Category Archives: vintage style

Imagine you’ve finally bought the bourgeois home of your dreams, but after moving in you realise that there’s no money left to renovate. The walls are worn, the furniture is faded and the whole place feels a bit like it’s stuck in the last century. What if I told you that this wasn’t necessarily a problem, but an opportunity?

There’s no need to hide that old, shabby chic feel – in fact, with a little creativity and a few well-chosen accessories, you can turn it into a stylish, chic home. It’s a style called Shabby Chic, which brings you the charm of shabby chic and helps you temporarily build up enough cash to finance a major renovation when you’re ready for a change of style. If you’re wondering how to get the most out of your old home without digging deep into your pockets, join us and explore the world of Shabby Chic!

Continue reading Have you bought a civilian home but no money to renovate it? – Shabby Chic is the elegant solution →

Dreaming of a home that’s romantic, nostalgic yet modern? Imagine an old, worn-out wardrobe coming to life and becoming the centrepiece of an elegant interior. Shabby Chic style brings you exactly that magic! This article reveals the secrets of how to transform your home into a timeless, charming oasis where past and present embrace in perfect harmony. Ready to discover the art of shabby chic?

Tired of sterile, impersonal interior design trends? Discover the magic of Shabby Chic, where past and present embrace! This style will not only freshen up your home, it's also easy on your wallet. Find out how to transform your old, worn-out objects into stylish, unique pieces and create a nostalgic yet modern atmosphere in your home!

Continue reading The art of shabby chic – with these in mind, conjure up a -special vintage- vibe in your home! →

There is a style that has both the patina of time and all the advantages of modern comfort. The Shabby Chic style is the perfect solution! Find out how to transform your worn-out old furniture into unique and stylish pieces, while creating a sustainable and cost-effective way to transform the atmosphere of your home.

Are you ready to discover the secrets of the Shabby Chic world and create an authentic eclectic space with a vintage feel all your own? Read on for a peek into the art of reviving furniture!

Continue reading Shabby Chic magic: Reviving and maintaining old furniture in your home →

The vintage style is an interior design trend that refers to older periods and exudes a nostalgic atmosphere, often incorporating elements of antique, retro, and other old styles. Below is a summary of the characteristics of vintage style:

Within vintage style – classic modernist, mid-century Scandinavian modernist, and the most beloved vintage, the rustic white vintage interior – picture mix

• Color Scheme: The color palette of vintage style is rather charming, cheerful, fresh, but not gaudy. Typical colors include pastel shades such as powder pink, light blue, mint green, and yellow. Additionally, earth tones like beige, brown, and gray are often used, especially when referring to the first half of the 20th century in the interior. Matured or worn-out colors are also characteristic.
• Form Design: In vintage style, shapes and details are important. For larger furniture pieces, simpler designs with characteristic lines take precedence, while smaller pieces tend to have more intricate details and playfulness. Thus, smaller furniture and decorations can have more rounded lines and finer carvings or decorations.
• Use of Patterns: Vintage style often includes patterns such as flowers, stripes, or geometric shapes. Vibrant patterns and various textures contribute to a warm and friendly atmosphere.
• Textiles: Natural materials like cotton, linen, and silk are often used in vintage-style interior design. Delicate floral patterns are quite common. However, these are avoided if opting for a classic modernist furniture approach within the vintage framework. Smaller decorative items often feature lace and other embellished textiles to evoke a timeless atmosphere.
• Material Properties: Various materials can be used in vintage style, but they should be high-quality and durable. Wood, leather, canvas, silk, and porcelain are frequently found.
• Furniture Characteristics: Vintage style includes old, restored, and refurbished furniture, which can be made of wood, wood-metal-leather combinations, industrially processed wood (veneer, plywood), or turned wood (chair, table, cabinet legs). The forms of furniture are generally simple and can be either angular or curved, with elegance derived from the lines rather than ornamentation (which is usually avoided). They are airy, almost always standing on visible, thin legs to enhance the airy effect – almost as if floating. A true vintage piece is original, typically 40-100 years old. However, when creating a vintage-style room, it is completely secondary whether the furniture is 50 years old or manufactured last month. The main point is that it harmonizes with the room’s style and other furnishings to achieve the intended overall look. An eclectic effect with a mix of antique or retro furniture is also accepted in vintage style. Therefore, one might encounter richly carved wooden furniture as well as lighter, simpler forms typical of retro style, sometimes even in bright colors.
• Vintage interior design often uses home accessories that are older (or appear older – antique). These can include old pictures, mirror frames, crystal chandeliers, porcelain items (knick-knacks), or old books. Silver or bronze decorations, such as vases, candle holders, and clocks, can also be beautiful accessories.

The emergence of vintage style dates back to the mid-20th century when people began to take an interest in the past, and the fascination with antique furniture and items grew. In the 1970s, with the rise in popularity of retro style, vintage style also gained new momentum. In recent years, vintage style has come back into fashion, allowing for the creation of unique, personal interior design by combining old and new elements.

Continue reading Vintage style – interior design styles 21. →

The vintage style, like retro or antique styles, is not a single style, but perhaps an experience of an era.

2×2 selected examples. All are vintage. But while the ones on the left are mid-century Scandinavian-influenced modernist with a feminine touch, the ones on the right use early-century classic tubular modernist masculine style elements.

Some argue that retro is what has gone out of fashion in the last 20 years. What is older than that but not older than 100 years, or at least newer than 1900, is vintage, and what is even older is antique. According to these definitions, the content of these categories should constantly change over time. That is, what is now retro includes our items from after the year 2000. And then vintage is what came before that. So, as time passes, retro eventually becomes vintage, and if we forget to update our vintage interior, will it become antique? If I created a retro interior design in 2005 inspired by the 1980s, is my style definition wrong because it’s now considered vintage? – No way! I refuse to accept that – for me, it will always remain retro.

Another perspective is that only original items that are at least 20 years old can be called vintage. They say that retro is a modern thing, copying a bygone fashion, and you don’t buy the original now but a reproduction that just looks like the older one. In contrast, vintage can only be something original from that time, meaning it’s also structurally original. However, some narrow down the period and say vintage can be from 1920 to 1980. So, if you have a 1960s-looking radio that is original and uses radio tubes, it’s vintage. But if it just looks like that and is a modern manufacture with a hidden CD tray or USB port, it’s only retro-looking. Similarly, we can buy retro-looking stoves or refrigerators, and even if their design is from the 1950s or 1960s, we can’t call them vintage because they hide modern technology inside.

This is a more understandable approach for me, but the vintage umbrella term still bothers me.

Continue reading How would you describe the vintage interior design style? – or is vintage not even a single style? →

Just as various interior design styles draw inspiration from the trends of bygone eras, so too does the nostalgia for older lighting forms emerge. With pendant lights, chandeliers, and other traditional-looking lamps, the variations seem endless. However, the question arises: what light sources should we use to ensure these lights appear authentic while also being energy-efficient? The so-called Edison bulbs from around the 1920s evoke the most emotion among those interested in older styles. These bulbs had relatively weak light, glowing dimly with a nearly golden hue. The plentifully used filaments, arranged in various winding methods, created uniquely beautiful shapes. Because they didn’t glow too brightly, we could admire the play of the filaments. The glass bulbs protecting the filaments also came in much more varied shapes compared to today’s mass-produced world.

Note: While we mention vintage style in the title, the fixtures in the images are not. Focus on the light sources, not the chandelier!

This is why the old bulbs had a strongly yellowish light; we could look into them because energy efficiency was not a concern – longevity was more important. Energy efficiency? They were happy to have electric lighting at all. They glowed weakly, with a color temperature between 1800-2600 Kelvin. For the sake of authenticity, similar bulbs are still made today with similarly energy-wasting consumption. If someone chooses these light sources for their entire home and relies on them to meet modern lighting needs, they might be surprised by the significant increase in their electricity bill.

Continue reading Vintage style enthusiasts don’t have to give up energy-efficient lighting →

Let’s face it, this question is important for interiors decorated in Mediterranean, rustic, or retro styles as well. The further back in time we go, the more attention we need to pay to choosing the right LED light source.

How vintage should a LED light source be?

We can agree that only those LED types that imitate filaments are worth considering. If not, then it should be something that mimics a glowing surface, such as a flame dancing behind an opal surface, which can also be classified as vintage style.

Vintage-style light sources match vintage-style interiors.
Continue reading What kind of LED light source should we choose for our vintage-style home? →

Background:

COG LEDs (Chip On Glass), which are LEDs built on glass or sapphire strips, have been known for years and are increasingly efficient. Their advantage is that achieving circular illumination is much easier with them than with SMD packaged LEDs, which often rely on opal covers to enhance light distribution with varying degrees of success. However, COG LEDs have the disadvantage that less light reaches the direction of the filaments. To solve this problem, Filament LEDs are placed in multiple positions under the cover, or we must choose an appropriate light source with the knowledge that less light reaches the filament direction.

This problem of “less light in the filament direction” could be solved if the LED filament were flexible, thus allowing shadowed areas to be eliminated by appropriate bending.

…and yes, there is a flexible filament LED.

Continue reading Flexible filament LED – for a complete vintage atmosphere →