How to fit a Soviet wall into a modern interior. Antique furniture: the luxury of the past in modern interiors (23 photos). Decorating your home with antique furniture
Antiques will never go out of style. Like historical relics or paintings by great artists, it keeps a piece of our past, and therefore a piece of ourselves. Hence the reverent attitude to antique objects, and the desire to introduce them into your home, because only they are able to return to our crazy age the calm and tranquility of bygone eras.
It is quite difficult to build a life surrounded by antiques, both psychologically and financially. Yes, and it is not necessary to change the style of your home so drastically. A noble patina to the interior can be given only by one thing with history. Properly integrated in the room, it will become its central element, a trendsetter that sets the main direction.
When you decide to bring a touch of history into your home, don't confuse old things with antiques. The first ones that you inherited from your grandmother, cracked and eaten by a bug, you can safely carry to the trash - they do not represent any antique value and will only spoil the visual image of the home, demonstrating your bad taste and even outright poverty. Rare furniture includes items made in the era of classicism, when such styles as baroque, rococo and gothic were popular. Everything that appeared later has nothing to do with antiques.
Diluting a modern interior with antiques, it is necessary to place accents correctly. Do not put an ultra-modern coffee table on a pedestal, giving it a central position. The cabinet office of the era of Louis XIV with a noble touch of patina deserves this place much more, if only because of its age. The modern environment should complement the antiques favorably, and not challenge its dominant role in the interior. Luxury furniture will become a worthy company for antiques. Although you can limit yourself to the middle price segment.
If you decide to populate an antique piece of furniture in an already designed interior, then you should take into account both the general design style and the size of the room. For example, wardrobes with delicate patterns and carvings are ideal for a romantic style expressed in pastel colors, and an old small wardrobe or chest of drawers with a mirror will visually increase the space of a cramped room.
An antique piece of furniture can be supplemented with decor items of the same style or you can add minor touches to the interior that will support the image of an antique item. For example, the semantic line of a chest of drawers with the theme of hunting will be perfectly supported by a drawing with the appropriate energy.
When preparing a room for an antique replenishment, choose light shades in the interior design. Dark colors are acceptable only as small inclusions, while skillfully lit. It is advisable to choose a floor covering to match the furniture. The ideal option in this case would be floor parquet in a neutral shade.
When creating an original mix of modern and antique furniture, do not forget about lighting, which plays a huge role in the perception of the interior, focusing on the main thing and muffling unimportant details. It is good if the chandelier and wall sconces are designed in the same style as the antique item. Although you can stay on the classics. But modern light sources in such an interior are inappropriate. By creating an obvious imbalance with antiques, they blur the image of the dwelling itself.
Excessive clutter of furniture will also divert attention from the unique item. Free space for antiques is vital. Sometimes it even makes sense to change heavy window curtains for translucent curtains that will not attract attention and fill the room with natural light, which is so significant for rare products.
A skillful combination of modern pieces of furniture and antiques will emphasize your refined style and indicate the subtlety of mental organization. Bringing harmony and comfort into the house, they will create an individual image of the home. Look at this photo. Antique furniture and a modern table, stationery and clay pots, parquet and self-leveling floors seem to be specially made for each other, and it is quite obvious that they will lose their significance separately.
Almost every family has items that are passed down from grandparents, from generation to generation. Some of them can be real treasures! Antique clocks, sculptures, furniture, decor elements can completely transform a modern home. The main thing is to try to easily and gracefully fit them into the interior. And it's not that hard to do.
By the way, the main feature of antiques is age. The thing must be over 50 years old, and also reflect the trends of its era.
Let's analyze some successful methods of combining antique furniture in a modern interior.
A game of contrast
One of the tricks that will help fit furniture with history into a modern apartment is a game of contrast. The sharper and more noticeable these contrasts, the brighter antiques will look. For example, an old cracked wooden table can be placed next to a new sparkling mirror with chrome elements. A chic accent can be an antique chair at the head of the table, and next to it is a modern dining set.
In the spotlight
Antiques should act as an art object, a noticeable detail surrounded by modern furniture. With this approach, vintage will become a kind of highlight. Determine the most important place for the rarity: it can be a table in the center of the living room or a restored door (do not change it to a faceless MDF one!) Small decor will help to support and justify the presence of antiques: for example, lamps, vases or textiles.
Change the concept
Another way to give your interior a special charm is to change the concept of antiques. For example, some designers completely restore pieces of furniture and paint them in bright rich colors. A classic chair, chest of drawers or nightstand in red, blue or green will completely turn the essence of the interior and make it unique and memorable.
More air
Antique furniture desperately needs air and free space around. Do not clutter the room with unnecessary items that can draw attention away from unique things. Pay attention to lighting - as much natural light as possible should penetrate into the room, which will emphasize rare furniture.
Pick a style
Finally, we note that vintage does not fit into all interiors. You should not try to put an old locker in a hi-tech, modern or minimalist apartment. But, oriental, Mediterranean style or eclecticism will gladly embrace a rare table or pouffe.
Most people in our country got rid of those items of the Soviet era long ago, which a few decades ago were considered a sign of wealth and luxury, and were obtained with incredible labor. Today, a red carpet, a “wall” stuffed to capacity, and many other pieces of Soviet furniture in a modern interior are, at best, considered a sign of a lack of taste, or even cause ridicule. However, for the older generation, these things often remain dear to the heart, and it is not so easy for children and grandchildren to persuade them to part with relics.
What to do if it is a pity to throw away all this, but the soul asks for novelty and modernity? Do-it-yourself design is the best way out in this case, because some items of the Soviet interior from the time of grandmother's youth can be transformed beyond recognition. From today's publication on the Dream House website, you will learn how to correctly use Soviet-era furniture and other interior items in a modern home, how to use a carpet in an original way or update a Soviet wall, sofa, dressers and all kinds of lockers.
Where to put the carpet
A carpet is no less valuable thing in previous years than other furnishings. A symbol of wealth, it was most often hung on the wall, leaving the owners and guests the right only to admire it. Indeed, such a jewel should have been protected, because at that time it was quite expensive. To tell the truth, the quality of those carpets was high - they were usually made of pure wool; they pleased the eye with bright colors and served for many years.
If you still have this miracle of Soviet industry, do not throw it away. There are several options for using an ornamented carpet in a modern interior.
Think carefully about the design of one of the rooms, including oriental notes in it. It is not necessary to make the entire environment colorful - if you are not a fan of variegation, discreet, calm tones can serve as the main background. Translucent textiles, light draperies in pastel or bright colors, according to your taste, will bring a typically oriental mystery to the interior of the room. Curtains and bedspreads can be complemented with fringe and decorated with tassels in the corners. Satin pillows with the same tassels will come in handy here too.
This is where it would be appropriate to use the old carpet. It must necessarily have some kind of functional purpose, and not serve only as an ornament, so clearly reminiscent of Soviet times. You can even cut it into fragments with the same or symmetrical pattern.
By laying the carpet on the floor, you can turn it into a likeness if it is a little wider in size. It is important to make sure that its edge protrudes from under the bed on at least three sides. By decorating the corners of the carpet with the same tassels as on other interior items, you will create a single ensemble.
Cut out square fragments of a carpet with similar patterns can be overcast by hand with thick threads or fringed, decorated with the same tassels - and you will have ready-made covers for. By the same principle, you can make chair covers and small rugs that are placed under your feet where you usually sit.
Wool carpets are valuable because natural pile is more hygienic than synthetic, and therefore they can be used in a children's room. By cutting the canvases to the desired size and processing the edges accordingly, you will get bedding for toys, for example. Put them in different corners so that the variegation of the carpet is harmoniously distributed throughout the room. If the design of the entire setting is in harmony in color with your relic, its presence will not be too noticeable.
A fragment of the carpet can be covered with glass and get the original. Show your imagination and find new non-standard solutions using other materials that you already have.
The easiest way to find a use for a bulky structure, which is popularly called a "wall" is to leave it where it stands. Indeed, this furniture takes up so much space that there is usually no way to rearrange it anywhere. But turning a “wall” into a wall is quite possible. See how you can update the Soviet wall. Where to begin:
- First, take out all its contents and everything that can be thrown away - throw it away.
- Secondly, if the "wall" does not have a height up to the ceiling, correct this shortcoming! Take the drywall pieces and continue your wall all the way to the top. During the repair process, it will be necessary to close up the resulting gaps between the furniture and the walls and wallpaper the resulting part of the wall along with the corners in the usual way.
- Thirdly, all doors must be removed to erase the differences between sideboards, wardrobe and mezzanines. You will no longer need doors, because the facade should be modern and not reminiscent of the previous structure.
Next, think about how you want to fill this space. The former Soviet "wall" can accommodate a lot of things - become a dressing room, or even. In accordance with the functions that the new "wall" will perform, leave only the necessary shelves. Remove the extra ones and build new ones, move them to another place if necessary. Put up shoe boxes and make crossbars to hang outerwear. For the library, you will need to increase the number of shelves, distributing them in even rows.
Finish off by ordering new doors for your furniture in contemporary material that matches the overall style. Of course, it is better to entrust the measurement and installation of them to a specialist so that they fit with perfect accuracy.
Of course, there are also fans of sliding doors. They are suitable if you are planning to build. It is better to install them from the floor to the ceiling. Then you do not need to continue the wall with drywall - they will close all the gaps and holes.
You can also divide the former "wall" into separate items and use those that you need for different purposes. For example, mezzanines can be turned into shoe cabinets and placed in a corridor or hallway. A wardrobe is suitable for a bedroom or nursery, and sideboards can easily be turned into a mini-library for an office. It goes without saying that in this case, too, all furniture will require updating by painting or other methods, replacement of fittings; you can also change the facades here for new ones, and let them be different in different rooms.
Crystal pity
Indeed, these transparent glasses and vases have been a real asset to many families, a symbol of luxury, and have even been collected for many years. Of course, one can understand the older generation, which does not want to part with them.
Sets of glasses, glasses and salad bowls can be used for their intended purpose. Then their place is in the kitchen; just hide them in the cabinets and take them out to family celebrations, delighting guests with original dishes served in sparkling dishes from the last century.
But flower vases and decorative items are perfect for a modern interior. Find corners in your home where they look natural.
If you have backlit ones, this is the perfect place for crystal vases. With artificial lighting, their facets will sparkle in a new way.
On shelves and cabinets, vases will look harmoniously with original artificial bouquets. It can be not only flowers, but also modern compositions from different materials and objects. Transparent vases will emphasize their beauty.
If you still have crystal jewelry like an ashtray-shoe or something else, just place them as a decorative element wherever you like - on, on a shelf or chest of drawers.
This is, of course, the sofa, since it is usually the item that was most used, and, squeezed and creaky, it most often cannot be restored. Only if you are sure that it is not too worn out, or is of antique value, then it should be restored. But the old chairs can still serve.
Restoration of upholstered furniture usually consists of replacing broken springs with new ones, if necessary, even parts of foam rubber, as well as changing upholstery and painting wooden parts. If the chairs have high and narrow legs, too reminiscent of the old days, it is worth replacing them with more modern ones - for example, on wheels.
Sideboards and dressers
There is such furniture, which, despite its old age, has such nobility that a hand does not rise to throw it away. Usually this is a grandmother's sideboard or chest of drawers with carvings and curved legs, as well as a low wardrobe. The solution is to save the furniture by transforming it with a new design.
There are many technologies for updating old furniture. The simplest ones are painting, gluing, as well as artificial aging of wood, resulting in objects in. You can choose any of them according to your taste and change your furniture beyond recognition.
Antique furniture: a choice for true connoisseurs of beauty. The appearance of antique furniture and semi-antique furniture in the interior of the house occurs in various ways: someone bought a thing they liked, someone inherited it.
But in order for the antique furniture in the interior of the room to look in harmony with the rest of the pieces of furniture and correspond to its status, it is necessary to take into account the main rules for placing antique furniture.
Antique furniture in a modern interior
The age of most of the antique furniture available in this market segment does not exceed one hundred and fifty years. It is extremely rare that copies of the 18th century are given. There is practically no rare antique furniture of the 16th century.
True connoisseurs of the beauty of antique furniture, professional collectors often buy antique wood furniture at auctions.
And for amateurs and inexperienced collectors, it is better to contact a specialized store that sells antiques for professional advice from the seller and the opportunity to look at a future purchase.
The main criterion when choosing antique furniture is neither age nor direction of style.
It is important to remember that in this interior it harmonizes everything with other pieces of furniture, does not look out of place and ridiculous in the interior ensemble.
The very presence of antique furniture and semi-antique wood furniture makes it stand out in the general environment and attracts with its unusual and unique accent.
Therefore, the location of antique furniture and antique wooden furniture should correspond to the direction of the style of the room.
After all, it often happens that the appearance in the house of one piece of antique furniture leads to the desire of the owner of antique furniture to acquire several more antiques.
The main thing in this case is to make sure that there is no confusion in the directions, but is it possible to combine straight and strict chairs with a magnificent baroque chest of drawers?
Antique Furniture Styles
For a professional collector, one glance at a photo of antique furniture is enough to determine belonging to the direction, what materials and types of wood the furniture is made of.
The main styles of antiques can be distinguished. Numerous decorations and embellishments, combined with pomp, characterize Baroque furniture. The fashion for such furniture was in vogue in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The Rococo style, somewhat similar to the Baroque, is characterized by airiness and lightness of lines with asymmetrical decorations. The style of classicism, in contrast to the majestic rococo, is characterized by functionality, symmetry, and the nobility of straight lines.
For palace furniture of the XVIII century. The Empire style is characterized by a combination of ancient Greek decor with spears, lions, sphinxes and straight and simple lines. Clear pragmatism, environmental friendliness, combined with plant ornaments with ornate lines, define modern style furniture.
Art Deco style furniture, created no more than a hundred years, and of great value among professional antique dealers, is characterized by simplicity of lines, production of precious woods.
In the manufacture of such furniture is characterized by the use of exclusive materials. Liners and rooms in expensive hotels were decorated with such furniture. Antique furniture and the manufacture of semi-antique furniture in this area is in high demand.
The venerable age of antiques implies special conditions for its maintenance and care. For antique furniture, direct sunlight, being close to heat sources, and humidity exceeding sixty percent are unacceptable.
It is necessary to remember about the financial component when owning antique furniture. Indeed, in itself, antiques are basically of no particular value. It is easy to purchase at numerous flea markets and auctions.
A significant part of the price is determined by the degree of restoration of antiques. Only restoration, which determines a significant part of the cost, can guarantee a magnificent view and safety. Owning vintage and antique furniture will create both a beautiful interior and is a smart investment.
The value of such furniture will only increase every year. And perhaps in years to come, true connoisseurs will give a lot to buy your chair or table. And if you suddenly become the owner, do not throw it away and do not sell it. Carry out restoration and save rare furniture until better times.
Photo of antique furniture in the interior
