Decorating With Antiques in Your Mountain Retreat
Embrace treasures of yore and add value (both in style and $$$) to your decor with antiques that completely complement rustic design.
Display Your Delights
You don't have to narrow your antique love to one item. Exhibit all your treasures in one wow-worthy scene. The key to making an eclectic mix of accessories look cohesive is all in the color palette and shape. Stick to a similar color scheme, like the soft tans and deep browns of these artifacts, and make sure to have a few repeating shapes, such as the spheres and globes, throughout your vignette. A small antique globe will run approximately $400 to add to your collection.
Reflecting Luxury
An array of antique mirrors makes a golden-gallery statement above the distressed sideboard. Gilded mirrors come in a vast range of prices depending on what style you're looking for — simple vintage mirrors can start around $500, while ornate Queen Anne or Chippendale ones are thousands of dollars.
The One and Only
The best thing about decorating with antiques is the one-of-a-kind style you get to enjoy. Plus, they'll impress guests and are great conversation starters. A wooden cash register is an intriguing accessory with vintage ones running about $1,000 or more. Framed antique sepia photographs are mounted so that the edges of the paper and every watermark is visible, adding to the vintage feel of the pictures.
Curated Style
Liven up your mantel with a pair of antique jugs highlighted by flowering branches. Etched business labels add a meaningful touch, especially if you find a company from your city or state. Glass containers really range in price, but you can turn up options on Etsy or eBay for under $100.
Show Off Your Ancestry
Many antiques find uses beyond their original intent. This curvy headboard gets new life as a stylish sculptural element atop a chest of drawers. A twin iron headboard, which you can run across for about $200 on eBay or a salvage yard, also makes for a clever way to feature heritage accessories, such as black-and-white photographs and vintage jewelry. Layering mirrors and other items add depth to the vignette.
Right at Home
Incorporate antiques into all rooms of your home to give them a lived-in, casual vibe. Open shelves in the kitchen are the ideal spot to show off old-fashioned kitchenware, like little pieces of pottery and glassware or a vintage kitchen scale, which you can find for around $50.
Give It Some Light
Always the quintessential final touch to a coffee table or mantel, candlesticks not only add soft ambient lighting, they also bring visual and tactile appeal. A set of antique candle holders are usually hefty in actual weight, since they're made out of solid wood or metal, and in price with particularly ornately carved ones averaging around $1,000.
The Bibliophile Life
Embrace your inner librarian and use stacks of vintage books as decoration. You can easily pick up a set of the Book of Knowledge encyclopedias for under $100 to make a striking Old-World presentation on your mantel or bookshelves.
Reclaimed Design
Trendy yet classic, old windows and doors are popular wall hangings since they bring a sense of history to your home. Visit your local salvage yard to pick up vintage frames or maybe even a stained-glass window for a couple hundred dollars.
Furniture as Art
Think outside the box and uncover a new purpose for old furnishings. Small wooden antique chairs are hung above the two-toned dresser as sculptural artwork. The pair, which costs around $500, adds a primitive style element to this charming mountain bedroom in Ennis. Mont.
A Stitch in Time
Include elements in a room that cause people to take a second look, bringing instant interest to any space. A vintage sewing machine (which you can buy for around $250) adds a glance-worthy note to this exposed brick bedroom.
In the Architectural Details
Add character inside or out with antique corbels. The rich patina and intricate details bring a note of historic homes into even the newest build. High-end antique sites will have authentic European corbels for thousands, but a more budget-friendly option is scavenging through a local salvage yard.
Timeless Porcelain
Hang an assortment of china plates for an interesting display. Entire antique sets can cost thousands of dollars, but if you're looking for a collected-over-time look, pick up one-offs at estate sales and flea markets for as little as $20 a piece. Or even better, scour through your family's china cabinets for pieces you can "inherit."
For the Collector
For those with an avid love of a particular collectable, gather them all together in one group for an eye-catching arrangement. In this classic kitchen, antique tools are hung on the wall so the homeowner and his guests can actually enjoy them. Vintage tools range from $25 for smaller gadgets to $200 for larger pieces.
