Vintage is Personal

Vintage decor is personal for us and our customers.  Small vintage items can quickly and economically add interest and originality to our homes.  It focuses on what we like or what means something particularly for us.  Vintage can be seasonal or year round.  It can be used for holidays or in a child’s bedroom.

For the past year, our daughter-in-law, Kelly, has been buying things that she plans to use in her forever home.  Their home is by the river and our son spends a lot of time in the river fishing and boating with Kelly, their kids, and the other kids in our family.  Kelly has been accumulating river themed decor to help their home reflect their interests.  The decor she has gathered can be used year round and, in my opinion, will look interesting dressed up for the holidays…think a boat paddle as a stocking hanger on the mantle.

Easy

First of all, small vintage items are easy to work with (after we clean and shine them up anyway).  I can simply take a small vintage owl perfume bottle and use it on a tray in my bathroom or bedroom to add a little bit of whimsy.  

We have an old wooden baseball bat in our shop right now along with a signed book about baseball. These items would be perfect in a teenage baseball player’s room or in the den of a retired coach or referee.  

An old minnow bucket that we have could be turned into a container to hold just about anything in a fishing or river themed room.  Add in the old blue lantern and tackle box that we also have in the shop and you have effortlessly created a room that a young person who loves to fish will enjoy.

We recently needed to fill a space above the kitchenette cabinet in Dandelion Bungalow and remembered some plate hangers that we already had along with all of our vintage plates.  While Kenny hung the simple hangers, I gathered a few vintage plates and we added another touch of Grandma-style decor to our bungalow.

Economical

I used to see things out shopping that I would like to have bought to decorate with, but they were too expensive for my budget.  I would go home and try to recreate what I liked about the piece using vintage.  Soon, I found that I liked my creations better and they were easier on the pocketbook to boot! You see, vintage is personal!

Sierra, our other daughter-in-law, lost a lot of her decor in the flood that happened in our area in 2022. She has replaced a lot of it with vintage at very little cost to her.  I especially love the vintage Santa that she bought from one of our live sales.  He looks like a family heirloom and fits perfectly among their newer pieces. He also reflects Sierra’s love of Christmas.

Our daughter, Julie, has used a lot of vintage in her home as well.  She has a large farmhouse and couldn’t possibly fill it with all new things even if she wanted to.  Piece by piece she has added vintage touches.  When I walk in, I can feel her love of home by its warm and welcoming decor.

Personalized

When I say that vintage is personal, I mean that the pieces can be used to reflect individual styles.  For example, we tend to take some of the items that don’t sell in our lives or the shop home to decorate with when they reflect our style.  I recently took a ceramic owl home with me that I used as a piece of fall decoration.  I probably wouldn’t have used this piece if I didn’t love owls.  

We also really like using old wooden toolboxes that my great grandfather made as containers for pine cones, dried flowers, bird’s nests, and more.  I wouldn’t necessarily like that type of container inside my house on its own; however, when paired with the natural items that we collect, I love them!

When we travel, I love to see vintage items added to the places that we stay by the owner.  I can often tell the things that they like just by looking at their decor.  I hope those visiting Dandelion Bungalow can do the same.  For instance, the vintage bird prints and figurines should be a pretty strong indication that one or both of us like birds.

Vintage is easy, economical and personal!