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Vintage Vantage
Whether you’re seeking the cool tones of retro chic or the whimsy
evoked by charmingly mismatched pieces, a vintage interior design
style creates a warm and comfortably nostalgic look
Words By Caroline Allen
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Sweet shops are doing a roaring trade
in nostalgia, purveying Time bars, candy
necklaces, apple drops and sherbet
fountains while vintage fashion is on-trend,
thanks to the ‘Mad Men’ TV series. It’s
little wonder that many of us are harking
back to the past and incorporating a few
heirlooms or vintage pieces into our
interiors. It’s a case of ‘in with the old’ and
retro is right-on. We crave classic design;
second hand is savvy; and upcycling is the
height of creativity.
It’s a trend that is benefitting many
businesses, one of which is County Laoisbased A Room in the Cottage in Rosenallis,
started last year by Michelle McGuirk who
specialises in vintage-style cushions,
aprons and hanging decorations. “It all
started with my paternal grandmother
who was very creative. Chanel perfume
and power puffs filled her dressing table
while strings of pearls hung from her
mother’s mirror,” recalls Michelle.
“Her bed was adorned with pale floral
cushions that were removed every night
and replaced every morning. She oozed
style and never left the house without her
“
1. U.F.O gold retro pendant. €1366 plus Vat.
Willie Duggan Lighting, Kilkenny, T: 056
7722154 2. Crystal armchair, gold leaf Diamond
royal cabinet, Astra lamp, gold leaf. Murano vases.
The Fendi range exclusive to Bespoke Design.
Appointment-only showroom: 308 Harbour Point
Business Park, Little Island, Cork, T: 021 427995,
M: 086 8419937, www.bespokedesign.ie 3. A
characterless knotty pine cupboard has been
painted with Annie Sloan Chalk paint in Chateau
Grey and Old White, varying the shade by adding
more Old White in places. More variation is
achieved by using dark and coloured waxes mixing
wax and paint together. Paints & workshops in
Twenty Six, Kenyon St, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary,
T: 067 32805, www.twentysixeclecticmix.ie 4.
Classic copper bateau bath for long leisurely soaks.
Wilson's Reclamation Yard, Co Down, T: 048
9269 2304, www.wilsonsyard.com
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Vintage items intrigue me; they have their own story
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5. Osborne & Little’s Maharani is a collection of printed fabrics in a fresh and contemporary colour palette. €50 per metre. Fabric on cushion is Balyan,
also from O&L. €44 per metre. The Fabulous Fabric Company, Ballymakeera, Co. Cork, T: 026 45235, www.tffc.ie 6. 7. 8. Resin wall clock €43.
Bread bin €27, biscuit tin €12.15, cake tin €16.25. Tea caddy and flower spoons £12.50 €19. All from Debenhams
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It’s a case of ‘in with the old’ and
retro is right-on. We crave classic
design; second hand is savvy; and
upcycling is the height of creativity.
soft Italian scalloped leather gloves, which she
got handmade in Rome.”
Michelle has incorporated many of her
grandmother’s treasured pieces into her own
home, from a grandfather clock to her old
perfume bottles and a small music table.
“Vintage items intrigue me; they have their own
story,” reflects Michelle. “I love to look at an
item and think of who has used it before. I look
at my grandmother’s gloves and imagine her
walking into the old leather shop in Rome,
which she liked to visit regularly, with her ticket
to collect her gloves. Vintage to me means
love,” says Michelle.
Granny chic is also embraced by Edel
McDermott who gives her grandmother’s
mahogany spoonback chair pride of place in her
Newbridge boutique Willow. “I’ve always been
drawn to the vintage look and after my granny
died, I wanted to showcase her chair in my
boutique which I decorated in a vintage style,
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9. Red floral ceramics. Made in Vietnam. €6.50-€18.50. Oxfam
shops 10. Dressers are back in a big way, according to David Keane
of The Store Yard which stocks a range of antique and salvaged
interior and exterior items. This antique painted pine kitchen dresser
sells for €995. The Store Yard, Kea-lew Business Park, Portlaoise,
Co Laois, T: 057 86 80088, www.thestoreyard.ie 11. Upcycled
Queen Anne in luxurious cotton velvets. Vintage Lane, 3 The
Tannery Building, The Quays, Dungarvan, Co Waterford, T: 058
44477, M: 086 8338790, www.vintagelane.ie 12. Handmade
cushions. Vintage Lane, www.vintagelane.ie
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Think Contemporary
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with the help of Ski Interiors, Naas. I had the
chair re-upholstered in a dusky pink velvet
fabric to complement the shop counter, and
I used Designers Guild wallpaper and a
laminate flooring that gives a limed effect
from Shay Doherty, Naas, and chandeliers to
complete the look,” explains Edel, who is in
the process of restoring a cottage near Athy.
Another delightful store that celebrates
inherited pieces is Cupan Tae, a Kenmare
teashop, which uses bone china cups and
accessories that were given to the owner
Mary O’Leary by family and friends.
When it’s not possible to raid granny’s
attic, it’s possible to find happy hunting
grounds in house clearance sales, auctions,
charity shops such as Oxfam Home, and
retro sourcing businesses such as Kirk
Modern and Retrorummage. The Brocante
Market, held every third Sunday of the
month in Newmarket Square, Dublin 8, is
another good spot. Furniture restorer and
French polisher, Pat Cooke, known as the
‘furniture doctor’ who created the Brocante
a year ago, says it is finally getting the
attention it deserves.
Mixing and matching of styles and periods
is a good way to go in these less than certain
times, Pat contends. “The straighter the
lines in the furniture, the better it looked,
French empire in particular. Military chests
were very ‘in’ and the Georgian look also for
its plain design and simplicity. Presently the
trend is for Art Deco, which can be
expensive, and retro or vintage which is
kitsch, fun and blends well with the ultra
modern look. Retro is vast and varied and
very affordable,” says Pat. Apart from the
Brocante, he suggests the Dublin Flea
Market at the same location on the last
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“
Stick to nice clean lines. 1940s to
1960s style furniture works very well.
13 An old kitchen table
and chairs have been
given the upcycling
treatment using Annie
Sloan paints. Paints &
workshops available in
Twenty Six, Kenyon St,
Nenagh, Co. Tipperary,
T: 067 32805,
www.twentysixeclecticm
ix.ie 14. Selection of
upcycled pieces with
Anthony Buggy &
Joanne Kelly of Think
Contemporary. 15.
Upcycled chest of
drawers with black doll
artwork. Think
Contemporary
Interior Architecture
& Design, 1 Martin's
Row, Chapelizod,
Dublin 20, T: 087
9683101,
www.thinkcontemporary
.com 16. Hacked side
table, upcycled by
Think Contemporary
”
While times of
uncertainty
always spark a tendency to look back
to the past, affordability and
sustainability are also behind our
current love affair with vintage,
according to Joanne Kelly of Think
Contemporary Interior Architecture
and Design, which works in the area
of
upcycled
furniture
and
accessories. ”The older generations
did not throw away their furniture
and this is why we have some
beautiful early to mid-20th century
pieces now. We are reusing and
recycling old pieces as opposed to
always buying new,” she says.
Sideboards, dining chairs, coffee
tables and side tables, including nests
of tables are the popular pieces of the moment, according to
Joanne. “All of them are very easy to incorporate into a retro or
contemporary interior,” she remarks.
Joanne and Anthony Buggy (also of Think Contemporary)
source pieces for upcycling from family, auctions, secondhand
shops and websites. “Jumbletown.ie and Dublin Waste are free
and donedeal.ie and gumtree.ie have a fee but it’s generally quite
small,” says Joanne. “You have to look at the potential though as
most of the pieces that we upcycle are in bad condition and in
need of quite a bit of work.”
The simpler the piece, the
easier it is to upcycle, according
to Joanne. “Stick to nice clean
lines. 1940s to 1960s style
furniture works very well. Make
sure
to
examine
pieces
thoroughly, as there can be
hidden damage like woodworm.
Very ornate furniture doesn’t
work that well, as there is too
much detail,” she counsels.
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An old painted cabinet can look stunning beside a contemporary kitchen island while
old family photographs blown up on canvas can make a real statement in stairwells
Sunday of each month, and car boot sales as
good sources of interesting vintage furniture
and accessories. For small pieces, check out
Peacock & Ruby in the English Market, Cork.
Nigel Wilson of Wilson’s Conservation
Building Products, Co. Down, estimates that
30 per cent of the company’s pieces go to
contemporary properties. “Over the last
number of years there has been a trend for
minimalist living space; clinical lines and shiny
surfaces have been the order of the day. Our
current experience is that people find this
look a little stark and impersonal. This has
now evolved whereby people are trying to
find individual one-off pieces to add character
to the look or have old reclaimed floors to
give rooms some depth and avoid a ‘plastic’
look,” says Nigel. “This could be anything
from vintage chairs to settees, reclaimed
floors and cast iron radiators.”
An old painted cabinet, for example, can
look stunning beside a contemporary kitchen
island while old family photographs blown up
on canvas – try The Canvas Works in Kinsale
for quality finishes - can make a real
statement in stairwells. Whatever we choose,
one thing’s for sure, we have really warmed
to vintage. Just remember to stop short of
flying ducks!
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17. Striking turquoise ceramics make a statement on a narrow black console. Mylestone Interiors, Killarney, T: 064 6626331, 18. Three-drawer dresser
with bun foot in solid mahogany with hand-painted artwork finish. For a treasure trove of classic and country furniture, visit Embellish Home Interiors,
Skibbereen, Co Cork, T: 028 40185, www.embellishhome.ie 19. Harry sofa by Eric Jourdan from €3,050. Ligne Roset: Caseys Furniture, Cork &
Limerick, www.caseys.ie. Also www.ligne-roset.co.uk 20. Using a palette that reflects the freshness of sorbets and vitamins, take time to create a temporary
piece of art with Dulux paints in all the colours of the rainbow. 21. Dress up your sofa or bed in fashionable luxury with a layer of deep purple velvet and
sequined cushions. Purple multi cushion 16X16. €24. Purple antique velvet cushion 50X50 €15. Meadows & Byrne 22. The Bastide collection from
Camengo is a modern take on a countryside collection. Petals and embroidered arabesques enhance the natural colours of the fabric. A pastel stripe enlivens
a lightweight cotton. The Fabulous Fabric Company, Ballymakeera, Co. Cork, T: 026 45235, www.tffc.ie 23. Designed and produced in Mayo, Love
Ireland prints put a fresh, contemporary slant on traditional Irish expressions with their modern typography and colours. €9.95 for the 7x5 inch print and
€28.95 mounted to a size of 10 x 8 inch. Available online at www.garrendennylane.ie
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Twenty Six
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24. Oak’s distinctive and attractive textured grain can be emphasized
by painting with Annie Sloan Old White paint, allowing it to dry
then wiping it with a damp sponge so the paint remains in the grain.
Vary how much you take off for this interesting alternative to limed
oak. Paints & workshops in Twenty Six, Kenyon St, Nenagh, Co.
Tipperary, T: 067 32805, www.twentysixeclecticmix.ie
“
If you want to use a colour, take this
from something else in the room, a sofa or
the curtains for instance
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Gone are the days of the matching suite of furniture and we
are also moving away from dark wood furniture, says Annie
Sloan of Annie Sloan Paint, author of ‘Creating the French
Look’ and ‘Quick and Easy Transformations’ (both published
by Cico) whose paint can be bought in Twenty Six, Nenagh,
Co. Tipperary. “We want our homes filled with light and
brightness and we like our homes to be a mixture of
contemporary and old,” says Annie who will facilitate two
interactive workshops hosted by Margaret Corscadden in
April.
“The home is the place where you have a mixture –
granny’s old oak cupboard, your serviceable but frankly
orange pine dresser as well as a find from an antique shop
in mahogany,” remarks Annie. “These many types of wood
can make your room distracting so a way to make the room
cohesive is to paint two of them. Painting the oak and the
pine will not only be easier on the eye but will also makes
the room less busy. The two pieces need not be the same
colours but as they are painted they will seem to ‘match’. If
you want to use a colour, take this from something else in
the room, a sofa or the curtains for instance. The rule is not
to have too many colours and textures in a room,” advises
Annie.
“Painting furniture is the way forward. It’s economical as
a pot or two of paint and some wax goes a long way
covering furniture and the effect is wonderful – it’s a way to
introduce colour and lightness,” she says.❊
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