Decorate in style and for less with vintage

One of my favourite looks for the home is a mix of vintage and new. It can also be a very affordable way to decorate.

My love affair with this look goes back to the time I spent living in France and when I’d scour the flea markets. The French have a real knack for turning what some people might call junk, into a cool feature in the home that is completely unique. The trick is, to use it as a feature and offset it with something contemporary, so that it doesn’t look too distressed.

While there are a lot of stores in Australia selling vintage items for exorbitant prices, there are still some bargains to be found. Ebay.com.au, gumtree.com.au, garage sales, second-hand building supply stores and local markets are great places to start, and always keep your eyes peeled to the street, especially around council pick up.

Here are some ideas to get you started

My husband and I found this old meat chest on the streets of Surry Hills years ago. It was in a few pieces with a drawer missing. My husband put it back together as best he could and the top of the cabinet is a bit rustic with three pieces of wood. I think all of this, along with the original green worn paint adds to the charm and it’s one of my preferred pieces in my home today. It wouldn’t look nearly as good, and wouldn’t get as many compliments if old or antique objects were stacked on the top. The modern lamp sets it off and makes it current.

Another favourite piece of vintage furniture that we own are these old file drawers. We bought them for a steal at a second-hand building supply store, and while they’re not the most practical way to store things, it’s a great decorative feature and table to place a vase or object on.

Upcycling

The beauty of vintage items is that quite often we upcycle them and they are rarely used as what they were originally intended, which sparks a bit of creativity in the home. We originally used the meat safe as a TV stand, which was perfect to house the DVD’s, the player, and set-top boxes. Since then it has been a dressing table, an extra bench space in the kitchen and now it’s our side table.

If you don’t like the colour of what you find, or the wood is too dark then get adventurous with some paint! Furniture that is painted looks fantastic and brings variety to a home so that it’s not all a uniform colour scheme. Chalk paints look particularly good. Before you get the paintbrush out, be sure to check your vintage item isn’t, in fact, a real antique.

Words, styling and photography by Mel Chesneau of Styled Canvas

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