Design Styles

3 Unique Vintage Ceiling Design Ideas

Below are 3 ideas for create a vintage style ceiling. These ideas are ideal for rooms that are 1.5 or double height. They can be used for normal height rooms, but it might be a bit overwhelming and little in your face.

Anaglypta Wallpaper

Anaglypta is a textured and embossed wallpaper. What makes it so great, is that it adds a very subtle decor style to a room, much more subtle than normal patterned wallpaper.

You can get Anaglypta wallpaper in simple textured patterns. For a more vintage style use something more floral and antique, or a pattern that looks like tiles, like the one above in the mood board (1).

Anaglypta wallpapers can usually be painted over to match the color palette in your room. But for a vintage styled room, going with the classic white would be the best choice.

Vintage anaglypta wallpaper designs available here from Amazon

For an even more elaborate ceiling design, you can mix coffers (beams making a square pattern on the ceiling) with Anaglypta wallpaper.

Elaborate Crown Molding

The only crown molding you’ll see in most homes today are quite simple, having a few grooves in them. But there are crown molding designs that are more decorative, fitting in with the vintage style as seen in pictures (2) and (3).

A Ceiling Rose

The origins of the ceiling rose comes from the rose being a symbol of secrecy. Dating back to England’s Tudor King Henry VIII rule, a carved rose over a meeting table meant that you could speak freely.

You can have a ceiling rose on it’s own, decorating the ceiling and being a statement piece. Or your can place a ceiling rose at the base of a pendant light, chandelier (4), or vintage ceiling fan.

They are also known as ceiling medallions.

Vintage style ceiling rose medallions can be bought here on Amazon or here on Wayfair

image credits: 1/2/3/4

For ideas on how to decorate the ceiling with vintage style lighting, have a look at my mood board post here: Style Guide: Vintage Lighting Ideas.
Vintage Paint Colors and Palette Home Style Guide
Design Ideas for Decorative Ceiling Medallions
The Finishing Touch: Wainscoting Ideas and Designs
Search all of my vintage posts for more ideas

July 17, 2014 in Design Styles

Vintage Bathroom Decor Ideas

You are only going to need to style a few areas in your bathroom to get that vintage look. Focus on the main features, like the vanity or storage items. Here are some vintage bathroom decor ideas to help you transform your space.

The Vanity

The vanity is going to be an important area when it comes to styling your vintage bathroom. It is usually the first thing peoples’ eyes are drawn to when entering a bathroom. Some ways to style a vintage bathroom vanity include:

The backsplash can be made up of subway tiles or black and white tiles
For the mirror, use a white chipped painted wooden one, rustic raw wooden one, or go with mirrors that have a more antique shape to it just like the ones in picture (2)
Use porcelain pedestal sinks (3) (not ideal if you are tight on space as the bottom area is wasted – a cabinet could be here instead)
Use faucets with porcelain handles, or brass hardware

Window Treatments

Lace curtains will add privacy while letting in a nice soft glow during the day. Other vintage ideas for your windows include using decorative frosted or even stained glass windows to add privacy. Have a look at my bathroom window treatment post to see pictures.

There are also decorative shutters just like the ones in picture (4).

For the curtain railing, you could use iron bars and wall mounts, or rustic wooden ones. A cool DIY project is to use vintage door knobs as tie backs (DIY Vintage Decor Ideas).

Decor Accessories and Storage

Glass Bottles: Vintage style glass bottles can be used to replace any generic plastic bottles you have around the sink (5). Your hand soaps and lotions can all be poured into different glass bottles – adding style around your sink.

Decorative Storage: Other decorative storage containers that can be used in the bathroom include galvanised buckets, wicker or wire baskets, enamel jars, or copper containers.

Hanging Things Up: A rustic ladder can be leaned up against the wall, or a rustic wooden step ladder can be used as a towel hanger/rack.

On the Ceiling: To add a little style to your ceiling, add some vintage style crown modelling – seen in picture (6).

Art and Wall Decor: Metal letters, vintage style maps, botanical prints, and subway signs are some ideas for wall decor pieces.

Vintage Style Tiling

On The Walls and Floor Tile Designs: Some ideas for how to tile a vintage bathroom include: using subway tiles, mixing and matching tiles just like in picture (7), black and white tiling, or small hexagon tiles will look good. For pictures and more ideas for vintage flooring designs have a look at my post here.

An alternative to tiling the walls is to use vintage wallpaper. A great vintage style would be Anaglypta wallpaper, seen in picture (8).

Lighting for a Vintage Bathroom

Barn style light fixtures, with their flat pancake shapes and enamel finishes will look great in a vintage bathroom. Or another design style would be a more antique look, like using brass light fixtures or a french chandelier. My post here has photos and ideas when it comes to vintage lighting.

image credits: 1/2/3/4/6/7/8

For more bathroom inspiration have a look at my shabby chic bathroom mood board or vintage laundry room mood board.

June 18, 2014 in Bathroom, Design Styles

A Global Vintage Wonderland: The Vintage House Daylesford

An hour and a half drive outside of Melbourne, Australia, sits an 1860’s miners cottage called the Vintage House Daylesford. Surrounded by willow, pine, and fruit trees, sitting on an acre of land, you can rent this vintage wonderland for a holiday getaway.

What makes the house so appealing is the collection of authentic antique, vintage, and industrial furniture pieces, brought in from the US, UK, and France. Here are some of the highlights:

The living room features original leather Chesterfield couches
There is also an 1800’s cast iron fire place from France
The dining table is an old 1700’s post office table from England. This is accompanied by a leather Chesterfield banquette booth
Also in the kitchen is a 1920’s gas Chambers oven from the US
An antique US garage sign hangs in the White Room bedroom

Kali Cavanagh did the interior design, styling, and custom furniture for this 2 bedroom house with a separate garden studio. For more information, or to book the house, visit Vintage House Daylesford.

Decor Style: Rustic Kitchen Ideas

When it comes to rustic kitchen ideas, you are going to want to use and infuse as much raw materials as possible. Make heavy use of stone and wood, and raw metals like copper and brass. For a more modern and industrial look, there is concrete.

Different Rustic Styles

In the pictures in the mood board above, you can see there is variety and degree of rustic styles.

A touch of rustic. You’ve got kitchens that only add subtle and minor rustic pieces that make a big impact – just like the kitchens in pictures (1) and (2). Using white as a base color is popular, and then infusing touches of rustic style around the kitchen through:

wooden counter tops
exposed beams
exposed brick walls (3) Industrial and Rustic Charm: Home Brick Wall Designs
hard wood flooring

Fusion. In picture (4) you can see how modern meets rustic. The raw and rustic table and chairs contrast the modern and sleek kitchen cabinets.

Rustic Cabinet Design

Because cabinets take up so much space, physically and visually, the look and style of them will really set the tone and style for the whole room. Some design ideas for rustic kitchen cabinets include:

White cabinets with wooden countertops
Using brass handles
Go with open shelving and have everything out on display – use rustic style storage containers (more about that below)

Storage as Decor and More

Because so much needs to stored around the kitchen, the storage containers and items you use can act as decor pieces. Get good quality, and good looking storage contains. Things like:

Wicker baskets
Enamel containers
Wire baskets
Wooden trays and bowls
Galvanised buckets
Vintage glass bottles
Copper containers

For a mood board and more ideas, have a look here: Rustic Storage Ideas and Organziation Tips.

If you use rustic cooking pots and pans, like cast iron or copper, these can be hung on the wall and double as decor pieces. A copper cooker hood is grand statement piece to have in a rustic kitchen.

Other rustic kitchen decor ideas include:

Wrought iron wall hangings/clock
Plants in rustic style pots
Lace or ruffled curtains, or wooden blinds

Rustic Dining

If you have a dining area in your kitchen, then the tables and chairs will take up a lot of space. Just like the cabinets, you’ll want to really create the rustic look with the furniture, to set the style for the whole room. Go with a country style long wooden farm table, just like the one in picture (5), with wooden chairs or a bench.

The Sink and Backsplash

A popular sink for a rustic style kitchen is a porcelain tub, just like the one in picture (6). Another option would be a copper sink (7). These would usually go with rustic brass metal faucets.

When it comes to the backsplash, subway tiles will add a nice contrast to all of the rough materials around. Reclaimed wood can also be turned into a backsplash – have a look at my pallet wall post to see designs. Other ideas for backsplashes include using exposed brick, or rough stone tile.

A Wooden Kitchen Island

A common rustic kitchen island would have a rustic wooden countertop, with a painted wooden base. Check out the live edge wooden kitchen island in picture (8). A wrought iron pot rack can hang above.

Iron Lighting

Wrought iron lighting fixtures go well with a rustic style. These can be matched with wrought iron decor pieces, like candle holders, pot racks, bowls, and wall decor. Some lighting ideas include having a wrought iron chandelier. For a mood board on kitchen lighting ideas, have a look at my post here. Or check out my rustic lighting ideas post.

image credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8

More rustic and kitchen mood board posts: