3 Ways to Create a Vintage-Inspired Home

If you have a passion for vintage style, you’re in good company, as the fashions of previous decades are often admired by subsequent generations.

Vintage is a word that’s been hijacked from the world of winemaking, where it refers to the year the grapes were picked for a particular bottle of wine. It’s now used to describe the styles and artefacts that are typical of a specific time period, for example, flapper dresses from the 1920s or lava lamps from the 1970s.

There are many items that date from the same time periods that aren’t worth remembering, so old doesn’t necessarily equal vintage! But if it’s over twenty years’ old and represents the best of what was around during that period, then you can consider it to be vintage.

1. Vintage themes and recreating them

The first step is to select the vintage era you admire the most and collect information about the types of designs that were typical of the period. For instance, you might want to adopt an art deco look from the Twenties, with Clarice Cliff style ceramics and geometric wallpaper. You don’t have to go the whole hog when choosing a vintage design and have everything in your home linked to the theme. Selecting a few quality items and using designs typical of the era will set the theme very well without you having to replace everything you own.

2. Vintage doors and windows

If your home is an older one that had its original windows replaced with standard double glazed UPVC units some years ago, they very likely look rather ugly and old-fashioned now. However, it’s now possible to find companies that make period style windows to replace the UPVC and give your home that vintage look again. Have a look online for timber window manufacturers UK to find bespoke window makers and installers. The same is true of doors, but again, you can now get secure, double-glazed replacement doors in a range of period styles.

3. Vintage furniture and decoration
Original examples of vintage furniture can often be pretty expensive, and early twentieth-century furniture would now be considered antique, and therefore even more pricey. If original pieces are beyond your budget, there are some very accurate reproduction pieces that combine the style you’re looking for with modern materials. If you fancy the idea of doing your own restoration, you might find pieces in need of attention on eBay or at public auctions, that you can buy for a reasonable sum and then breathe new life into them.

Online auctions and charity shops are also good sources of vintage items like ornaments and curtains, and you’ll probably be able to decorate your rooms with genuine items within a sensible budget.

Creating a vintage design is a lot of fun and adds character to your home, as well as making a statement about you and what you like. Styles come and go, and very often come back again, but vintage styles never go out of fashion.