Is your dream to live in a vintage house
just like in those old movies you like so much? Sitting by the fireplace with a
glass of Southern comfort in your hand, feeling the mystery of your ancestors
who resided in the house before you? Well, it is possible. First, you don’t
need any previous ancestor tenants, which is quite obvious - just let your
imagination take care of that. Second, you won’t find that kind of house for
sale. And if you do - don’t buy it. Old age houses look attractive only in
movies, in reality, they’re not pleasant to live in at all - if the moist
doesn’t ruin your health then the ceiling will fall on your head. So the only
option you have is to make your new house look old. In other words, to
redecorate it in vintage style. But many people are reluctant to start
redecorating and they postpone the process every year until they gather up
enough money. But your dreams are not something that should be postponed - it’s
nice to pretend you’re Scarlet O’ Hara, but that doesn’t mean you should ‛think about it tomorrow’.
Start redecorating today, and we’ll provide you with a few tips on how to do it
without having your budget gone with the wind.
The Eyes of Time
If you want your house to get that ‛old
feeling’ you need to start with its eyes - the windows. The soul of the house
hides behind its windows, as H.P. Lovecraft has noticed a long time ago and
depicted in his short story ‛The Picture in the House’ in which he showed all his love for vintage things:
‛...but the small-paned windows still stare shockingly, as if blinking through
a lethal stupor which wards off madness by dulling the memory of unutterable
things.’ This is the exact effect you want to achieve, minus Lovecraft’s cosmic
horror element, of course. The point is to make every passerby feel like the
Past is watching him from the inside of the house. Small-paned windows really
do have something sinister in them, so you should probably go for wide and tall
ones, aiming for the grandiose and inviting effect. Of course, you can’t have
your windows covered in dust and cobwebs, so you’ll have to go with curtains to
achieve the ‛mysterious’ effect (and if you’re not aiming at mystery, you’ll
still need some protection from the sun). You can choose between curtains, blinds,
or shutters that will match your vintage style, but make sure you pick the quality window furnishing that will last - the point is to look worn-out, not to actually be decrepit.
The Rustic Soul
So, what is that soul behind the windows
made of? The answer is simple- it’s made of wood. What makes that nostalgic
feel of the old houses from the movies is the presence of natural wood and a
number of exposed beams. The wood as a material has something almost
archetypical inside it, connected with ancient deep-rooted trees in dark woods.
That’s why it brings character to your new-old house better than any other
material, and at the same time, it secures the warmth any home should have. You
can use single planks, board-and-batten, or beaded board, depending on the
style you wish to achieve, and whatever you choose the impact will still be
great. Of course, the wood needs to be high quality and new for the
construction, but you can easilymake it look old.
The Faded Memories
If you’ve ever been to any old house
you’ve probably noticed that their walls look like they hide many faded
memories of distant past. If you think about it, you’ll realize that that
feeling comes from the paint that has faded away. So, in order to achieve a similar
effect, all you need to do is to choose the muted hues for the colors of your
walls. It would be best to stick to earthy tones for this timeless look, but
there are many vintage color schemes so it doesn’t mean you’re only allowed to use the shades of
brown. The point is to make the colors blend in, and make sure they don’t
overshadow.
The faint flicker
What makes you feel nostalgic before you
even enter a house is a faint light flickering inside. We’re not saying that
you should cut the power and switch to candles, but a simple turn of the light
switch can make all your effort evaporate like it was indeed the ghost of the
past. So in order to maintain an authentic period look, you’ll have to equip
yourself with some vintage reproductions when it comes to lighting. These can
be pretty costly to come by, so the best solution is to mask things up with
lots of ambient lighting, which is much cheaper. If you have some old gas
lanterns you can convert them toelectric yourself and they’ll be quite sufficient for the job.
A Life Inside - the Conclusion
As you could see, there are various
tricks that can make your house look like from the old movies - it’s basically
like you’ve built yourself a film set. But keep in mind that you’re not an
actor (although you can pretend to be Scarlet O’ Hara) and that you actually
need to live inside. So make sure that under all those ‛layers of time’,
everything must remain functional. After all, what makes the house truly alive
is the person who lives inside it.
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