There are so many fantastic themes available today for every room of the house from the bedrooms to the bathrooms. Vintage and antique rooms are especially popular with many homemakers today creating perfect replicas of a room from the 1950s or even the 1850s. Here are a few tips I’ve assembled to guide interested decorators into designing the antique rooms of their dreams.
Find inspiration in your favorite historical pieces
It’s easy to realize I want a vintage room, but it can be harder to have an exact shape, idea or theme in mind. Historical movies and TV shows have so much inspiration to give. From the costumes to the room designs to the social interactions, dated films are designed to place the viewer in the past and have them live a day in a bygone era. Utilizing that colorful and immersive inspiration can give a room so much more authenticity than just looking at dated pictures.
With new historical media being released every year from every decade and millennium humankind has had access to, decorators can find the perfect inspiration for their bedroom or living room and have an idea in mind of how they want to arrange their furniture or decorate the walls.
Maximize room and space use
Minimalism is a modern-day concept that really had no place in the past where people would often keep containers and boxes for storage or just in case, they might need them. In past generations, people needed all the supplies they could get and having an abundance of material items was a luxury, a safety net to prepare for the future. Don’t be shy with stacking shelves with flower pots and books or the floor with a variety of furniture.
Every room in the house is both self-contained and a part of the whole and should be utilized to the fullest to give the decorator as much space as possible to have an impact. Don’t be afraid to have a room look a little cluttered. Be true to your inspiration material, trust the process and the room will look gorgeous and antique at the end.
Thrift and repurpose furniture
Furniture can make or break a room’s theme, and it’s important to have the patience and determination to find the pieces that will best match. From an antique mattress to a big trunk to the bookshelves, a room thrives when its furniture matches its theme and exudes a timeless aura. For antique rooms, there is often an abundance of mid century sofa online very close together that may not all be the same shade or quality. Unlike modern-day bedrooms for example, an antique bedroom may have nightstands, a desk, dressers, a vanity and more all arranged closely together with not much walking room.
It’s not essential to have each piece of a room from the 1800s or 1900s, but it’s important to make sure they look like they’re from the same era and complement each other. Pick a vanity that matches the bedsheets and a dresser than matches the bed. Rather than focusing on every piece, focus on what a furniture item adds to the room and if it fits the overall theme.
Decorate floors and walls
Rooms should have an abundance of wall decorations and rugs. Create sporadic clusters of family and nature patterns around the walls that allow guests to get a glimpse of someone else’s home life. Prop up floor-length mirrors around some rooms and allow others to hang from the walls. Invest in highly decorative picture frames that look dated and important to complete the overall look.
As for the floors, don’t be afraid to layers rugs in an abundance of patterns. Rugs were often used to keep the floors warm and to add decadence and color to rooms.
Mix-and-match colors, themes and patterns
Finally, when going through your new furniture, fabrics and decorations, let the room express itself. Not everything has to be the same shade or even color. Use complementary colors that encompass the whole room rather than just individual items. It’s easier and more satisfying at the end to consider everything as a part of the whole rather than valuable by itself. Each furniture piece and decoration in an antique room works to complete the overall look without concern for whether they match each other.
While decorations may not match if they were placed side to side, they can still be used to give a room more personality and shape. Use fabrics, wall hangings and mirrors with different makes and finishes to create an elegant living space or bedroom that fits your ideals and preferences. With a little bit of research and a whole lot of thrifting, an antique room can be a major makeover accomplishment.