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It is not uncommon to have a random and eclectic mix of home decor items that we collected throughout the years. It’s just life. They carry an emotional value most of the time: grandma’s dressing table, dad’s book case and so on. Plus, the things that bought over the years, mostly new, modern and generally objects and furniture representing our very own taste. I personally love both vintage and modern. I would’t be able to just choose one and then design my home just with that. I love both, I want both. It is a tricky task to mix them tastefully – but it’s not impossible. Luckily the current interior trends are on our side – and I think they are here to stay. Many people are discovering the pleasures of buying pre-loved: better for the environment, you’re getting a one-of-a-kind piece, truly representing your taste, saving money by not buying brand new and the list goes on. But in the real world, we need to mix them with functional, modern things in our home. So now, it seems it is very much trendy to have a laid back, eclectic style of home decor. Having said that, you still want to keep the big picture simple and decluttered but there’s no need to throw the granddad’s favourite arm chair away. Instead build your home decor, so it fits! Here’s how to Mix Vintage and Modern In Your Home Decor.
1. Evergreen additions
Plantation shutters
These evergreen, romantic looking shutters are such a great choice to almost every window! Let it be a top floor apartment or a big country house, they will work just lovely. Also, somehow they are always associated with far away, warm countries and so they give a hint of “love to travel” style to the home. They definitely fit the into the mix of vintage and modern.
Gallery wall
Gallery walls are a great way to display photo memories or your favourite art pieces. They have been around since a long time and they will here to stay. Within your gallery wall design you can mix up your vintage and modern art and you can do much more than just that: endless possibilities of mixing and coordinating what goes on the wall.
Natural materials
Linen curtains, jute rugs, real wood furniture will be always in fashion. Classic materials in simple colours can complement modern designs: they are a perfect match with minimalist decor but they can also tone down a modern maximalist style a bit.
Books
Displaying your favourite books will never go out of style. You can have wall-to-wall shelves full with them or just a curated selection of coffee table books – they can be anything and as many as you want, you can’t go wrong with them.
Plants
Plants make any room look better in my view and although people have kept house plants forever, since a few years they became somewhat “new chic” or re-discovered. Which is really amusing and now we have even learnt the phrase of “plant parent”. But joke aside, plants make rooms homier, healthier and more alive. Naturally, they mix well with both vintage and modern – but you can still nudge the overall look into either the direction of modern or vintage by choosing specific plants for their looks. A couple of runner plants will add a more vintage look, whilst just one large parlour palm will the feel of the room more into the modern look.
2. Look after your vintage items
Vintage furniture and objects only look good if they are in a good condition, otherwise they look rather run down. Therefore, polish the old wooden furniture and repair the chips and cracks. Refurbish the old arm chairs with a new – maybe even modern looking – fabric. Grandpa’s arm chair will still remain the same just with a better look. Check out my article here about doing this.
3. Highlight the original features
Your chosen main decor will need to work well with the room’s or house’s original features: the window tills, the fire place, the balcony door – they are all given features you have to work with. If they have a significant presence (like we have curved corners as this was a very fashionable feature in the 1920’s when the house was built) you might have to choose a neutral shade for wall paint. But if it’s the other way around in a newly built flat – maybe you can pick something more of a bold, statement colour.
We have moved from a flat that had art deco features to a house that has mid-century features. So now, the main design element is mid-century and certain items will still have to work in their new environment because we want to keep them. To solve this, we are gradually adding more and more mid-century feel elements (I actually love it, so I don’t mind at all) and giving away/selling the ones that don’t work and we don’t like anymore. By doing this, the things we want to keep but they don’r really match – old piano, grandma’s armchair etc. – will be safely dotted around and the overall composition will not do them injustice.
4. The importance of lighting
Choosing the right lighting can make a huge difference to a room. Especially in winter, you want your home to be bright and warm. Vintage items really crave good lighting too, without it, they just look (and everything else in the room) way too shabby. LED down lights are a perfect for any home and keeps the room uncluttered, free of different lamps. On the other hand you might actually prefer a couple of ambient lights in the room – which is part of your vintage collection. They mix perfectly: have the led lights and have the vintage mid century arch lamp as well as part of your decor. This way you can decide which one to use on cosy evenings or when having guests around.
5. Aim for less clutter
When the look of the room too crowded, too cluttered – everything loses meaning and the space will just look messy, no matter how much tidying and organising is behind the look. Less is more, as they say. Sometimes it’s good to have a second opinion too: ask your friends how do they feel about it. When it’s time to get rid of a few vintage items which are no longer in use or has no emotional value – just give them away to a charity or sell on. If you really, really, I mean really want to keep it, try to upcycle it. That’s a great way of turning old, useless object into something useful again. (Also very much environmentally friendly!) For example, an old lampshade from grandmas house can be turned into a new one – it requires some skills but not very difficult: read my article about how to upcycle a lampshade – no sewing needed.
6. Work the contrasts
Try to pair a vintage item with a modern one as their immediate neighbour. For example: getting back to Grandpa’s arm chair again – add a modern, statement standing lamp right next to it. Or pair the vintage dining table with sleek, minimalist, even bold coloured dining chairs.
7. Personal touch is everything
Nothing works if it in the end looks like a reception room at your dentist surgery. You have to add a few spoonfuls of “YOU” into the mix. So go ahead and pick out some small, affordable and a few statement items which will represent your personality in this mix. I always vouch for pictures to do this: a few favourite art works adds lots of personality to any room. So do other art objects and travel memorabilia.
If you have a favourite decor style then don’t be afraid to make it stand out. You can still add complementing pieces from other styles – but make the room about one, preferably.