Our team loves using vintage to add character, depth, and texture to a space, and we use vintage pieces in nearly every room because of it.

Like many processes in design, styling with vintage is very intuitive, and often it involves experimentation, adding and taking away, and stepping back to see the vignette as a whole. However, there are a few tips that help bring out the best in your character-filled piece.

Here’s a few of our favorite tricks for stying vintage:

Tip No. 1: Give your pieces room to breath

When it comes to vintage, we’re always trying to strike that balance between too much and too little. It can easily go from pretty to too much, and as much as we love going into an antique store, we don’t necessarily want our homes to feel like one.

Give your pieces room to breathe. Maybe that vintage stone object in a built-in needs some modern coffee table books and a pretty candle next to it. Step back and experiment with what feels balanced.

Tip No. 2: Mix materials

Making sure vintage is not too repetitive, but still cohesive is important to achieve a dimensional look. When we’re mixing vintage with modern pieces, we’re still applying the rules of balance.

Maybe the frames on two vintage art pieces you have in the same area match or the tones work together, or maybe you have two stone objects of a similar texture staggered in a built-in, but they are not right next to each other.

Tip No. 3: Utilize textiles

Mixing vintage textiles is a great way to give a space some extra depth and character by grounding the space without distracting the eye too much. We love using vintage rugs everywhere from entryways to kitchens to bring some warmth to new builds or remodels.