Carpets

One option is to use a patterned carpet along with a plain, single coloured sofa and colourful artwork framed on the walls to set a retro look.

If you are a fan of the Victorian style, go for intricately designed carpets in chromatic colours (royal red) and set up a contrast with a sofa with a soft tone (white) and dark walls (grey). 

Rejects

Consider yourself very fortunate if you can find an old mirror with rust eaten edges. And if you find it along with an old frame with bits and pieces broken, then you, my friend have hit the jackpot. Do a little bit of cleaning and re-paint the frame in a shade of mahogany, gold or black. You'll be baffled to see how aesthetic it'll look.

Invest in wooden trunks if you don't own one; Gulshan DCC market has a few antique stores that sell these. Of course, you will not use it to store cutlery or money but, rather as a coffee table. Never could've thought of that, eh?

Practising the 3Rs

Did you just clean the entire jar of Nutella overnight and have collapsed in your bed with all the sugar flooding your blood. Burn those calories and get to work. Reuse and recycle that jar of Nutella and the three others you had over the weekend as shades for your tungsten globe bulbs. Hang these over your dining table or attach them to a wooden surface on the walls of your kitchen. Congratulations on creating both a cosy vibe and saving the environment.

Get your paint brush to work

Going off track with what you read at first about using antiques to decorate; painting your walls a particular colour can help you get that old school look you want. Colours like royal blue, chocolate brown, cream, grey, bright red, pastel green are all associated with vintage. Try these out on your walls, now!

Beauty is in THE details

Adding picture frames in brown, black or gold on the walls, using a flower vase in a pastel shade of green along with art work in gold, a royal blue lamp, a gramophone resting on one of the tables in the living space, a globe made of copper, a compass from the 70s, a bunch of Magnolias, these and many more will simply make your room look gorgeous. Relish in the beauty and history behind these antiques as you can find these and many more in stores in old town and of course, Gulshan DCC market. 

You can never go wrong with a classic, vintage look. The idea of using antiques to decorate your home has to be seen very simplistically. Your goal will be to create a contrast between modern and classic, not to go full on vintage; you'll end up living in a museum if the latter amuses you.

By Ali Sakhi Khan  

Photo: LS Archive/Sazzad Ibne Sayed