Vintage Bedroom Ideas: 5 Ways to Mix Old and New

Home PlannerApp Team · July 6, 2022

Furniture with a history, old pieces in new roles, retro lighting, ceramics and glass, and muted colors with geometric patterns, without turning the bedroom into a museum.

You have one old piece you love: an Art Deco chest of drawers, a 19th-century wardrobe, or an armchair from the time of the Polish People's Republic. The rest of your bedroom is modern. The five vintage bedroom ideas below show how to build a calm, personal room around that piece, so that it looks designed and not like a storeroom.

Vintage is not one era. It is the skill of putting things from different decades side by side, so that each keeps its character and the room still feels like today. The trade-off: vintage forgives very little. In a room this personal, a plain, random piece stands out at once. That is why it is worth trying the layout in Home Planner before the renovation starts.

What vintage bedroom furniture should you look for?

Look for furniture with a history, from any era you like. Collectors hunt for real originals: a Chesterfield sofa, a table inspired by the designs of Isamu Noguchi, or a "turtle" chair from the late 60s and 70s. In your bedroom, each of them gets a second life.

Why it works: vintage is less about one style and more about combining styles. Art Deco next to Bauhaus works. So do industrial accents next to retro pieces.

What it costs you: originals are hard to find. If you cannot find one, a modern design made in the old style plays the same role. That is vintage too.

How do you keep a modern vintage bedroom from looking like a museum?

Treat the style with a light touch, and give old things new jobs. A modern vintage bedroom works when old pieces are used every day, not put on display.

• Upholster a retro armchair in a soft floral fabric.
• Paint the base of an old Singer sewing machine a bright color.
• Use a radio from the 1950s, or two old suitcases stacked on top of each other, as a bedside table.
• Put an old collector's alarm clock next to the bed.
• Hang a mirror in a dark frame over a modern dressing table.

Vintage likes unusual combinations. One old object in an unexpected role gives the room more character than a row of antiques in their usual places.

Common mistake: filling every surface with old things. A vintage bedroom should not be cluttered with antiques. A few strong pieces with space around them look intentional.

Retro lighting

A bedroom needs intimate, warm light, and antique lamps give exactly that. For a floor lamp, look at the iconic Arco lamp, designed in the 60s by the brothers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni. Cast-iron chandeliers, old oil lamps and classic fishing lamps also suit a vintage bedroom.

The trade-off: an old lamp is a design object first. If it does not give enough light to read in bed, add a simple modern reading lamp next to it.

Which ceramics and glass suit vintage bedroom decor?

Colorful Polish ceramics from the 1950s and 1960s, glass figures and old crystal. Art critics agree that these two decades were the most creative period for Polish ceramics. The factories in Wałbrzych, Ćmielów, Włocławek and Jaworzyna Śląska were the most successful. They made colorful ceramics in the New Look style.

Pieces to look for:

• the famous "spades" and other geometric shapes;
• playful, multicolored glass figures;
• the almost forgotten crystal ashtrays, dishes and vases.

Show the collection where you can see it every day, on the windowsill, for example.

Colors and patterns

Vintage interiors love geometric patterns: on a wall, a bedspread or a carpet. The trade-off: strong patterns can quickly turn into chaos. Muted colors keep the room calm.

• Strong patterns: combine black and white, or brown, beige and a shade of old gold.
• Plain walls: you can be bolder with colorful accents. Green, blue, red and mustard feel right in a vintage room. These shades are very typical of the '70s.

How do you make a bedroom look vintage?

Start with the shell of the room: a natural wood floor, a simple whitewashed ceiling and furniture from natural materials. Then add a few old pieces from different eras and let them sit next to modern decor.

1. Floor. Natural wood boards or parquet suit the style, even unpainted boards. Laminate, carpet and linoleum do not.
2. Ceiling. Skip wallpaper and stretch ceilings. Plain whitewash is the most typical vintage ceiling: white, soft cream, mother-of-pearl or sky blue, even with stucco details.
3. Furniture. Choose natural materials: wood, rattan, bamboo. Oak furniture adds a special elegance.

Mix eras, but keep the quality high. Vintage means more than a thing that is many years old, or one taken from a grandmother's chest. Each piece should show the fashion of its own time, be well made, and still fit next to modern decor. This way, one room can hold several eras and stay both noble and original, like jazz that never goes out of fashion.

The trend goes beyond interiors. Vintage clothes and accessories are popular too, and owning antiques is in fashion today. "Fashion passes, style remains," Coco Chanel once said. Vintage proves it: fashions change, and well-designed furniture with a history stays.

Try your vintage bedroom on your own plan

Old pieces are hard to judge from a photo of someone else's room. A chest of drawers that looks right in a shop can block the door in your bedroom. Measure your space and draw it in Home Planner, then try the layout in 2D and 3D before the renovation. You can furnish the room with products from real brands, create visualizations of the result, and start from ready-made layouts for a bedroom, bathroom or living room.