Vintage decor is making a huge comeback and can add personality and flair to any room of your home.

If you love the qualities of vintage, antique items, as much as I do, there are so many ways to style them. You can add a little modern or farmhouse to vintage.

I wanted to share a few simple ideas, I believe, anyone can do to start out with.

Start with a small area first

One thing I learned very quickly was not to clutter an area with vintage items. I will add one or two pieces, depending on the size of the piece, and go from there. If you have too many vintage items in your home, they can be outdated or even too cluttered and messy. I love to use items that mean a lot to me first and use them as accents in a room.

A great small area to start off first is a round coffee table. Add a basket full of vintage magazines or books and a few other vintage and new items. Don’t forget the candles. The picture above from Candle Wood Cottage is a perfect example of how easy this is to do.

start with a simple palette

I have learned over the years that having a neutral base color helps a lot. Some vintage items can be very colorful and bright, which I love. Especially, items from the ’70s. Oh, the memories of Harvest Gold and Avacado Green and let’s not forget giant flower wallpaper. I lived through it all.

The picture above is a great example of a neutral palette by Sarah Joy Blog but with some color added. The mosaic flooring is so nice in this kitchen as the touches of green plants. Browns and whites are so easy to add color to with other items.

Mixing Old with New

Mix antiques with modern pieces. The look is just so classic now. A mix of antique and modern furniture creates a wonderful eclectic look that’s great for those who like both styles but don’t want their homes filled with antiques. Items on a bookshelf are a great example.

This is one of my favorite ways to mix old with new. Using a vintage side table or small dresser in a bedroom, living room, or bathroom as shown in the home show at Home World Design. My favorite small dressers have mirrors in the doors.

I have old with new all throughout my home and will show you below. I really think it adds so much character.

my home treasures

This corner cabinet belonged to my great-grandmother, Ruby. I loved her name and wanted to name my little girl after her. But, alas, I had a boy and Ruby wasn’t a good choice for a boy’s name. 😂

Anyway, when my grandmother passed, my mom gave me the corner cabinet and my aunt took the dining room set that was with it. I adore this cabinet and it sits in my dining room now. I have lots of small little memories in there that I so treasure. I’m thinking about painting the back wall white so that you can see the items in there better.

This is by far my favorite piece in the house. It came from my grandmother’s home after she passed which was a cabinet in Barnes Hospital pharmacy in St. Louis. My grandfather worked there and when they started remodeling, he brought it home.

My mother had it for years and when they moved to Florida, it wouldn’t fit in their home, so it came to me when I lived in Georgia. This cabinet has moved from St. Louis to Florida and has held up so well. They certainly made furniture much better back in the day.

This cabinet also holds a lot of memories and tons of vintage items. You can see my son’s first lunch box he used in kindergarten. I’m also thinking about painting the back wall white to show off the items displayed better.

Woods and whites are defiantly my jam.

I also have my mom’s old cedar chest she received as a wedding present. She gave it to me when they moved to Florida. It had faded to a really bad shade of yellow, so Mr. G stripped and painted it. It proudly sits at the end of my bed and holds many linens and other items from the past. Even after over 60 years, the cedar is still strong in that chest.

Mr. G and I have restored many pieces over the years like his grandparent’s radio/record player and my great-grandmother’s mahogany leather table.

Above is an example of how I mix new with old. The pitcher is a Goodwill find, the cast iron bunny, milk glass bunny, and grater are vintage finds. I mixed in some other little bunnies I found at Target. The faux tulips are so real looking and could be used in so many places. The woven tray came from Walmart some time ago, but you can see how old and new really work well together.

If you enjoy vintage as much as we do, find something small and go from there. Preserving history is part of us to enjoy in the future.

Old looking new vintage finds:

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