Welcome to AptDeco. We’re going to give you the 101 on how to style vintage furniture and how to style pre-owned furniture! Pairing your current, modern furniture mix with vintage furniture can seem intimidating, but it’s actually simple! The contrast between new furniture and pre-owned furniture can create a striking style that will have your guests impressed upon checking out your first apartment or forever home! We’re going to give you the breakdown on how to decorate with used furniture, and trust us, decorating with vintage furniture is fun and easy!

Step 1: Let’s figure out your personal interior design style! If you need help and are asking yourself, what’s my decorating style? We really encourage you to take our interior design furniture finder quiz. If you really have trouble getting started, we recommend getting lost in the internet, bookmarking your favorite beautiful interiors and room inspiration! We promise after even 30 minutes of browsing, you’ll start figuring out your vintage furniture style. You’ll definitely notice patterns in what you pick out, which will give you a great starting point. A lot of the pictures you find will be tagged with their associated styles, like Mid-Century modern furniture or minimalist scandanavian furniture designs. Depending on the room you’re decorating, you might be gravitating towards reclaimed wood pieces, going for a more distressed furniture style. Identify the home decor elements as well, and different decor pieces and accessories. Don’t be afraid to mix different styles as well, like mid-century modern furniture pieces with shabby chic, or Art Deco, and luxury furniture styles! The more you mix and match, the more unique your decorating style will be. Take note of the throw pillows, styles of table elements (like table lamps, rugs, etc) and see what styles pop up in your inspiration!

Ok, here’s where we reel it in! The used furniture hunt can be overwhelming, and its important to be mindful of the style you want without letting it hold you back creatively. Furthermore, its key to not be afraid of really pushing the envelope with these quirky, vintage furniture finds. We know there’s a fine line between eclectic and too out there, but some vintage furniture finds can really be what ends up setting a room apart from an ordinary room to a unique, art deco, inspirational space!

Another important thing to keep in mind? Furniture is always able to be modified. Meaning if you don’t like the color of your furniture, the furniture’s upholstery, or even furniture decor finishes (let’s say you’d rather have a gold coffee table than silver, for example) you can always change it! So don’t miss out on cool, unique, antique furniture just because of one aspect that you could easily modify! We especially think this is important when hunting for antique bedroom furniture, vintage patio furniture, and living room furniture!

Now that we’ve talked about flexibility, let’s talk about the things you should never settle on when shopping for pre-owned furniture. If you’re in the used furniture market and are scoping out vintage furniture pieces, make sure you standby your measurements. This is one of those stinky rules that really cannot change! We know it's tough to here, especially if you’ve found your dream vintage sofa or vintage table, but if it won’t fit through the door, let it go. PS, if you need help figuring out how to measure furniture, we have tons of diagrams on it, so we can always help with that!

Finally, when shopping, an important tip is to look out for quality designer furniture, and top furniture brands. That way if you ever want to sell your furniture, it’ll hold its value! Try to stop easily identifiable styles, like contemporary furnishings, mid-century modern furniture, and well-known brands that you and others love, like west elm. ikea, room and board or cb2! With this in mind, you’re absolutely ready to shop used and vintage furniture!

You can shop for furniture in every brand, color, and style across the United States, including in cities like Houston, Dallas, Washington DC, Austin, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego, Miami, Atlanta, Phoenix, San Francisco, San Jose, Philadelphia, and New York.