Related Articles

• Sculpting the Flames
• Designing with Antiques
• Hidden Treasures
• Independent Living
• Creative Expression

 Comments  Feed

Subscribe to Accent : Accent magazine Web feed Subscribe to Accent : Inspiration

You’ve just spent the day driving up the coast pausing at antiques shops along the way, and you were fortunate enough to not only discover the world’s best lobster roll, but also to find the most exquisite antique piece (or several). But now that you’ve brought your treasure home, the big question is where do you put it?

The good news is that a well-trained eye can incorporate antiques into almost any room or design style. We talked to three design and antiques professionals who showed us how it’s done.

Soothing Monochromatic or a Mixture of Polished and Painted
Antiques have layers of history, some figuratively, and some literally, such as the Scandinavian painted antiques found at Avolli in Scarborough, Maine. Owner Tricia Mitchell explains that pieces remained in the same families for generations: when new trends emerged they would just paint the piece with a color that was popular. “So these pieces would end up having layers and layers of paint on them, eventually making them unappealing, and unattractive,” Mitchell explains.

The extra layers have been scraped off the restored pieces in an attempt to restore to the piece’s first finish or paint in a wash of white, gray, or pale shades of green, yellow, or blue. “I think including painted pieces is always safe because they provide a neutral palette to a room,” says Mitchell, “but I also think it’s beautiful to pair painted pieces with polished pieces, such as something that’s elm or walnut. I think that also adds a beautiful depth to an interior and interest to a room.”

In a dining room (left) she designed a soft, monochromatic look enhanced with a touch of sparkle. “Monochromatic is also beautiful in its own way, creating a subtle, soothing, gentle feeling to a room, that can be particularly beautiful if you add crystal glasses, or a chandelier.”

A Beautiful Foil for Contemporary Design
Sometimes clients will ask designer  Michael Cebula of Cebula Designs in Newburyport, Mass., to try to mix in inherited heirloom pieces into a more modern design style, a challenge he believes can make the design stronger. “Antiques are a beautiful foil for contemporary design,” says Cebula. “It gives it an instant bit of character.”

He strategically introduced antique pieces into a Seacoast home built by TMS Architects to soften the interior design’s contemporary style. The home’s transitional architecture features simplified contemporary elements, such as the recessed wall panels painted in soothing but muted contemporary colors, which are repeated on sofas and chairs. To that palette, Cebula brought in antiques to add warmth and character—through the rich patina finishes of antique tables and jewel tone Oriental rugs, as well as the sense of history each piece contains. In the foyer (top, right), the home’s clean lines and contemporary Italian light fixture blend beautifully with a 19th-century Chinese bench that faces an 18th-century English sideboard, topped with a Chinese bronze lamp. Cebula says he prefers to mix periods in an interior so it doesn’t feel contrived.

Cebula is also a passionate collector of antiques. His own 1750s home in Newburyport has many, and he spends much of his free time antiquing. He recommends people new to antiques spend some time going to reputable auctions, shows, or chatting with antiques dealers, which is how he first learned. “You get an instant education at an antiques auction,” he says. “It’s a fun afternoon if you have the time and patience.”

A House Should be Collected
Her own collection of antiques did not come together at once but evolved, and that’s what most homes should do, according to designer Jane “Cubby” Derby of J. Covington in Portsmouth, N.H. 

“You can have more expensive and less expensive and things that you love as long as you have an eye for color and proportion,” says Derby. “I  like a blend of old and new. What I don’t like is just buying all at once. There’s no personality.” Derby encourages clients to begin a collection of something: “candlesticks, blue and white plates, rocks, it really doesn’t matter what it is,” she explains.

A good example of this philosophy is found in her home’s red library (bottom, right). All the upholstered furniture pieces are new while all wooden pieces are antiques from lots different periods, including Chinese and French tables, and an English sideboard and hanging cabinet. Lamps are either new or old ones that she’s had wired. Her own collections in the room include pieces of Imari, a type of China featuring Japanese-style painting.

Derby’s other recommendation is simple: buy things you love, even if that means saving up and purchasing one piece at a time. “The things in your home are the things you live with 365 days a year. You should like it.”