It is important to make the point here that vintage style for your home is not about historical re-creation of rooms from the past. It is not about travelling back in the past. A house decorated from top to bottom in a 1930s’ style, for example, could very easily look staid and feel more like a museum than a home.
Our homes have to reflect the fact that we live in a modern world, otherwise they will be completely impractical. It is all about taking the best from bygone eras and adding your own modern twist.
The trick to creating a successful vintage style is merging old and new. Sounds easy, but how do you actually go about this? It is about combining vintage pieces with items you already own (even if you need to do a bit of work on them to make them fit in), plus mixing in what you really need to live. For example, if you have a modern fitted kitchen but you love the 1950s’ look, you could invest in a vintage Formica-topped table to start your theme, using the bright colours from the table to guide your colour choices for walls and windows treatment.
You could then add other authentic 1950s’ touches, such as a ‘molecule and atoms’ coat rack (very popular in homes of the time), or three plaster ducks flying up the wall (ubiquitous in houses of that era). Finally, you could match your modern appliances in similar colours to bring the look together.
A note about buying new: if you do need to buy something new for your home, it is good thing to buy Stuff that is produced locally, in your area or your country, so you can support local designers and makers. After all, they making the vintage items of the future. The new designs can be life-enhancing too, so it is great to mix them up with originals.
