Collecting vintage furniture is all fun and games until you have to figure out how to fit it all into your house’s design. If you are looking to turn your home into a trendy yet elegant antique showroom, these tips for decorating with vintage furniture are for you. We’re here to help you make exciting design choices that will make it difficult to keep guests out of the house once they come in!
Set Rules for Yourself
If you tend to hoard antiques, you may need to set some boundaries for yourself. Before you dive into the world of vintage furniture, give yourself a budget and some basic rules. While some vintage furniture will cost hardly anything, there may be some pieces that could be out of your price range, such as brand name products. While you should allow yourself to buy anything you would like to put in your home, the money in your pocket may not be as expendable as you want.
When something unaffordable pops up in your search, write it down so you can look for a cheaper alternative or find a different seller elsewhere. Sometimes, with vintage furniture, you won’t know exactly what you want until you see it, and if you do not write it down now, you may forget about it completely.
No matter how big your house is, you still only have so much space. Make rules about what you will allow yourself to buy before you start looking. If you stock up on large pieces of furniture, you will start to run out of room quickly and can overcrowd your living areas. Focus on what you need the most before diving deeper into the things you want. Your home may need wall decorations more than chairs, so try to keep this in mind while shopping. If this is a serious issue for you, try to shop with a friend or family member who will keep you levelheaded.
Look in Unexpected Places
Some of the most unique pieces of furniture can come from the most unexpected places. If you have family members who have lived in the same place for a long time, ask if you can look through their stuff. If you are lucky, they may give it to you for free, though it would still be courteous to give them something in return. Make sure to check in places they never go, such as attics or crawlspaces.
Secondhand stores may also have vintage furniture, though you may need to touch it up a bit. Different secondhand stores can have different furniture for sale, so do not be afraid to jump from store to store until you find something you like. Keep in mind that you can recycle pieces from furniture to make interesting antique décor for your home.
There are also online options for buying vintage furniture that you may not have considered before. You can check social media for groups that swap, or sell furniture or you can peruse store collections online, like at Home Smith. You may even find vintage furniture collectors on social media who will let you pick through their collection for things you would like to buy!
Touch Up Your Furniture
Once you have purchased your vintage furniture, it’s time to start decorating. Even though you may like the rustic appeal of vintage furniture, it still needs to look presentable, especially if people are going to use it often. Refurbish your piece in a way that retains its original aesthetic. If the piece is wooden, all it may need is a simple refinishing or a new coat of paint. Fusion mineral paint is the chosen paint of many furniture restoration DIYers, since you can easily distress it with sandpaper after it dries. If your project requires you to buy fusion mineral paints online, look no further than Home Smith’s vast collection of colors and stains.
Other projects for your furniture may involve fixing wobbly limbs or replacing broken glass. While antique glass restoration may be difficult for you to DIY, you can easily hire someone who specializes in antique glass restoration to take a look at it instead. Still, some broken objects have a certain charm about them that simply cannot be explained. Don’t get rid of an item just because you can no longer touch it up. You can still use these objects in other, more interesting ways!
Find Creative Alternate Uses for Objects
If you have noticed a broken object or cannot find a way to fit a piece of furniture into your room’s theme, find a new use for it! Use an antique kettle or glass soda bottle as a vase for flowers or repurpose a tire into a beautiful vintage centerpiece. You can turn broken furniture from trash to treasure with just a little creativity. You may even find that objects which are normally best left outside make excellent wall decorations in your living room. If you have a sentimental piece that you want on display, boost its visibility using different objects, such as old disheveled books or elegant brass trinkets.
Stick With a Theme
Keeping with a theme for your antiques will save you a headache when you start furnishing your home. If your idea of vintage is a 50s and 60s diner aesthetic, decorate your kitchen with a pop of old diner stools and a retro table. If you don’t want to fill your whole house with the same style of vintage furniture, decorate each room to represent a different era of antiques! This could also be helpful when you eventually decide to sell your furniture.
If you don’t want everything to match exactly and would prefer a more unique blend of styles, just remember that opposites attract! Find a piece of vintage furniture that complements a more modern style to really shock your guests’ senses.
The most important tip for decorating with vintage furniture is to have fun with it. Above all else, create a space that you love to be in and that you can truly be proud of. If you want to tell a story with your furniture, take the time to learn about each unique antique you find. If you just crave the elegance of vintage furniture, find the perfect way to smoothly integrate it into your home while enhancing its enchanting aesthetic. Use your cunning, creative mind to spruce your home up in ways no one would have ever imagined!
