The Sunday News
Amanda Ncube
DECORATING or designing your home with antiques can be challenging at times. Lots of planning as well as skills are required.
An antique is an object having special value because of its age, especially a domestic item or piece of furniture or handicraft esteemed for its artistry, beauty, or period of origin. When not correctly done, your home may feel and look like a museum but when correctly done a collected and elegant space may be created.
This week’s column will give you an insight on how to use antiques when decorating.
Instead of throwing away some of the archaic items which hold sentimental values you can use them to create a whole new look to your home. Antiques can be used to accentuate certain architectural features and titivate your home décor with unique items.
Antiques add chic to interior decorating in classic style. Planning is an important part of mastering interior decorating with antique items and creating beautiful, elegant and unique interior decor in classic style.
It is important to always know which theme you want to use when decorating your space. Hence the first thing to do is to select one of interior decorating themes that support decorating style for each room. This will help you to choose which type of style you want to use, be it traditional or modern. When using an antique avoid decorating a corner of the room in one interior decorating style, while decorating an opposite wall in different decorating style.
When you have few antique items make sure that you target a specific era. Make sure you emphasise colour or texture, or create a certain mood, group antique items in odd numbers, for striking and classic decorating. Keep your favourite collection on display on your coffee table. By so doing your antiques will have a great conversational purpose.
Whoever said modern and traditional style cannot work was lying. Mixing old and new allows you to see the evolution of design within a specific world. If you incorporate some of the old and new items you will be able to come up with a unique look. For example using old furniture and new accessories can work.
Avoid spreading antiques around the room; group them for creating beautiful displays which garnish interior decorating ideas in classic style. Create antique collections of different antique items and collectibles. A shelf, decorated with antique plates or books looks less impressive and interesting, than a beautiful display with antique books and picture frames, or antique plates and candle holders. One thing to note is that similar items can be paired for balanced classic decorating.
