Sam Adams
Instead, the approach I like to take to stay on budget is to balance my more expensive purchases with less costly reproductions. But even if you just punctuate a DIY painted table with an antique silver bowl, you will have added a sense of pedigree to your decor. In fact, I’ve broken it into 10 categories where I’ll show you how I use both options in my home.
The dining room is an important space where most of my pieces were on the newer side, so I felt this was a good place to spring for vintage.
This is one of the easiest areas to save money by buying reproduction pieces. They’re all new, but if you choose to do the same with vintage chairs, mixed but similar styles is a great way to go.
A wonderful way to bring the flavor of French decor into your house is with gilded clocks. You have to be careful here, when using reproductions, to find items that don’t look cheap and cheesy. The clock on my mantel is a new piece, but the gold is subtle enough to avoid that mass produced look. I actually painted it a bit with a dry brush technique, to bring out the highs and lows and give it a more antiqued look.
This one is a true French antique, but I was lucky enough to find one that actually works. This one doesn’t work, so it wasn’t very expensive, but I just love the lines and what it lends to the space.
It’s just a tiny grace note that adds a touch of old world style to a guest room that doesn’t have very many vintage pieces in it. This wonderful chippy cherub was found in a garden center that carries vintage items as well as new. Cherubs and angels read French Country to me, but vintage garden pieces are hard to find. By contrast, the sconces in my entryway below, were brought back from Sorrento, which is my favorite way to find antique pieces (although hubby was not so thrilled to be carrying them all throughout Italy!) These 5 categories I’ve highlighted offer some of the best options for adding French style, through antiques, to your home. But as you can see, each of these categories also offers wonderful new options to mix in with your older pieces.
Click HERE to see Part 2 of this post, including 5 more decor categories that work well in both vintage and new. Resource Guide To get the look, click on the items below for direct links to the products.
