THE Elegance OF ANTIQUES

Learn how to fill your home with vintage pieces for a fresh look.

Want your home to have fresh designs, while at the same time speak to the past? That’s what antiques will do for your farmhouse style. In her new book, Soul of the Home: Designing with Antiques, author and designer Tara Shaw shares her inspiration and tips for creating a unique style of your own through vintage pieces. “Antiques bestow an incomparable sense of history—something that’s withstood the centuries is necessarily made extremely well,” she writes. “Their flaws, scrapes and bumps are hard-earned and make your interiors (and maybe even you) more forgiving.” Here are three ways you can become a better vintage collector for your home.

LEARN

The process of curating a vintage collection for your home involves learning about antiques. Shaw encourages readers to “soak in all the info you can get your hands on.”This includes reading books and magazines and keeping up with favorite collectors on social media. But it also involves seeing vintage pieces in person. “Beyond reading about antiques, expose yourself to as many antiques as possible,” Shaw writes. Keep an eye out for museum exhibitions in your favorite eras, and make trips to the flea market and local antiques store on a regular basis.

And don’t forget to ask questions about the pieces that catch your eye! The vendor or seller can tell you more about when and where the piece is from and its history.

BUY

Even before you become an antiques expert, you can start shopping for your home’s collection. “There’s no science to it,” Shaw writes. “You’ve got to feel your way, taking one step at a time and letting each new purchase bring its own note to the symphony.”

That said, there is a rule to adhere to when collecting. “The number one rule of antiques shopping is buy what you love,”Shaw writes. “Always feather your nest with things that are meaningful to you. You should be able to ‘read’ a great house just like a biography.”

If you come across a piece you love but are unsure about it,

Shaw says it’s better to buy it than leave it there. After all, many vintage pieces are one-of-a-kind, and you may never be able to find it again. “I promise acquisition is better than remorse,” she writes.

EDIT

Once you start to build up your collection of vintage pieces, edit and modify your home’s interiors to work with your new furniture, art and accessories. “If you’re committed to collecting, give up on the idea that your interiors will ever be ‘done,’” Shaw writes.

But just because you buy a piece doesn’t mean you have to change the whole style of your home. “A sophisticated room will have layers of influence,” Shaw writes. So don’t worry about only using pieces from one era. Especially for farmhouse style, eclectic vintage collectibles will contribute rather than detract from the farmhouse look. “My design philosophy has always been to seek out the one-of-a-kind pieces that speak to me, and then edit, edit, edit,” Shaw says. “You have to pare down to give your collected pieces the spotlight.”

Author and designer Tara Shaw designed this bathroom around some Louis XV salvaged paneling she found. “[It has] a wonderful patina and [I] kept many of the other elements subdued so the room wouldn’t feel like a French period recreation,” she writes.

In this lake house, Shaw took inspiration from the colors outside with a vintage Swedish secretary desk, a midcentury German desk lamp and an 18th-century Italian candelabra.

Outdoor living areas can feature antiques too. In this wisteriacovered dining room, the table and chairs are vintage, but they’re made of metal to resist the outdoor weather. (opposite) This 18th-century Swedish secretary desk creates both drama and history for this corner of the home. Even the vase holding tulips is vintage, from East Asia in the 1600s.