10 Ways To Add Vintage Style To Your Home
Story: Connie Jeske Crane
Gargantuan mahogany dining sets. Towering armoires. Royal Doulton figurines, anyone? If items like this aren’t your thing, you’re not alone. As The New York Times recently reported, thanks to today’s small homes and pared-down aesthetic, the market for traditional antiques has shifted sharply in the last two decades.
“As far as decorating, I think we’re contemporary,” confirms Marlene Cook, owner of the Sunday Antique Market in Toronto. So, why is thrifting all the rage? And why are markets like Marlene’s still mobbed on any given weekend? Marlene says that while her urban hipster shoppers give certain items a pass – yup, those dark old furniture suites – they love to snap up quirky vintage and antique pieces from savvy sellers.
Yet the mindset has really changed. “Some people are thinking about upcycling and recycling,” she says. “When you buy something from a market like mine or somewhere else, it doesn’t go to landfill.” Today’s buyers also want quality craftsmanship, and investment potential. Above all, says Marlene, rather than rooms stuffed with antiques, buyers want single pieces to inject interest into modern interiors. “It could be a really great piece someone has seen in a magazine. Here they can buy the original. It doesn’t have to be a reproduction.”
Beyond the actual goods, Marlene says the market experience itself – communal, hands-on, revelatory – is another huge draw today. “People get to talk to our vendors, they can get to shop and touch it and feel it, and see the vibrancy of the colours,” she explains. Vendors can also tell you about an object’s history, she says, meaning buyers are likely to take home a story along with their fab finds.
Ready to dive into the happy chaos of your local antique market and find some deco treasures of your own? Looking for inspiration, we asked a couple of pros what’s flying off the shelves these days.
Here’s our list of must-haves for 2019:
1. Botanical and Floral Prints
Bring the outdoors in with framed antique prints. Marlene says, “We had a book dealer with beautiful botanical prints and prints of birds from the mid-1800s and they just sold like hotcakes!”
2. Full-Colour Vintage Maps, Globes and Toys
Often featured in high-end design magazines, buyers love using these items to add interest to kids’ rooms.
3. Vintage Vinyl LPs
Whether for display or listening pleasure, at the St. Jacobs Antique Market, manager Patrick Gilkes says, “Records are still the number-one seller right now.”
4. Sterling Silver Cutlery
While you can buy electroplated pieces for a song, pricier sterling silver cutlery elevates any table and is in high demand.
5. Tea Cups & Dish Sets
Want to add superb quality and vintage wow-factor to your table? Patrick says, “Entire dish sets are constantly selling, especially around holidays and Thanksgiving.”
6. Display Pieces
From typewriters to vases and sculptures, people are buying vintage objects for display.
7. Mid-Century Anything
Vases, coffee tables, credenzas – sellers say the demand for well-designed mid-century pieces remains strong.
8. Glassware
Whether funky cocktail glasses, colourful goblets or delicate stemware, Marlene says glassware sets are hot. “That’s something anyone can buy for a party.”
9. Early Asian Pieces
Better-quality antiques, including pottery, are very popular.
10. Vintage Hardware
It’s a fantastic way to transform generic furniture, and dealers see many people hunting for hardware, particularly handles and drawer pulls. OH