Vintage Interior Design

Vintage interior design can often be misinterpreted as “rustic”. The Cambridge dictionary describes vintage as “the time that something of quality was produced”. Therefore vintage design does not speak of a specific period in time but rather of elements from history that have a defining characteristic. The beauty about such a style is that every interior is completely unique and denotes a celebration of highest quality and meticulous craftsmanship. This interior design style is best suited to the sentimental thinker, historian and traveller as it looks to the past for inspiration. Below we will look into each of the three defining characteristics of vintage interior design being material, colour and furniture combination.

First and foremost material choice plays a huge role in achieving a vintage interior. Material needs to be carefully selected and used in a minimal way for maximum effect. The materials are often raw and honest including wood, leather and corroded steel. In themselves they speak of history and of a journey once travelled. These material should be incorporated into your all furniture and décor choices, from freestanding and fixed, to your flooring and wall finishes. Large leather sofas, solid timber top dining room tables on heavy steel bases and a feature wall accentuated with wall paper. Wall paper is seeing a big comeback within our interior spaces, which is a great way to create a striking appearance to any room.

Photograph Credit: Frank Bohm Studio

This brings me onto colour which is both strong and bold. The materials mentioned above help us to clearly define the colour palate that is so prominent of the style. It includes an intricate array of ochres, blues and punches of green and yellow. It is very important to consider the colour combination as a whole before making any decisions so when they are combined they create a sense of worldly sophistication and continuity.

The combination of colour, material and select furniture items is the most important element of all as you do not want to go overboard on any single element but also do not want to minimise the overall effect by too much. You don’t want your interior to end up looking like the local charity store. By mixing a well-balanced combination of new with old may help you to refrain from cluttering. Introduce a statement piece that is iconic to a period such as the Eames Lounger and Ottoman. If you can’t afford an original there are many renditions of such celebrated iconic furniture items on the market. For a more luxurious feel add heavy draping to your windows, you will feel like a queen in your castle (or king on his thrown). The key is to keep the combination of elements simply highlighted with strong statement pieces.

Photograph Credit: Frank Bohm Studio

We can therefore conclude that it is not about combining as many old and run down pieces of furniture into one space as possible but rather to source a select few to create a well thought through composition of new and old. A true celebration of history that is defined by quality, detail and iconic design. Something that is suitably vintage.