7 Vintage Home Details Experts Want to Bring Back
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Adding character to your home is one of the most rewarding experiences for any design-loving homeowner or renter. But it can be daunting too. There are so many big possibilities—from painting the walls to replacing the old appliances—when you’re working on a home upgrade that it’s easy to overlook the small changes that can actually bring a lot of uniqueness to your space. Designers looking back at vintage home trends for inspiration.
There’s a lot to love about historic homes, and we’re especially big fans of the intricate details in them. So we asked designers who regularly restore and renovate them to share the vintage design details they want to see more of in homes of any age today. These finishing touches can make a room more charming, historically accurate, and elevated. Best of all? Most of them are renter friendly and relatively affordable. Keep reading to see what old home trends are ready for a comeback.
Antique Furniture
Designed by Christina Salway.
Designed by Ward + Gray.
In a world of mass-produced particleboard furniture, antique pieces hold a special place in many designers’ hearts. Christie Ward of Ward + Gray likes to give vintage pieces new purposes that better work in modern life. “We looked to a vintage wardrobe to create a custom bar cabinet for our clients in this West Village townhouse,” she says. “We found it on auction for a really great price and refurbished it to include a mini fridge below and a sink to create the perfect bar in their snug room.”
High-Quality Hardware
Designed by Patrick Ahearn Architect.
Designed by Fort Design Studio.
It’s the details you touch and feel—like doorknobs and cabinet pulls—that really give your home a sense of history, says Mike Tartamella, managing principal of Patrick Ahearn Architect. “We like living finishes on hardware of quality, which are a big deal and can be easily swapped in for builder-grade parts,” he says. “Think oil rubbed bronze and unlacquered brass—finishes that will patina over time that help to indicate a home’s character.”
Marea Clark of Marea Clark Interiors calls out drop pulls specifically if you’re looking to incorporate period-appropriate hardware. She explains that vintage knobs and pulls bring a “sense of soul to a home” and can bring much-needed character into even the most basic of new builds.
Skiffers
Large Skiffer Brass
Many vintage home details were designed to help prevent damage. Wainscoting was originally as much about saving walls from scuffs as it was about adding a pretty detail. Similarly, skiffers, or corner protectors, were fitted onto the corners of walls and baseboards to protect them from blemishes. Traditionally made of brass, they’re available in a wide range of metals to match the rest of the hardware in your home.
Floor Registers
Floor registers, or air-conditioning vent covers, are some of the simplest, smallest details that homeowners tend to forget about, says Tartamella. “They elevate the experience of a practical, functional element in a home and, depending on style, can add back vintage character that may have been lost in prior renovations,” he adds. Choose historically inspired cast iron registers, or keep it a little lighter with simple wooden ones that blend into wood floors.
Intricate Woodwork
Designed by the Brownstone Boys.
Designed by Christina Salway.
If you’re even the slightest fan of home renovation videos on social media, you’ve seen people adding intricate picture frame molding and medallions to their walls and ceilings. The Brownstone Boys, aka husbands and business partners Barry Bordelon and Jordan Slocum, say this type of woodwork is exactly what they want to see more of in homes—and it isn’t expensive to do. “What we love most is how accessible these details can be—whether you’re restoring original features or adding them to a newer home,” Bordelon says. “They instantly elevate the design without feeling overly fussy.”
Shutters and Window Boxes
It’s not just what’s on the inside that counts. Scaled shutters and window boxes upgrade the exterior of your home. Tartamella explains that while shutters were originally designed for functionality and are mainly just for aesthetics today, they can still add character to your home. Pro tip: You may not ever plan to shut them, but it’s crucial to get shutters that are properly scaled to the windows so they look authentic. Make sure to choose gutter dogs (the cute name for the hardware that holds them in place) to match your home’s style too.
Push Plates
Antique French Louis XVI Style Finger Plate Empire Plaque Door Push, Finger Plate,Door Hardware, Architectural details
Have you ever looked at a white door in your house and noticed oil and dirt stains where you consistently push it open? Well, push plates are meant to prevent those. You’ve probably seen modern versions on push-to-open doors, but the antique ones are much more intricate and lovely. These vintage hardware pieces are flat, typically rectangular plates of metal designed to be installed above the door knob so the natural oils from your hand don’t rub off on the door paint or wood.
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