Time Traveling In Home Decorating
It is not surprising to find home decors and decorating themes of the past making a comeback. Antiques have always been highly regarded, old furniture dressed in newer materials are perfectly acceptable, Victorian and Medieval themes are sophisticated, and ideas from past decades are still implemented in beautifying the home. Style is one indecisive lady – one day she’s gone, the next day she’s back. The good news is, the furniture of the past made available at present are way more affordable than when your parents purchased the same pieces back then. As to how long ago that was, let’s leave it to distant memory (unless your folks are willing to divulge the answer).
If you’re a fashionista at heart and wants be in with the current, which is in fact old-style decors, the answer is to go thrift shopping. Instead of your usual trip to the malls and department stores, visit flea markets, thrift stores, secondhand or recycled shops and resale outlets. You will find a multitude of retro furniture at half the price the poor original owners paid for. The no less than $500 piece can be bought for $200 max. You can be an expensive shopper you’ve only envisioned in your dreams.
If you are going to go retro there are some other things to think about. You will probably want to change the color of your room and possibly even the lighting. The more recent color tones tend to be muted compared to retro tones, almost as if the shade were a dim memory of the past. Go through your old picture book and find a picture of you in your favorite outfit from back then. Make sure this is the outfit that brings back memories of better days. You know the one: every time you see it in a picture you say, “I wish I could still wear that!” Now take the picture to a paint store and have the color matched. Most large paint stores or home improvement stores will do this for free. If the picture is too faded to match, pick the color that is the closest to what the color used to be.
To enhance the colors and furniture, choose not just good lighting but a stylish one as well. You can also add some lighting accents such as a candelabra, a prominent fixture during the earlier times. It will also look good with a retro lamp or a hanged mirror on the wall.
The final touches on a room are the most important part. I went retro in my family room, so I found old family photos, scanned them into my computer, retouched the color, and blew them up. After mounting these into frames I scattered them around the room. I also found some wonderful throw pillows. Different shapes are important when decorating retro style and both picture frames and pillows are an easy way to add both shape and color.
A carpeted floor was no stranger during the early times. Plantation mansions of the yesteryears were covered in wall-to-wall carpeting; hence, carpets are great floor coverings to go with the theme. However, carpets can cost quite a lot, especially if you are on a tight budget. An equally effective way is to use area rugs. Decorate with large, thick rugs for a semblance of real carpeting, minus the bigger size. If you have been buying used items for this decorating project, you can spare some of your extra cash from good deals to buy a brand new area rug. It may be just a floor covering you think, but area rugs are good investments. You can use them anytime, anywhere. They are easy to clean and maintain. They can be chameleons, changing a room’s look with a mere swap in their color or design. Area rugs are worth your expenses.
This should complete your retro room makeover. Take some time to enjoy your new space as you look through photo albums and compare your new style to the style of your mother’s rooms in years past. You might even get some creative ideas for accessories of other pieces to add to your room over time.
Keep up with current trends in rug decorating and enhance your home with oriental area rugs.