Thursday, March 24, 2011

Vintage Finds and Decorating Styles

In my quest to make my new home - and my life - more vintage, I've been hitting the second-hand and antique stores in town. It takes some digging sometimes, but I've been able to find some awesome treasures.

Since our house was built in 1951, I wanted to incorporate vintage touches into the kitchen, which is still relatively close to the original design. I found an awesome pair of vintage 1950s cafe curtains (and I promise I'll take pics as soon as they're hung up!) via Etsy and yesterday I scored some amazing vintage kitchen utensils that will look perfect on the built in decorative kitchen shelves. I'm on the hunt for a vintage 1950s kitchen clock - preferably red - as well as some vintage linens including a cute tablecloth. If I could, I'd buy one of these and make my kitchen complete, but alas, I don't have that kind of money!

For my office, I plan on a more 1940s theme in keeping with what I write. While I can't afford a vintage desk right now (though I'll keep my eyes out for them), I can add some great vintage touches. Yesterday, I found a vintage 1940s Royal typewriter at an antique store and promptly bought it (well, put it on layaway, at least!). Not only does it still work, but it will look amazing in my office! I'll take a picture of mine when I bring it home, but to give you an idea, it looks just like this:
I'm also searching for a vintage desk set and a cool vintage lamp. However, all of this treasure-hunting takes time and money, so I've had to limit my purchases lately. I figure I have time to get things just how I want them. (By the way, if you're into vintage and want to join a terrific online community of like-minded folks, I highly recommend The Fedora Lounge.)

For the living room, I'm not going with a twentieth century look at all. Since I have a mixture of tastes from eighteenth century to the 1940s and 1950s, I choose to create eras in different rooms as opposed to having the entire house have one look (though there are those that do that and their houses look AMAZING). Since my aunt gifted with some beautiful Victorian-style couches last year, I'm sticking with a nineteenth-century style for my living room. I had that style before, so things will stay pretty much as they were over at the apartment.

Now the basement...well, that's not going to be my domain. It's all my hubby's. Don't be surprised if I show you a picture in a few months and there's lots of Oakland Raiders' and car stuff everywhere in his "man cave"...

What about you? Do you have different decors in each room of your house, or do you prefer a uniform style throughout?

8 comments:

  1. My house is pretty traditional, with a touch of country. I like to use accent pieces ... a few large barn stars in the kitchen, a big sun mirror in the living room, to add whimsy. Things I can change up every now and then ...

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  2. "Decor" is a pretty strong word to use for our house. We're grown adults and still sitting on a futon couch. We tend to stick to colors that won't get ruined by pets. (Thankfully, both of us like earth tones.)

    If I had to pick one style we tend toward, it's Mission. Unfortunately, we can't afford real Mission furniture! But my sweetie did design, build & install 2 fabulous Mission-style sidelights, one on either side of the front door.

    I am in awe of your vintage interior design skillz!

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  3. My house is too open to have different styles and my hubby is way too opinated for me to put up what I'd really like. Have fun decorating.

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  4. How exciting to be planning to decorate your new home! I am looking forward to seeing photos!

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  5. Love it, Melissa! (Especially that typewriter--which I know you're not surprised about.)

    I'm with you, I like vintage touches through the house. I'm not into Victorian like you, but if it's antique I'm looking.

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  6. I just cannot wait to see pictures!!! I love your typewriter-that in itself is an awesome find.
    Looking forward to getting all caught up with you, too:)

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  7. I love vintage and antiques as well. Although my kitchen isn't vintage, I did paint the cabinets that soft vintage mellow pale yellow, and one accent wall bright red, with the other 3 walls the green of your blog background. I love my cupboards with the vintage white porcelain half/cup drawer handles. I have several antiques as well. Enjoyed reading and catching up on your blog. Where did you move too?

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  8. Vintage theme for your home really rocks! This theme has a strong appeal and any visitor to your home will feel they travel back in time. Hmmm… maybe vintage theme would also suit this apartment type of house. What do you think?

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