The most beautiful spaces are those that incorporate tension into their design. This is the intentional use of contrast in a space to create a more engaging and exciting space. This can be achieved by using opposites like rough and smooth or rounded and straight lines. In this case, I love to create tension using both old and new items, specifically vintage items.
Vintage refers to any item that is more than 20 years old. The reason I love vintage items so much is because they’re often one-of-a-kind, unique pieces that you won’t see in anyone else’s home. If you’ve ever spent time digging through a consignment or thrift store you’ll realize how many outstanding, original pieces are available and at incredibly reasonable prices.
How to Incorporate Vintage Pieces Into Your Modern Home
You may think it sounds odd to incorporate older pieces into a newer space but in actuality, this is the best design and will create a unique, designer look for your home. These are my favourite ways to combine old and new and create a home that has a story to tell.
1/ Build a Neutral Foundation
A well executed modern home always starts with a fresh, clean palette. It’s most often built on a layer of neutrals but those can range from light neutrals like beige to deep neutrals like charcoal. Adding too much colour will detract from the home’s modern vibes and can create visual confusion in a space that’s contemporary.
While we only have a sneak peak of the space in the image above, we can see the white wall in the background. We also see how beautifully it’s highlighted by adding this vintage jug in soft red and white. The stoneware with the pastoral scene is recognizably vintage but it looks modern and fresh in this vignette.
2/ Play With Contrast
Having a sleek, simple sofa or chair paired with a highly ornate vintage coffee table or bold vintage rug can be showstopping if you get the proportions right. The navy leather chair combined with the bold modern wall colour and vintage rug is perfection. While they’re all strongly independent they pair together to make a cohesive space.
We often think a style must be integrated wholly in order to have the effect you want. It actually highlights the design style when we add in contrasting design elements. It also makes your home far more engaging and exciting when there is contrast and tension.
3/ Create Vignettes
If you only have a few vintage pieces to incorporate you may be tempted to scatter them around your space. The issue is that these few pieces can disappear when they’re distributed across the space. Instead, create small vignettes where these pieces can be grouped together for a more dramatic effect.
I speak a lot about the importance of creating a home that reflects your personality because it can’t feel like home without that element. Vintage items are like a fast track to a personality injection. The pieces that you’re drawn to tell a story about you and you become part of the shared history of these unique pieces.
I love the muted effect of the vignette above. All the pieces are vintage but the lack of colour and pattern makes this seem far more contemporary. The overall effect is calm and peaceful and even a bit modern.
4/ Mix Time Periods
We’ve established that any item older than 20 years is considered vintage. It’s not imperative that you know the history of every piece you bring home. If you want to combine a vintage piece that’s 20 years old with antiques that are 100 years old, do it. You'll create an interesting space filled with charm and character and enhance your space.
I love that this homeowner combined mid-century dining chairs in mustard and walnut together with a red glass-front cabinet. It’s hard to tell the age of the cabinet but it appears to be newer and yet all of the combined pieces look timeless and classic.
5/ Mix Materials
I love a space that has lots of visual interest and one of the easiest ways to accomplish that is through fabric. This is a great way to incorporate visual interest in your space. Consider a new, modern rug paired with a vintage needlepoint pillow or a patterned quilt. The juxtaposition of old and new is perfect for creating design-inspired homes.
6/ Start With a Statement Piece
When we’re combining design styles the best way to accomplish that is by considering the statement pieces first. This can be any piece of furniture that dominates the space, either visually or physically. An area rug takes up a large amount of visual space and is often a great place to start. A vintage mid-century chair can be sleek and simple and still be a showstopper so always start with an outstanding statement piece and work from there.
The vignette above highlights how more than one piece in a space can be a showstopper and yet work cohesively together. Both the rug and the burnt orange chair are bold and exciting in the space yet they cohabitate so beautifully together.
7/ Layer Smaller Objects
If you prefer small objects to add a vintage vibe to your space that can be effective as well. Start by layering a few objects on a coffee table, bookshelf or your kitchen and bathroom countertops. Vintage art, brass objects and vintage ceramics are all easy ways to add a bit of unique personality to your home.
Vintage items have patina but they also have unique markings or patterns that make them something out of the ordinary. These small items won’t read as vintage in a modern space if they’re used sparsely. What they will do is add texture, interest and an old world patina that you can’t buy.
8/ Use Colour for Continuity
One of the ways we tie different design objects together is through colour. Always begin by creating a colour palette and then stick to it. Regardless of the age of a piece, if we incorporate pieces that are similar in colour or related to our palette they will work cohesively to build an interesting design.
We don’t often associate hot pink and fuschia with vintage but these small objects combined with artwork and a throw give a vintage flair and a fun pop of colour.
My Favourite Vintage Items
1/ Books
Books add so much character to a space and a vintage book just has more texture and visual interest. These can be used to add some interest to a bookcase or as a styling tool on a coffee table.
Thrift stores are filled with old books and since many of them still have their dust cover on the vintage spines remain in great condition. If you’re not as concerned about the content of the book you can just peel back the cover to find the perfect colour spine for your space.
2/ Crystal Bowls, Decanters and Objects
Thrift stores are full of donated crystal items all being sold at inexpensive prices. These are the small objects that can have a huge impact on your finished design. Crystal pieces sparkle and shine and can create lively vignettes that draw the eye to them. If your design style leans towards a more modern look you may think vintage items aren’t for you but consider how modern this small vignette looks even with the three crystal objects. Without context we see crystal as old-fashioned but when properly styled it’s perfectly suited to a feminine, modern space. If you don’t know your design style you can learn more about it by reading this post.
You may pass by crystal bowls thinking that they look old fashioned but there are so many ways to reuse them in a modern way. Consider these gorgeous pieces for storing jewelry, lipstick, and hand cream. They’re equally perfect in the kitchen for corralling small pantry items, rolled linens or jars of spices. The more unique the display, the better.
3/ Art
I love to support small artisans when buying art but when I’m really stuck I always turn to vintage art. These older pieces are often bright and colourful and can add the right amount of oomph to a small corner or neglected wall space.
You may walk past a piece of art like the one above and think it’s strange to buy artwork centred around someone you don’t know but just look at how much appeal this piece adds. I think the object in the art becomes irrelevant because the totality of the vignette works so well together.
4/ Trays and Baskets
Trays and baskets are both great ways to incorporate more texture into your space. And for most of us, we are in desperate need of that. You can fill a kitchen wall with interesting vintage trays to create a space that’s going to be a new conversation starter in your home. And we all need baskets to gather and hold all sorts of household items. Grab these wherever and whenever you see a great piece. You’ll never regret picking up these small pieces.
The stack of baskets adds an incredible amount of visual interest to this space. The texture jumps out at us and by using them to layer other small items it looks essential to the space. The final addition of artwork hanging above the baskets make this an incredibly well placed vignette that adds so much to the space.
5/ Brass and Silver
Sometimes a space is 99% complete but we’re missing something small. Often adding in a metal like silver or brass is exactly what was required. We needed that decor object but the brass finish takes it to a new level and adds so much more than a ceramic object could ever accomplish. Just as with crystal bowls, silver pieces can be used throughout your home so don’t limit yourself to just its original purpose.
These are just some of the reasons why I always include vintage objects into my designs for clients. I want every home to feel unique and personal and adding vintage elevates any space. If you’re planning a design or decorating project and need some design help, reach out to me. I’d love to discuss how I can help bring your dream to life.
