At YDP, we want your home to feel comfortable and welcoming. One way that is easily achieved is through familiar furniture and décor that comes with a bit of history and connection to your family and friends. However, sometimes pieces start to feel stale, and even heirlooms feel like they need to be seen in a slightly different light. A new environment is necessary, but parting with sentimental pieces is impossible. This is where some designer expertise comes in to help you blend the old with the new. Whether you have a soft spot for antiques, just love some older aesthetics, or have precious heirlooms that are a must in your home, there are clever ways of bringing it all together in a cohesive look. You want timeless design and we’re here to help you blend the old with the new to create a style all your own.
Timeless Design
What does timeless design look like? What does it mean? In essence, timelessness starts with quality. And actually, that’s why antiques have such longevity. The quality of construction and material ensures the furniture or lighting stands the test of time literally, but also maintains an expression that says “I fit in anywhere.”
It’s hard to explain, but timeless furniture has an elegance, simplicity, and clear and honest presence that sets it apart. But on a more personal level, timelessness is also when a piece just fits into your life and home no matter what. To you, timeless furniture and lighting just speaks to you and always seems to work.
When You Might Want to Blend Old and New
Occasionally, you’ll need to combine, mix, and match everything you already own with some newer pieces. One of those times will be when you become an empty nester; you’ll have a lot of items that saw you through raising kids and many things that didn’t survive it. It will become necessary to blend the items you can’t afford to replace with some items that need to be put out to pasture.
Another time would simply be when you’re moving to a new home. There will be plenty that you want to take with you, that still has plenty of life still in it, and then there will be items that no longer fit in the new space.
The art of blending old and new is beautifully done when you have some guidance. Together, we’ll not only find the new, but connect it to the old and make it all work together harmoniously. A designer consultation is a great way to begin that process!
Three Design Styles that Blend the Old with the New
Though we aren’t trend people here, we do love a mood board and some inspiration pulled from common design aesthetics. Use these as jumping off points and as examples for your designer in meetings so you can help develop the vision. These three design styles work wonderfully in South Florida homes, but also perfectly blend old and new.
Granny Chic Design
Granny chic is an up-and-coming style. Also known at grandmillennial, it effortlessly embraces patterns and furnishings of past decades while placing them in more modern settings. This fearless approach to mixing the old and new is often a reinterpretation of these older trends and fashions where they are either worked into a space or given a refresh and new life.
We like this style because it works for all generations. Young families, first-time homebuyers, and retirees moving into their empty-nester era can all embrace it. This is done by bringing chintz, wicker, needlepoint, Mid-Century Modern pieces, a variety of vintage patterns, and Art Deco items together with newer items.
Southern Traditional
Southern Traditional offers a fantastic opportunity to incorporate antiques details with more modern home design. New wood tables, light and airy window treatments, modern light fixtures, Oriental rugs, blue and white Chinoiserie vases, and soft color palettes define this design style. These pieces make it easy to bring wicker, lace, and original wood floors and ceiling beams into the overall composition.
Bohemian Design Style
Now, give us a chance. We know Bohemian may not bring up the most romantic visions. But there’s a certain approach to this style that very artfully combines some antique pieces with updated stone looks, French provincial style, and a warm, approachable maximalism. We love this particularly, because you can mix any design tradition into it. If you have more American Western leanings, you can easily combine it with the Bohemian style. The same goes for farmhouse, Scandinavian, and New England.
How to Blend the Old with the New
There are a few simple ways we can work together to bring the old and the new together in your modern home. The following tips are just a few suggestions for successfully bringing older pieces to life alongside modern furniture and decor that breathes freshness and comfort into any home you’re designing.
- Start with the old. While it’s exciting to shop for the new, it’s best to start any room layout and inspiration with the pieces you already own and want to keep. Doing this will also help us determine color palette and what is actually needed when shopping of newer pieces. An old dining table can easily be updated and refreshed with new chairs, while old dressers can easily complement new mirrors, and old lights can brighten new sofas.
- Consider window treatments. Windows are a very easy way to instantly change the entire feel of a rooms. Newer styles favor blinds, sheer curtain options, and other more updated designs. Older curtains were often heavier and layered. Choose older window treatments designs to infuse that bit of old in a fully updated space.
- Shop antiques and pre-owned. Work with your designer to source older furnishings and decor that captures the essence of previous design eras. Give these pieces new life alongside your heirlooms, and subtly build them into your newer home. Some fantastic items to look for are floor and table lights, baskets, chests, and boxes, art, bookends, and sculptures.
Design Your Home with the Help of a Designer
If all of this feels overwhelming, don’t worry. We at YDP work with homeowners who are attached to items that have traveled with them throughout their lives. Working with empty-nesters to design second, third, or fourth homes. And, we love helping young professionals incorporate their family and culture into their fresh start. No matter the project, we find space for both the old and the new.
Work with Your Design Partner to design rooms that speak to you and capture every part of both your past and future.
