Add drama to a fireplace with your favorite American antiques.
Decorating your home with American antiques adds nostalgic, comforting reminders of days gone by. Whether you live in a 100-year-old country house or a studio apartment in the city, antiques add charming character to a space. Mixing old furniture pieces, home accents and other household items with new, modern counterparts creates visual interest and cozy warmth. Does this Spark an idea?
Kitchen
Fill your kitchen with functional American antiques, as well as purely decorative items that are simply reminiscent of earlier days when life was a little simpler and slower. Antique furniture pieces -- pie safes, farm tables, ladderback chairs, wooden cupboards, ice boxes, Hoosier cabinets -- add functionality to a kitchen with old-time appeal. Yellow-ware dishes, tin canisters, handmade crocks, cast iron skillets, oilcloth tablecloths, wooden breadboards and old canning jars are American antiques that add rustic appeal to any kitchen.
Living and Dining Rooms
Furnish your living and dining spaces with repurposed antiques to give new purposes to old items. For example, use an old trunk as a coffee table in front of a sofa, or create "new" end tables by stacking antique suitcases at an angle. Incorporate painted furniture pieces, such as old benches, rocking chairs or accent tables, into your decorating scheme. Positioning Windsor chairs around a wooden farmhouse table adds function to a dining space. Top the dining table with pewter candlesticks and a vase of fresh flowers to accentuate the old American dining decor. Add a rustic, corner cabinet, sideboard or china cabinet and hutch for additional storage space with authentic American antique appeal. Braided rugs, kerosene lamps and cross-stitch samplers provide decorative accents.
Bedrooms
The addition of American antiques to any bedroom creates a cozy, inviting ambiance. A majestic, black iron bed covered in layers of handmade quilts, textured coverlets, woven blankets and embroidered pillow shams provides an inviting sleeping space. Display antique collectibles -- dolls, trains, cars, figurines -- on freestanding shelves to enrich an old, American feel. Antique dressers, chests of drawers and bedside tables provide ideal storage space for clothing and other personal items.
Bathrooms
A claw-foot tub and a simple, white pedestal sink enhance a bathroom decorated with American antiques. Hang an old mirror above the sink and deck the walls with framed, sepia-toned photographs of ancient, bath-related items. Old postcards or photographs of antique barber poles, shaving mugs, outhouses, water pitchers and tin bathtubs enhance American antique decor. Add an old wash stand with a classic marble top for increased visual interest. Use handmade woven baskets for holding extra rolls of toilet paper, bath towels or other personal hygiene items.
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