by Toma Haines

 

Some of the main concerns clients new to antiques ask are "Will an antique match my present-day dcor? Can you put an antique armoire across from a Pottery Barn couch? Should I stay true to a particular period or can I mix and match furniture from the ages?"

Regardless of your decorating style, there is always a way to fit an antique into the grand decorating scheme. In fact, Bunny Williams - arguably one of the greatest interior designers of our time - is by her own definition "unabashedly eclectic". Celerie Kemble, a darling of the design world, writes "The best way to freshen a traditional room is to mix formal and precious with objects that are as casual as blue jeans." I believe it's mixing and matching periods that give depth to your decorating, allowing your dcor to be timeless, traditional and trendy all at the same time!

Throughout history, furniture from various ages has been combined - very few people have the funds to completely redecorate whenever a new trend strikes. Instead, in days of yore just as now, people tended to add in a few "new" (or in the case of purchasing antiques, "old") items to lend the overall impression they were going for. By all means, set that Louis Philip armoire across from your Pottery Barn couch. As a matter fact, use a practical and modern coffee table from Williams Sonoma Home but accessorize it with an antique Lalique vase, some leather-spined art deco books, your collection of vintage cameras and a perfect pottery bowl made by your 6 year old daughter in art class. This combination is what gives your home that certain "je ne sais quoi".

If we look back in time, this same decorating theory holds true. In 19^th C England, when Queen Victoria came to the throne, the Brits might have been undergoing an age of burgeoning wealth that had them hammering at the bit to decorate with the latest innovations but they still had to combine their present day purchases with the Gothic, Elizabethan and Jacobean antiques that had been handed down from their ancestors! Victorian Decorating often incorporated several historical and regional styles and I believe it's the eclectic combinations befitting of this era that has made Victorian Decorating among the most popular decorating styles for antique collectors in England and America today.

Furthermore, if you think of any of the "trendy" decorating styles you see in the modern-day decorating magazines - classic English country house, perfectly Provence or truly Tuscan - all 3 of these uber-popular styles are dependent upon layering old and new purchases.

My theory has always been "buy what you like" and if you like it, ultimately, it will all go together forming your own unabashedly eclectic dcor in the long run! This month I urge you to take a "Me Time Moment" and spend time perusing your local flea market, antique mall or simply hitting garage sales. And when you find something darling consider starting a new collection without regard to color, dcor, style, period or more.