Created by: Federica Chacon
Date: Jan/23/2024
Source: www.decorilla.com/online-decorating/mid-century-interior-design-tips
We are all familiar with the new rise of the mid-century modern home decor trend among a younger generation of adults looking for the best home designs. This was a golden era for design and innovation in decorative items and furniture, which combined fashion and function in clever, astounding ways. These pieces add a unique sense of style to a home and a je ne sais quoi to a place without adding many things. In my perspective, it’s the home decor equivalent to umami. From Bauhaus to Frank Loyd Wright’s organic architecture, there are many styles and aesthetics to choose from, depending on your taste. These tend to bring tons of personality and style into a home, which is something that –as much as I appreciate it– Ikea could never achieve.
Trend forecasters predict that vintage pieces will be a huge sensation this year and stay for a while moving forward. These decorative items can help strengthen your home's storytelling experience, adding warmth and sentimentality. In a way, you could tell a story with your home's decoration style or that there is a story behind every piece, a special place where you found them, or a person they remind you of. Typically, these pieces are unique, so it ensures that your home's decoration is unlike any other and clearly expresses your personality and the things you're interested in.
"Whenever I can use vintage, I will. From a design standpoint, vintage is the protagonist of every room," celebrated interior design expert Athena Calderone said to Vogue. But aside from their decorative propensity, these rare antiquities are stylishly sustainable," she continues. As Calderone says, there is also sustainability to shopping vintage. Giving second opportunities to decor items is a greener way to shop, rather than going for knock-off alternatives and cheap versions of pieces that last a little and contaminate a lot.
Additionally, Calderone references the uniqueness of vintage items, stating that while these items might originally belong to a different era, they can definitely be part of the long-term decoration of your beautiful home. Not only that, but their rareness will instantly make them the main character of any room.
Source: www.decorilla.com/online-decorating/mid-century-interior-design-tips
This is where a "trend" might meet "style." You initially want to follow a trend and simply add a piece of trendy furniture to your home. However, the chosen piece's uniqueness might nurture and build your own version of the style... This is timeless! This process will result in a massive upside to the vintage style since you might have intended to follow a trend purely. However, the nature of the process leads you to a unique-looking home that resembles your personality.
Another asset of choosing vintage over other decorative pieces from more mainstream stores is that the quality of the items and the materials they’re made with are usually superior. Part of the charm is that they’ll look a little worn, of course, but the fact that some of these pieces still stand with their original beauty tests their quality. Also, there is always the option of restoring a few details, which depending on the upgrade it needs, could still get you a good bang for your buck.
On the subject of color, Michelle Smith, an interior home designer, recommends going for colorful items rather than neutral-colored ones. This is especially true because neutral colors show their wear more quickly. "Vases and candlesticks—those are no-brainers—look great lined up on an open shelf," she tells Goop. When talking about vintage art, frames are usually the most significant wins (and steals) you can find. "For small-scale art, especially art you want to hang in groupings, the frame sometimes is the art." Indeed, while frames can cost hundreds of dollars, a beautiful vintage frame adds the same amount of character for at least half the price. She also suggests finding particular places to hang them, such as the kitchen, close to a sofa side table, over a doorway, etc. This adds color, personality, and a little quirkiness to your space. If you ask me, I am also a fan of placing frames in the guest bathroom. It is always an entertaining exercise to think about what to put inside that is both appropriate and fun.
All in all, the vintage decor is something you should play around with until you find those pieces that suit your style and your project best. They are easy to find, in all sorts of places, from some random site on a trip to a flea market to a seller on Etsy. The most important part of the process is to have fun and find things that speak to you. From my experience, the more you understand how it talks to you, the easier it is to tune in and talk the language and find your groove.