How to organise your home using antiques

Vintage pieces offer all the storage solutions you need, from shelves for your miniatures to cabinets for your linens

Published: January 7, 2019 at 10:00 am

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Think creatively when organising your hallway. Make use of plenty of hooks, store coats in attractive vintage trunks and arrange different-sized crates on top of each other for a cool and practical industrial vibe.

An exposed brick hallway with hooks and antique trunks used to store winter coats and blankets
Cricket bat £20, Focus On The Past. Vintage leather trunk by AW Dear, Knightsbridge £70, Rag & Bone. Sage Green & Burnt Orange 1940s bedcover £369, and Vintage Derw 1950s plaid Welsh blanket £159, both Jane Beck Welsh Blankets. Hat, stylist’s own. Vintage rustic Romanian coat rack £50, Rag & Bone. On coat rack: satchel £20, Repsycho; scarf, stylist’s own. Wooden crate £45 for three, Heavenly Homes & Gardens. In crate: vintage Welsh Tapestry Putty, Olive & Daffodil blanket £269, Jane Beck Welsh Blankets; wool blankets, stylist’s own find similar at Focus On The Past. Ahanti large storage box £59.95, Nkuku. Books, stylist’s own. Galvanised plant pot, stylist’s own find similar at Garden Trading. Traditional willow broom £21.60, Rockett St George. Galvanised bucket £35, Focus On The Past. Jute rug £90, Next. Flowers, Lisa Elliott Floral Design. - -

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In a bedroom, make use of your surfaces by adding attractive pieces that double up as handy storage for jewellery, scarves and other treasured objects.

A vintage drawer unit on a dressing table used to store make up, jewellery and scarves
Sectional archive drawers £995, Eyespy. On drawers: vintage glass hand-engraved chemist’s measure from £10, Nineteen; silver beaded perfume bottle London (1919) £19, Focus On The Past; silver rimmed glass perfume bottle £39, Focus On The Past; flowers in jug canvas, and scissors, both stylist’s own. Victorian pine miniature chest £190, Focus On The Past. In chest: scarves, stylist’s own; agate necklace £20, Focus On The Past. On chest: books and postcards, stylist’s own; glass silver band perfume bottle £28, Focus On The Past; Bequai mirror cabinet £39.95, Nkuku; Lisner brooch £8, and vintage brooch £6.50, both Focus On The Past. - -

3

In a corner of your living room, set up a quiet, calm area that’s perfect for study. Incorporate vintage task lamps, large wall maps and a metal filing cabinet to create a space that’s a pleasure to spend time in.

A vintage orange wire tray atop a green metal filing cabinet.
Industrial metal chest of drawers 1950s £295, Cream & Chrome. Red wire tray £8, Shrewsbury Flea. Globe £30, Focus On The Past. 1960s desk lamp by Josef Hurka for Lidokov £165, Cream & Chrome. French vintage map £100, The Archaic Folk. Chair, find similar at Cult Furniture. - -

4

In your kitchen, turn a simple shelving unit into an eye-catching piece. Choose your favourite wares, from ceramic bowls to kilner jars, to display all manner of cupboard staples in an appealing manner.

A vintage shelving unit is used to display copper pans and jars of larder essentials in a kitchen.
Pendant light £150, Source Antiques. Painting by Brenda Arundell, loaned by Matthew Hunkin. Pine dresser £285, Focus On The Past. On dresser (top shelf): brass plant sprayer £12.99, Haws; brown apothecary jar from £15, Ateliercuriosa via Etsy; kilner jar £10, Malvern Flea & Collectors Fair; terracotta plant pot, location’s own; copper saucepans £80 each, Focus On The Past. (Middle shelf): French cordial bottle £15, The Giant Shepton Flea Market; green enamel plate £8, Focus On The Past; green teapot £24.99, HomeSense; sugar dredger £8, Focus On The Past; vintage storage jars from £5, Malvern Flea & Collectors Fair; Wedgwood green majolica leaf plate £25, Focus On The Past; metal jug and utensils from £2 each, The Giant Shepton Flea Market; vintage madeleine shell tin £15, Focus On The Past; small stoneware ink bottle £2, The Giant Shepton Flea Market; small vintage condiment containers from £4 each, Life of Si; vintage kilner jars from £10 each, Malvern Flea & Collectors Fair. (On hooks): Woods Ware Beryl green jug £7, and cups £5 each, all Rachel’s & Michael’s Antiques; vintage Skyline tomato slicer £10, Focus On The Past; ladle £15, Baileys Home; grey enamel mug £6, Shrewsbury Flea. (Bottom shelf): vintage kilner jars and madeleine tin, as before; green enamel mug £6, Shrewsbury Flea; vintage cheesegraters £5-£7, Malvern Flea & Collectors Fair; small vintage kilner jar £5, Shrewsbury Flea; plant pot, find similar at Garden Trading. - -

5

Every family bathroom needs a cupboard for towels, toiletries and other sundry items. And if it has glass doors, that’s an even better excuse to treat it as a cabinet for your collections.

A glass-doored vintage display cabinet is used to show off towels, toiletries and plants in a bathroom.
Vintage cupboard £475, Verve Living. On cupboard: wire box £42, Camperdown Lane; linen from £8, Malvern Flea & Collectors Fair; apothecary bottles, from £15-£60 each, Ateliercuriosa via Etsy. In cupboard (top shelf): linen, as before; Priddy Essentials Ex Libris Anywhere Spray £22.50, Camperdown Lane; fask £14.50 for three, Red Candy; terracotta pot, location’s own; apothecary bottles, as before. (Third shelf): books, stylist’s own; jar £22, and vase £28, both The White Company; sponge, stylist’s own; L:A Bruket hand wash £21.50, Holloways of Ludlow; Priddy Essentials hand wash £12 each, Camperdown Lane; Whitstable Stripe towels from £12 each, The White Company. (Second shelf): towels from £2.50, Marks & Spencer; bottles £5 each, Shrewsbury Flea; hand wash, as before; green jar £15, Marks & Spencer. (Bottom shelf): blanket £40, Focus On The Past; basket, find similar at HomeSense. Galvanised pot, for similar try Garden Trading. Furnace tiles £30.68 each, Fired Earth. - -

6

Do away with convention in a bedroom and replace bedside tables with a tall locker unit. Add plenty of rustic touches with a metal bed, vintage Anglepoise lamp, and an oversized initial.

A grey vintage metal locker is used as a bedside table to a distressed metal bed.
Vintage metal star £39, Rockett St George. Bed, find similar at The French Bed Company. Clarendon bed linen from £68, The White Company. Metal lockers £495, Eyespy. Enamel mug £6, Shrewsbury Flea. Early Anglepoise (c1934) £350, Source Antiques. Letter R £35, Cream & Chrome. Lomo camera, find similar at Lomography. Books, stylist’s own. Wooden hand £15, Hay. - -

7

If you own a large collection of small curios, you’ll need a clever way to display them. Step forward the printer’s tray. With its many sections of varying sizes you can store all manner of sentimental objects, from vintage condiment pots to old Cluedo cards, via shells, badges, toy cars, passport photos and more.

An antique printers tray is mounted on the wall and used to display a collection of small curios
Printer’s Tray £36, Verve Living. Various small accessories, all sourced from Life of Si. - -

All prices and product names correct at time of publication.

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