Vintage has been in fashion for a long time now. For the past fifteen or so years, vintage clothing and decor design don’t seem to have dipped in their popularity. Even though some styles and trends come in and out of fashion very regularly, vintage still seems to be holding on. It’s something people love and they just can’t get enough of it. Especially in their homes.
If you take a look in interior design magazines, you will notice that a lot of the features are focused on vintage-inspired rooms. They will be filled with antique furnishings and patterns and color shades that hark back to simpler times. It’s certainly a sophisticated way to design a home, regardless of your own design and decor tastes. Vintage design can be varied in so many different ways, that there is surely going to be one aspect of vintage decor that you will love in your home. It’s so versatile; there really is no wonder why so many homeowners love it in their rooms.
There’s just one small issue, though – it doesn’t gel well with tech. You will notice in all the vintage-inspired rooms features in interior design magazines that there is no tech on show in them. No TV, no laptop or computer, and usually no other electrical appliances (apart from lights of course) where they aren’t needed. Adding ultra-modern and contemporary pieces and aspects such as technology could take away from the beauty of vintage design.
But does technology really have to detract from your vintage decor? Not really! If you are clever with your design then you will find it is very easy to incorporate some great tech pieces into your rooms without it looking too modern and contemporary. Here are some ways to do just that.
Decide Which Rooms Need To Be Tech-Heavy
There will be some rooms in which you won’t need any tech. For instance, your bedrooms shouldn’t have any TVs, computers, or mobile tablet devices in them as they have been proven to reduce the quality of your sleep. You also won’t need any tech devices in rooms such as libraries, conservatories, and sitting rooms. It’s up to you whether you need tech in your living room – most families like to have a TV in theirs, but if you can do without one than it will help sustain the vintage design. However, in rooms like your kitchen you will need lots of technical appliances. After all, how will you survive without a dishwasher, microwave, and contemporary refrigerator? As you can tell, then, some of your rooms will have to be quite tech-heavy. Sure, there will be some vintage appliances that you might be able to use in your kitchen, such as an aga cooker, but it’s best to admit defeat in these rooms. Don’t feel bad about adding all that technology to them – at least you have your other non-tech rooms that you can make even more vintage!
Create A Home Office
If you would rather keep all of your laptops, TVs, and other devices out of the majority of your rooms, you could put them all into a home office. That way, whenever anyone wants to use some tech, they can do so in the office. Creating a dedicated home office will give you somewhere where you can store your contemporary belongings out of the way of your vintage rooms. Even if you don’t work from home, it’s still a good idea to set up a home office area so that you can create a clear distinction between the modern and vintage aspects of your home decor.
Add Plenty Of Storage
Don’t have the space for a home office in your house? No problem; you just need to add plenty of storage to your rooms. That way, you can easily store your laptops and mobile devices when you aren’t using them. When they are out of sight they won’t infringe on your vintage design at all, as they might do when they are left out on coffee tables and dining room tables. So, as you can see, it’s perfectly fine to use a laptop or tablet in a period-designed room – just remember to tidy it away when you are finished with it!
Use Vintage Tech Items
Of course, there are some vintage tech pieces that you could add to your rooms. These will be period pieces so won’t look too out of place surrounded by vintage decor. For instance, rather than buying a modern sound system, you might want to invest in a record player from https://www.hmv.com/. That way you can listen to some cool retro vinyl rather than contemporary CDs, MP3s, or music streams. And you’ll have an authentic period piece of furniture to add to your vintage living room! There are other cool vintage tech items you might want to use in your decor, such as retro telephones.
Go Wireless
Ideally, you need to minimize the number of wires and cables that are in your home. Obviously, these aren’t a vintage feature and will be a dead giveaway that there is a lot of tech in your household. The addition of wires and cables will look very modern and contemporary indeed! For instance, when it comes to your internet, you should no longer have a cabled connection. Move to a broadband one instead. There are now lots of firms, such as https://www.suddenlink.com, that offer very speedy broadband internet at extremely reasonable prices. Moving to a broadband connection means that you also won’t need cables to connect your smart TV or video games console to the internet. As long as you they are able to connect via broadband, they won’t need as many wires coming out the back of them and cluttering up your home!
Hide Any Wires You Can’t Do Without
Of course, there will be some wires that you won’t be able to get rid of completely. But that doesn’t mean that they need to be visible in your rooms. There are plenty of ways you can hide them. If it is possible, you can run them behind large pieces of furniture, such as your sofa. This will also prevent anyone from tripping up over them by accident. Don’t worry if you can’t put them behind any furniture items, there are other ways to hide them away. One thing you could try is taping thin wires to the inside leg of any tables in your rooms. Another great idea is to add some decorative vintage boxes to your rooms. These can be used to store the cables in. You will just need to create a small hole in the back of the boxes so that the cables can run in and out of the boxes. The bulk of all the wiring can be kept inside them so that it doesn’t clutter up your rooms. You might also want to try making a DIY baseboard. A baseboard is a decorative feature that runs all the way along the skirting board in a room. It can be any size or color that you like, so you will easily be able to create one that fits in with the vintage theme of a room. Ideally, leave a small gap between the baseboard and the skirting board so that you can run your cables and wires in between them.
Embrace a Mixed Decor
Don’t really fancy going to all the bother of hiding away your technology? Well, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to! In fact, you could even throw a curve ball and use that technology in your vintage decor. Yes, that is possible! Mixed decor schemes are a big thing right now. All it involves is taking two completely contrasting interior designs and combining them in one room. So, you could easily combine vintage style with contemporary decor features. The easiest way to do this is by incorporating both antique features and contemporary furnishings. Bringing some tech into a room will also highlight the mixed design.
Consult an Interior Designer
If you are ever unsure on how to tackle any part of your own interior design then you should always consider calling an interior designer to help you out. They will be able to answer any design-related questions that you might have as well as giving you lots of great tips and advice. If you are really stuck for ideas and inspiration, you might want to bring them in to create their very own design for you. I’m sure that a professional designer will have lots of great ways to incorporating technology into a vintage-inspired room without losing any of the great retro and vintage ambience. At the end of the project, you’ll have a vintage home that you can be totally proud of!
As you can see, all of your home tech doesn’t have to detract from your vintage-inspired home decor. There are plenty of ways the two can come together in harmony. You just need to experiment!
Be the first to comment