Curating Vintage and Antique Interiors: Where to Begin
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Fall 2023 sourcing haul.
Just a quick scroll through almost any page on the site, and you’ll find that Refuge Interiors by Casey strives to help you create thoughtfully curated and collected interiors.
Vintage and antique sourcing has been something I have enjoyed for over a decade, long before I started Refuge Interiors by Casey.
I believe that the best interiors are styled with pieces that have been thoughtfully selected, with intentionality and purpose driving decision making.
If you’re here, it’s likely that you already love vintage and antique sourcing as much as I do. But, if you’re new to the whole idea of curating vintage and antique objects for your home, it can be very overwhelming.
There is A LOT to see and sift through out there, and you might be wondering, where do I even start?
After over a decade of sourcing vintage and antique decor, I have narrowed down my 5 go-to vintage and antique pieces to source for my home, and my personal tips when sourcing these items to achieve what I consider to be a truly curated look.
Before we dive into the specifics, let’s reground on this whole idea of curating:
Curating is a term used a lot in decorating and design. But, I’d like to introduce another term: acquiring.
Curating vs. Acquiring:
Often when I am looking at a space for the first time, one of two words will instantly come to mind to sum up the pieces that fill that space: curated or acquired.
In the most basic sense of the word, to curate means to select and to acquire means to obtain.
When I think of curating, I imagine a process rooted in intentionality. Words like purposeful, thoughtful, and of course selective quickly come to mind.
Curating requires creativity, vision, discernment, and patience.
I think of it like this: really anyone can walk into a store and buy things to fill their shelves, and there may be a season in our lives where that just makes sense.
When I was just starting out in my first home, for example, my budget didn’t allow for my home to be filled with all the things I wanted, so I used what I had and did what I could. Even today, there are spaces in our home that are still a “work in progress,” because let’s be honest, life…right?
I’ll be the first to admit that I had a lot to learn myself about curating when I first started this journey - and I’m still learning now.
The simple truth is that there is a difference between a curated home, and a home filled with acquired things. In this post, my goal is to help you move a little closer to the goal of a thoughtfully curated interior.
Now… if you’re still here, then you’re probably like me and you see this difference too, and are maybe even a little more curious about the art of curating.
So…let’s get into the specifics!
Below are my 5 go-to vintage and antique pieces to source for my home, and my personal tips for thoughtfully sourcing each piece to achieve a well curated and collected interior:
Art. My husband and I both have a love of art. Antique and vintage art is truly unique. The life, movement, and depth that vintage and antique art brings to a space is something special. Prices for these pieces can be all over the board and so can the style. From Mid-Century Modern to French-provincial, you really can find just about anything out there to fit your style, and your price range.
Whatever art you choose to decorate your home with, remember that it should be selected with purpose.
Personal-tip: the best art pieces for you will evoke some kind of feeling within, and if it doesn’t, then move on - something better will come along, you just have to be patient. Life lessons to live by, right?
Additional tip: If you can’t find a piece of art you love or that fits your price range, look for vintage and antique frames instead. These one of a kind pieces are another great item to source for your home. You can find a piece of printable art on Etsy or Amazon, and when paired with a vintage frame… voila! You have a custom and elevated look, thoughtfully curated by you, at a fraction of the cost!
>>> Want to find out more about how to enhance your home, check out our 5 Ways to Elevate Your Space.
Items that reflect personal interests - Just a quick browse through the online shop and you’ll get a pretty good idea of some of my favorite interest pieces to source. Vintage and antique pieces are some of the most beautiful and interesting objects you will ever find, from statues and figurines, to more functional objects like magnifying glasses and ink wells, these pieces can be game changers for decorators.
>>>Variety in your decorative pieces is key to a well decorated home. Find out more here.
Personal-tip for a truly curated look: look for pieces that reflect who you are and what is important to you. You’ve probably heard it before, but a house becomes a home when it is filled with pieces that reflect those living there. Remember, we’re not in the business of just filling our shelves with things - acquiring isn’t curating, friends!
Personally, I have always had a love of animals, especially dogs and horses. When I am curating pieces for our home (and the shop), I am always hunting for objects that have dogs or horses.
When I’m working on spaces for others, I like to apply this same tip. My husband, for example, loves trains and tools, so when sourcing and curating pieces for his office space, I kept these interests in mind.
Books - Nothing surprising here, vintage books have always, and will always be a popular item to source second hand.
Personal tip: more than just collecting old books, search for books with topics that you are actually interested in or that fit a color pallet that you want/need in your space - and if they meet both criteria, even better!
When I’m browsing vintage and antique books for my own personal collection, I look for books on art, architecture, literature, travel and places (Italy, Rome, Ireland, etc.) interiors, dogs, horses, trains, or holidays (specifically Christmas). Why? Because these are things we genuinely love in our home.
Remember, for a truly curated look, the pieces in your home should be a reflection of the ones living there.
Small furniture pieces. Adding a good piece of antique furniture is one of my tips for elevating your space. Vintage and antique furniture bring character that we all can appreciate and the way that these pieces level-up a space is monumental in my opinion.
Personal-tip for ensuring that you are curating and not just acquiring: start small.
Antique furniture can be expensive, so start small by sourcing small tables or plant stands, stools, benches, or accent chairs. This will ensure that you don’t go too big too quickly.
The truth is, it takes time to refine and dial-in your style, and just about the time you do, it’s likely that your style will have evolved. So start small, do what you can do, learn what you love, and when you’re ready, you can invest in that statement piece.
>>> Curious about our very first large antique furniture purchase and how I styled it in our home? Check it out here.
Storage solutions. Last but not least, storage solutions. Vintage and antique storage pieces are great pieces to source for your home. From baskets, to trinket boxes to large trunks, vintage and antique pieces provide some of the best and most unique storage solutions.
Personal tip to level-up your curating game: get creative. Try to re-imagine pieces in a different way. See some examples below of past items from the shop and how they have been reimaged from their original intended purpose:
The small swan planter above is the perfect size to hold business cards. The vintage brass planter is staged here holding rolled washcloths (or this piece could be beautiful transformed into a one of a kind candle vessel). The vintage glass snack tray is a great catchall tray for jewelry and the small coal bucket is ideal for holding matches.
>>>Need some more ideas? Browse the vases + vessels or bowls + catchalls + trays in the online shop for more storage solutions.
Refuge Interiors by Casey is rooted in the belief that the best interiors are full of found objects that have been thoughtfully curated and collected. Vintage and antique pieces tell a story all their own, and the memories that come with finding and sourcing pieces for your own home just adds another layer to that story.
I hope you too see beauty in the found and with the guidance and tips above, you are ready to begin curating vintage and antique pieces for your own home.
>>>Looking for a little inspiration? See what’s new in our online shop:
BONUS curating tip: For my personal style, curating antique and vintage interiors is about finding balance - the right balance between old and new. In my own home, I have worked to create a balance between found pieces that I have collected over time, and newer pieces that I think keep the space looking fresh.
>>> For inspiration on how to mix old and new finds, check out our style + product guides where we show you how to mix found objects in the online shop with some Amazon essentials.
>>>Want to find out more about finding, curating, and styling vintage finds? Check out the vintage + antique sourcing section on the blog.
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