perfect balance of old and new. With many people wishing to add vintage items to their home, Kalmarantiques.com.au is lucky enough to have Rowena living in the area to share her thoughts.