Every piece of furniture and décor will become vintage at some point. Although, it’s hard to imagine anything more beautiful than ornate, hand-carved pieces from the Edwardian and Victorian eras.

Certain pieces of décor will make you feel like you’re living in an area where people weren’t in a rush to get to work and traveled slowly by coach; an era where everything was carefully handcrafted, polished, and detailed.

vintage items

If you’re a lover of beauty, these vintage items will take you back to a time before your time:

Velvet upholstery

Velvet furniture has roots in China more than 4,500 years ago. It became popular in Italy in the 14th and 15th centuries, but was a luxury only the wealthy could afford. There’s a good reason for that, and it has to do with how it’s made.

Velvet isn’t your average fabric; it’s not a fiber like cotton or silk. Making velvet requires a complex method of weaving silk fabric. Back in the days of hand-weaving, this process was even more complicated than it is today. Today, velvet furniture is easy to find at thrift and antique stores. If you want to impress your guests, grab a few velvet chairs before your next family gathering and you’ll have plenty to talk about.

Why velvet is loved

People love velvet because of its plush texture that gives depth to the furniture it covers. Velvet is a material that can reflect light differently depending on which way the fibers lie. If you’ve ever run your hand over a piece of velvet, you’ll notice it gets lighter when you “comb” it in one direction versus the other. This is part of what makes velvet so appealing, and gives furniture extra dimensions.

Furniture covered with velvet upholstery was popular in the 1800’s. Since then, it’s been resurrected in modern day designs, although it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. You really need to be a fan of the texture to appreciate the beauty of sitting on a velvet couch or chair.

You can reupholster existing furniture with velvet

A couple hundred years ago, people would regularly reupholster their furniture when it wore out. There was a high demand for such work, and those working in carpentry made good money doing it. In our throw-away society, furniture isn’t always built in a way that makes it easy to be reupholstered.

If your favorite chair was delivered in a flat box and you had to put it together, you’ll probably have a hard time trying to reupholster it. The good (yet strange) news is that someone has invented velvet upholstery paint.  Now you can refresh the look and feel of old furniture – and give it a velvet texture – with a can of paint.

Ornate engagement rings

As with many items today, engagement rings have somewhat lost their flair. They tend to look the same, despite minor differences. Today’s diamond rings lack the fine details of the past.

There’s something alluring about a vintage diamond ring from the 1900’s; the diamonds of that era were intricately cut to reveal an absolutely unique design. Even the bands were crafted with attention to detail.

Vintage newspaper ads and magazines

If you’re going for a retro theme in your home, spread some vintage magazines across your breakfast table, coffee table, and other pieces of furniture. Vintage magazines and advertisements from every era have always been in high demand. It’s interesting to see what products were in high demand in the past, as well as how cheap they were to buy.

Miscellaneous items

If you’re looking for something that doesn’t take up much space, check out some of the smaller, miscellaneous vintage items people collect. There are cameras, clocks, matchbooks, boarding passes, thimbles, perfume bottles, games, metal tins, and even lapel pins. Basically, anything people used on a daily basis can make an interesting addition to your décor.

You could put a vintage hairbrush on your vanity, and set it next to a clear vase filled with vintage matchbooks. You could even place a vintage table runner across the dresser in your bedroom as a base for displaying smaller items.

Don’t worry about matching items from the same era

Unless you’re strictly collecting items from a specific era, don’t worry about mixing items from different eras. What matters most is that you’re happy with what you see when you look around your home.