5 Steps to Creating a Beautiful Vintage-Styled Home
Today, I’m sharing 5 simple steps to creating a beautiful vintage-styled home.
No matter where you’re at in styling your home, I hope these steps are helpful to you.
The statement, “Home is where the heart is” is so true.
It’s a place of refuge for every stage of our life.
Creating an oasis for moments of rest from our chaotic world is essential.
And one way is to be surrounded by old antiques, chippy white-painted furniture, rustic wood, and ornate Victorian pieces.
They are tools we can use to transform our home into a cozy retreat.
Having in possession pieces from bygone days is therapeutic.
It’s a reminder of simpler times.
Especially with the times we currently live in when things are uncertain.
Owning a nostalgic piece of history for me has been something that grounds me.
It’s tangible and something I can hold.
Plus, the quality of old antiques is unrivaled.
After a hundred years, some pieces are still in mint condition.
But as someone who loves old patinas in antique wood and worn-out vintage pieces, I even see the knicks and scratches as part of its beauty.
We may not be able to change what’s happening in our world, but we can change our little world within our home.
Collecting vintage decor, old antiques, and vintage finds over time is doable, and I want to share the 5 steps to get you to your goal to creating a beautiful vintage-styled home.
Step One: Know Your Vintage Style.
The foundation of home decor is to know your vintage style.
This will help you accomplish the goal of getting your home where you desire it to be.
There are two ways of thinking when it comes to creating a beautiful vintage-styled home.
There’s the eclectic style.
It’s the love of all antiques, whether it’s French, Shabby Chic, Cottage, Victorian, Country, or Farmhouse.
They’re all beautiful to you.
The eclectic style is easy because you can fill your home with anything that makes your heart happy.
The other way is to have a specific style, like French Country or Cottage Core.
Knowing your style is crucial when starting out this journey of turning your home into a well-thought-out space.
It’s possible to have a magazine-ready home when you have a specific vision of how you want your home to look.
It will help you:
- save money in the long run
- keep you focused on choosing the right vintage decor
- save you time from returning things
- deeply love your home.
One of the worst things when starting out is to not have a vision.
I can say this with certainty because I have wasted time and money buying the wrong decor.
Thank goodness for returns, but boy, it is a hassle.
I’m sure you can relate.
What’s empowering is to be able to go into Goodwill, for example, and bypass junk and notice the treasures instantly.
Getting to that point of being confident when finding the right vintage decor pieces leads to step two in creating a beautiful vintage-styled home.
Step Two: Research
Before you step into a store, do your research.
This is where you will get a vision for your space.
One of the ways to get a ton of inspiration is from Pinterest.
My decor style is Victorian Farmhouse, for example.
I love the chippy rustic look and the refined ornate dark mahogany of the Victorian era.
It took a lot of research as I looked through photos (on Pinterest), magazines, and library books over the years to figure out what makes my heart race.
Once I decided on the Victorian Farmhouse style, it fit me to a T.
My personal wardrobe is similar.
I love the feminine white lace tops but am happy to wear a black leather moto jacket and rustic brown boots.
After extensive research, I can spot vintage pieces that are either Farmhouse or Victorian style when shopping.
It helps when looking for furniture on Craiglist or Facebook Marketplace, too.
One of my most memorable finds was a Victorian sofa for our living room.
Of all the places to get inspired, it was after watching an episode of Downton Abbey.
I spotted a Victorian sofa on the movie set that caught my eye.
It gave me the inspiration to look for a similar sofa.
I caught the vision.
I opened the FB Marketplace app and found the sofa I envisioned the same day.
It was green, which is my favorite color.
It had dark mahogany wood arms and legs.
The beautiful floral carving of the wood in the back was stunning!
And the story behind this sofa was intriguing.
It was used in a studio to take photos, which meant it was lightly used.
I’m stunned when I find a treasure like this.
It’s unexpected and thrilling at the same time.
All my life, I have considered home decorating expensive and hard to achieve.
But when I discovered how to make my dreams come true by buying used, it changed my life to be able to get expensive-looking things for cheap.
And this sofa was one of those moments where I pinch myself that I own something so beautiful.
Plus, I get to enjoy it every day.
How amazing is that?
Step Three: Don’t Settle
This is important when building your vintage-styled home.
It’s easy to find something similar to what you’re really wanting.
Especially when you’re working on making over a room.
Having an empty spot as you wait for the right piece of furniture can be annoying.
The room feels undone.
So, it’s tempting to buy whatever is available.
I’ve done this.
And I can tell you that when I settled, I had instant regret.
I got it home, and it wasn’t what I had envisioned.
I’ve resold things I’ve settled on and put them on Craiglist, where I was able to recoup the money and buy what I really wanted.
After a few times of doing this, it cemented in my heart to not settle.
This includes what to look for when picking up something that interests you on Craigslist and FB Marketplace.
The best experience was the green Victorian sofa I mentioned above.
When I picked up the sofa, it had all the right criteria.
It had:
- Pristine fabric (no holes or cat scratches.)
- Stable wood legs
- Right size
There was no settling.
And the best part was sitting on it for the first time to find out it was the most comfy sofa for watching movies.
This sofa hit all the right boxes and is exactly what I envisioned.
It fits perfectly as I’m creating a beautiful vintage-styled home.
The opposite happened recently.
I’ve been on a search for over six months looking for a Farmhouse-styled hutch like the one in the screenshot photo above.
I went to antique stores, searched online, and even drove three hours to look at a hutch.
Once I arrived to look at the hutch in the photo below, I knew instantly it wasn’t the one.
It had the look.
But in real life, it reminded me of a child’s hutch.
The hardest part was saying no and walking away.
But it was so worth it.
Having that dream hutch photo (above) in front of me to keep my vision clear helped me avoid settling for what I didn’t want.
Saying no and walking away is okay.
If it’s not what you’re wanting, don’t get it.
It is hard to disappoint the seller, but it’s worse to disappoint yourself.
I explained it wasn’t what I was looking for.
They understood, and I left empty-handed.
Two weeks later, I came across this hutch on OfferUp.
The moment I saw it in real life, it had all the qualities on my list.
I brought it home and painted it with chalk paint.
The inspirational photo kept me on track to stick with what I really wanted.
This hutch is smaller than the one in my inspirational photo.
But it fits perfectly against the wall in my dining room.
This is an example of getting a vision to keep you on track and not settle for what you don’t want.
Now, you have a vision of what your vintage style is.
You know what to do when searching for antiques and vintage-style decor.
- You research to find what you’re looking for.
- You don’t settle and stick to finding the right piece.
Now for step four to creating a beautiful vintage-styled home.
Step Four: Find USED treasures at Goodwill or antique stores.
While there are many places to find home decor.
Like Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, Home Goods, Pottery Barn, Walmart, and Target, for example.
Getting authentic old pieces that hold true to the bygone era is found at thrift and antique stores.
I shop at all the places mentioned above and get my seasonal decorations.
But when I want true old antiques, I look for used pieces at Goodwill or antique stores.
And if I find something that is on the expensive side, I will splurge sometimes if I can afford it.
Like this gorgeous white ironstone pitcher.
It sat amongst some very expensive ones that were over $100.
I held it in my hands and felt how heavy and solid it was.
It was the cheapest of the bunch at $75.
In some cases, it’s worth the splurge.
But most of the time, I find expensive treasures at Goodwill for cheap.
Sometimes, the waiting is the hardest part when shopping at thrift and antique stores.
It’s a hit-and-miss when going shopping on a regular basis.
Sometimes, I get lucky and find the most amazing things.
Like these vintage chairs that were sitting side by side.
My local Goodwill, 10 minutes from my home, has had the best treasures.
These chairs were sitting on the shelf at this Goodwill.
I brought them home and cleaned them up.
They fit into my Victorian Farmhouse style.
Video sharing these finds.
The point of sharing my findings with you is to encourage you that creating a vintage-styled home is not only aesthetically beautiful, but it can be affordable.
Step Five: Layer your vintage finds with what you already have.
I want to break this step into two.
- One is that it takes time to get all of the pieces gathered.
- Two is that it’s appealing to mix the old with the new.
I have seen homes with all antiques.
And I’ve seen homes with a mixture of new and old pieces.
While both styles are beautiful, keeping our newer furniture has served us well.
And I hope by sharing this, it encourages you that using what you have is ok.
We have two Ikea Ektorp loveseats in our fireside room that have white slipcovers.
They fit in with our vintage-styled home.
And I really like that they are comfortable and easy to care for with the washable slipcovers.
The other part of finding vintage decor is it takes time to find vintage-style pieces.
It’s been five years of searching and gathering to get our home to where it is today.
And I’m not done yet.
My husband wishes I was done.
It’s an ongoing process. My vision has helped direct me to where I want our home to be.
And you can, too, keep a vision of where you want your home to be.
And by following these simple steps to:
- Know your vintage style.
- Research.
- Don’t settle.
- Find USED treasures at Goodwill and antique stores.
- Layer your vintage finds with what you already have.
These steps will help you reach your final goal of having a magazine-worthy put-together home.
Keeping your vision before your eyes and keeping focused on how you want your home to look will help you get what you want.
And because a vintage-styled home uses old antiques, it makes this journey beautiful because they can be found for cheap.
It’s been a wonderful way to live.
I love my homey and cozy house that is smack in the middle of the city.
It’s our modern farmhouse that sits amongst modern homes.
But within its walls are old antiques and vintage finds that give it a vintage style.
And you, too, can live vintage no matter where you live.
I hope this post was encouraging to you.
If you were inspired, I would love to hear your thoughts below.
For more home decor inspirations, go here.
Thanks for coming by Victorian Lane Farms.
