Four years ago I moved into my new apartment in Milan. When I found it, it was nearly love at first sight!
I liked everything about it: position, view, decoration, lighting, everything! But when you live in a rented apartment, it is quite complicated to get exactly what you want because most rented spaces come fully furnished. Furthermore, you’re typically unable to make any changes that suit your personal aesthetic taste because of constraints within the contract concerning the apartment’s layout.
So to overcome this issue, I decided to add some vintage touch to my apartment while leaving it clean and modern as I like it! I am a vintage fan, this can make you think that I’d go for antique furniture and décor, but the truth is that when it comes to furniture I am more an “all-white” “all-simple” kind of girl! Even if I love antiques, I think that a couple of antique pieces in an apartment may be enough! Too many antique pieces just may cause your apartment to lose its natural light and darken the whole space. Also, I feel that too many antique pieces grouped in the same space can make it look too old and in some way destroy the stylish simplicity of modern furniture.
Below is my personal choice of five vintage-antique pieces in my house that should be in every vintage fan house!
1.First of all, a real vintage piece from your family heritage: I have a lovely Sicilian piece coming from my grandma’s house that I decided to bring with me because it is absolutely stunning! It is a vanity table from the beginning of the XIX century that I really adore. I left the old mirror and it gives a “boudoir” touch to my bedroom.
2.A vintage piece coming from a travel: I love buying vintage when I’m abroad and sometimes I get things that it is hard to bring back home but if you find the piece of your life don’t think twice and just get it! It will be always there to give you good memories of your time abroad. Mine is vintage piece coming from my grandma’s trip to Morocco many years ago. It is an original Moroccan pouf made of black and red embroidered leather. Granny picked it up on a trip to Morocco. It reminds me of my childhood days when my cousin and I use to spend a lot of time playing Corsairs around it.
3.A vintage hatbox for your hats and a vintage suitcase to contain books, plants and other accessories. Being a hat lover and having quite a small wardrobe to keep them all, I purchased two amazing hatboxes to have my hats decoratively hidden. I purchased a leather one at the big Antiques’ Market along the Navigli in Milan, which takes place on the last Sunday of each month. It seems to be French from the ’60s. The other one is an Ebay find, a Dior paper hatbox with amazing prints probably from the same era. I also picked a vintage paper suitcase from my grandma’s house to put some books and plants in it and I absolutely loved the shabby chic touch
4.A vintage ad on the wall. You cannot overcome this: original vintage prints are adorable and one is enough to give a retro touch to your white walls! I went for an print of the Italian version of the ’70s movie, “Lady sings the Blues” with Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams. I found it in Milan at the International Saloon of Used Books and it was a long negotiation before it came home to my apartment!
5.Vintage memorabilia: you can add little vintage touches here and there like small vintage boxes, ashtrays, vinyl, books and knick-knacks scattered everywhere in the house. I have a collection of vintage pieces everywhere in the house: tea boxes and old bottles of Coke, Don Abbondio pinup collection, snow globes and different souvenirs from the places that I’ve visited in the world. I also started a small collection of vintage books and comics that I’ve picked up during my travels and a collection of Prince vinyl from the ’80s that I started during my last trip to New York!
See you next month with a new story of The Vintage Series!
Vintage Love,
TLC
If you want to know more about me or contact me you can visit my blog www.theladybugchronicles.com, like me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/vintagetlc), follow me on Twitter (www.twitter.com/TheLadybugC ) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/theladybugchronicles)
