If you have read my post about how to style your home you already know my interiors style. Very cozy and comfy, inspired by the countryside. I am not one of those people that loves a beige, very contemporary home. I well and truly love a green, vintage-feel home! And thus, three of my favorite features in our home are vintage/bought second hand. Not only does it give the pieces so much more character and a story to tell. But it also cost me little to nothing to buy them! And who doesn’t love a good bargain?
The Definition of a Cozy Home: Inside the Living Room
The first thing I want to talk about is this amazing old drawer I got at a reclamation yard for – would you believe it – 10 €! Even before moving into our home, I knew I didn’t want to “traditional” coffee table. Instead, we opted for this amazing pouf. It adds so much more coziness to the room than your standard coffee table, and it is much more comfortable to pop your feet up after a long day. The only downside to it: you can’t really put any cups, glasses, etc. on there, without risking a huge mess. So I went on the look out for a big wooden tray to put on top, that would hold all the beverages my little heart desired. But I could never find the right one. Either they were too contemporary in style, too big, too small, or simply, way too expensive.
And then, by chance, I stumbled upon the amazing drawer you’re seeing here. I think we went to the rec yard to buy wood to make a bench for the balcony. And there it was, sat outside, covered in moss – the perfect coffee table tray! It’s got the absolut perfect size for our pouf, and the tall edges prevent anything from falling off. I especially love the little “handle”/ring, that lets you know in a very subtile way that this lovely piece wasn’t made to be a tray in the first place. Even though this was so inexpensive, it is definitely one of my absolute favorite features in our home!
A Gallery Wall, But Make It Vintage!
Next up is the most recent addition to our home: the gallery wall. Since moving in over a year ago, we haven’t really put up a lot of pictures. We have got a lot more wall space than in our old apartment – about twice as much! – but still, a lot of the walls are pretty blank still. I have to admit, I am not really somebody that likes to put photographs on my walls. I think unfortunately a lot of the times the many different colors of them don’t go very well with the aesthetic I’m looking to create. Instead, I way prefer paintings of nature, landscapes or animals.
One thing I love to do to find pictures for a very affordable price is to go through old books. The pictures you’re seeing are all from the same book I bought on a flea market for 1 € – something about deer. I know absolutely nothing about deer, nor do I really care, but I really like the vibe these photos give. They are a little moody and mysterious, and since they are black and white, they don’t clash with anything.
The antique sewing machine below the gallery wall was also bought second hand – for just 20 €! And it wasn’t hard to find at all, places like facebook market place or eBay are full of them. I am so happy with this little “table”, because again, it is a lot more interesting than a standard console table. The books popped on top are stolen from my grandma’s very well stocked book cases, meaning completely free.
Interestingly, the most expensive thing in this picture were the picture frames. I have to admit that I was blind to the price of good, handmade picture frames, having bought them at places like IKEA my entire life. But since it was one of my New Year’s resolutions to either shop more locally or at least support small businesses, I got these German made ones, and they are the perfect addition!
The Pièce de Résistance of Every Home: The Dining Room Table
The favorite thing in our home has to be our amazing dining room table. This again is something that we stumbled upon in the same rec yard (honestly this place is amazing!). And again, it is something that people will never believe the price of when we tell them. Ready? This table was 300 €. 300! Unheard of! I did have to put a little work into it to make it look the way it does now – it was quite spartan when we got it. So I sanded it down and varnished it, et voilà, my dream dining room table! I absolutely love the fact that you can still see the grain of the wood and the little knothole. And don’t get me started on the raw edges – they are what sold the table to me in the first place.
So what can you learn from this? Don’t pass up a great opportunity just because it needs a little work. Sometimes, all a vintage/second hand bought piece needs is a good clean and a lick of color. And you are guaranteed a very unique piece! I don’t think we have ever had guests over that haven’t commented on how amazing our dining table is. Not to brag – but it simply is!
