Affordable antiques for unusual decor

I firmly believe walking into your home should feel like a calming exhale and lets face it, that's really hard if you live with other humans, have a job or earn a regular amount. One of the ways I create that feeling in my home for myself is by ensuring I buy pieces that all serve a purpose to avoid overwhelme (sometimes that purpose is just to look nice on a shelf but I try not to just buy "stuff". So, I select vintage pieces bought as bargain investments that stand the test of time and changing fads. One "trick", on holidays or weekends away, I avoid buying things with "Spain" written on them. Instead I'll go to an antiques street market or a charity shop (Thrift shop) and I'll buy something vintage and made in Spain that ties in with my desired ascetic.

Below I've put some of the types of things I like!

1. Antique ladles, scoops and water catchers:

Hand beaten copper or brass with wooden or metal handle. These often go disregarded BUT they make the best small wall planters! You can find them more often than you’d think, they're all beautiful, unique, full of history and each piece has already lived so many lives. I have one from an Estonian street market, one from a vintage French market in the North of France, and one tiny fountain water catcher from a market in the North of France.

2. Vintage Victorian bottles and jars:

All stunning, unique (as they’re all hand made) and some of the writing on them is brilliant. I have bottles reading blood potion, lightning cough cure, poisonous not to be taken, HP sauce, and much, much more. “Load of people buy these bottles, they’re just display items”… Not true. The key is in how you use them.

Fill one with hand soap or as make up brush holders or my preferred use, to propagate plants, or use them for fresh herbs and flowers to scent my rooms without having to use a artificial scent.

3. Copper and brass containers:

I find these all over the place and pick them up whenever I see them. They’re stunning planters and cost me less than a piece of plastic and last infinitely longer. The one pictured has some stunning little lion heads on either side with little handles.

4. Vintage serving ware:

If you’ve got open shelves which had been a trend for a few years you’ll be well aware that if you don’t keep it tidy you’re essentially displaying your mess and the mess becomes a focal point in the room. So, along with some nice matching modern sets (which we all have, I mean, if you have a family, it’s important to buy things you can replace without heart break) but try adding in some classic pieces you can integrate to deflect away from the less you interesting bits…

For example I like to put some key interesting usable items on open shelves to pull attention like: some gorgeous vintage Italian Kilner style bottles I found in a

frippery in France, I mix vintage enamel bowls and dishes with modern enamel pieces from Asda (Walmart) .

How do you select your functional decor? Do you feel overwhelmed and confused? If you want advice, drop us an email for free or book a little session for practical advice at a low cost. Your space isn't just a home, it has a huge impact on your mental health and we want to help people feel a little lighter, a little brighter, breathe a little better and remember, it doesn't have to be perfect to be perfect for you. x