Antiques are a feature to be celebrated in a modern home. Not only do they display true craftsmanship, but are one-offs, adding real personality and individualism to your home. And they work beautifully within a contemporary setting if done with sensitivity. Good interior designers are mixing antiques with modern because they know that a room without antiques can start to feel sterile or more like a hotel than a home.
Mixing antiques with modern
When it comes to mixing old and new there are some guidelines and ways of approaching it but much is down to trial and error. Once you become aware of it in other spaces and start experimenting on your own you will get a sense of what works and what doesn’t. You are looking to bring out the best in each piece and let them both sing not recreate a 1980s provincial antiques emporium.
Antiques are a feature to be celebrated in a modern home
Rather than thinking does Regency work with mid-century modern think in terms of colour and shape. Is there a hint of red in your soft furnishings that would be highlighted by a bold modern abstract painting? Might a dark mahogany sofa table stand out beautifully on a pale blue background?
In terms of shape, create a harmonious balance between straight and curved. This includes the patterns on your soft furnishings as well as the legs on the chairs. Think where in a room different pieces might fit, bulky furniture probably needs a wall to sit against. Thin-legged chairs may sit very happily in the middle of a room.
Adding texture to a room is important and antiques are wonderful for this. A modern apartment with white walls might benefit from a feature piece such as a large antique textile on the wall (they don’t just go on floors). Similarly an antique rug will add instant warmth and colour and can be used as a starting point for the room design to build up around it.
Interior designer Rebecca de Courcy Ireland from Studio RHD says, ‘There is a joy in knowing that you have waited and looked and finally found the perfect piece for a certain spot. It can take time. Fairs like Olympia make excellent hunting ground. Placing antique furniture, vintage lighting or sculpture amongst new pieces gives them a reboot and it is almost certain that you wont find the same mix anywhere else’. She went on to say, ‘when visiting fairs always having the sizes of furniture that you are looking for jotted down and with you at all times’.
Use antiques to create gravitas in a small space. Oversized furniture in a small space can make the room appear larger. How pieces are displayed with add to this too. For example, framing old pictures in modern frames is not a new concept but surrounding modern prints in antique gilded frames is a more recent trend and makes them look much more important.
Be cautious of too many different woods in one room especially if the floor is wooden. Conversely don’t feel tied to just one wood patina. You will need to experiment.
For those who love collecting art and photographs, group objects or pictures together. Creating a salon look with multiple pictures close together on one wall gives a contemporary look and solves the problem of not enough wall space.
You can bring the new right into the old by upholstering antique pieces in contemporary fabric which will bring them right up to date. Vibrant colours love old wood.
Don’t assume kitchens and bathrooms are out of bounds for antiques. An antique dresser provides practical storage as well as style. Decorators often adapt furniture for bathrooms
For anyone looking for even more reasons to buy or use antiques there is the sustainability argument. They have a much, much lower carbon footprint than new pieces, add real soul to a home and are currently more affordable.
The Art & Antiques Fair Olympia runs from June 22-26
Interior design is a regular feature in Premier Magazine. You can view previous editions HERE
