Fav Vintage Finds & Creating a Collected Look in Your Home

Today I’m sharing some of my fav vintage finds from the past several months, and how I style them to create a collected look in my home. 

Last week I went antiquing with a good friend of mine who I originally met as the stylist for BHG when I had the first magazine photo shoot of my home.  We have a new(ish) tradition where we plan a day to get lunch then visit an antique mall for a couple hours, finding treasures for our homes. We are both enablers: I often leave behind some cool vintage items when I shop by myself, but Jessica convinces me I DO need them, and I do the same for her.

So today I thought I’d share what I got on the last couple trips out and how I styled them in my home. 

Here is our most recent haul:

Jessica’s finds:

And here is my haul from November:

You might recognize some of those items from recent blog posts. I used the tree skirt and horn in my Christmas decor, the toys and wooden horse in the Super Hero Boy’s Room Makeover, and all the books in the Woodland Girl’s Room Makeover. That wooden egg you’ll see later in this post. 

I restyled my bookcases last month but the left side bookcase was a work-in-progress. I was on the hunt for some cool pieces for it, and I’m happy to say almost everything I bought last week I used on this bookcase! I love it now!

Affiliate links are used in this post. 

My most favorite thing I bought was this hat stretcher that was mounted onto a metal rod display stand. 

It is absolutely brilliant that it was mounted, don’t you think? Such great patina and shape! And it would be a pretty easy DIY– I found similar object display stands from a shop on Etsy with different sizes so you could replicate this look, or you could mount whatever cool vintage object you want! My stand has a 4″ base and I think is about 6″ tall (only 5″ is exposed)

Object stands— 6″ size, 8″ size

Vintage Hat stretchers, my picks: option 1, option 2, option 3

This little pottery vase was another thing I bought. It isn’t vintage (it had a sticker on the bottom), but it is so pretty– the color, texture and size are perfect! Pottery is super trendy right now, but I love that it is timeliness, so I don’t see it going out of style– ever! 

Here are some pretty pottery vases I picked out:

Option 1, Option 2, Option 3, Option 4, Option 5, Option 6

This brass and glass curio case was a steal because the glass was cracked a little (which I don’t mind at all). I would recommend not passing on pieces that still look cool even if they are slightly damaged. I’m still looking for something cool to put inside… maybe some coral? 

Here are some similar glass curio cases:

Option 1, Option 2, Option 3, Option 4, Option 5

I saw this little brass piggy bank and was smitten. 

It’s quirky and while I’m not one who usually collects all the brass animals, I ended up putting it on some stacked books as a sort of book-end. It’s fun and unexpected!

Here are some brass animals I found on Etsy:

Piggy bank 1, Piggy Bank 2, Brass Horse, Brass Rabbit, Brass Duck

The rest of the items in the bookcase are things I already had. A chinoiserie planter and ceramic blue and white balls were HomeGoods finds from years ago, the wooden tray/bowl was from Target, and the stacked baskets on the top were a thrift store find. 

I use the woven baskets a lot in my styling (they came as a nested set), so I found some similar ones here:

Option 1, Option 2, Option 3, Option 4

On the other bookcase, I’m obsessssssed with this wooden egg with stand that we found back in November. 

It is quite large and I tried and tried but had a hard time finding something identical with no luck. But here are some similar wood egg objects that would look awesome in a bookcase:

Ostrich Egg, Wood Egg

Something else I love is this paper mâché bowl. I picked it up at Vintage Market Days last fall and I keep seeing them online in high-end styling. It’s like the perfect neutral, vintage object that works well with so many styles and can be used on a coffee table, console table, or bookcase. 

Here are some paper mâché bowls I found:

Option 1 (I paid this same price), Option 2, Option 3, Option 4

Brass candlestick holders are another vintage find that I almost always buy whenever I see them. I have over 25 in my stash but usually keep out small groupings (odd numbers) for styling. Groups of 3 or 5 work great in bookcases or on console tables!

 Opting for mixed brass candlestick holders vs matching sets, give that ‘collected’ look. Here are some mixed sets I found:

Option 1, Option 2, Option 3

I was so excited to have found this large wooden bowl last week:

Most wooden bowls I find are either too small or huge. This one is about 14″ across and not too deep, so it can sit on my dining table with fruit or I can use it on my bookcase later. 

Jessica found a larger wooden bowl that had a similar in patina, but we both agreed the larger size looks more ‘at-scale’ in a larger house with taller ceilings. She picked up that larger one for her photoshoots. 

Here are some similar-size wood bowls I found online:

Option 1, Option 2, Option 3, Option 4 (I’d probably sand this one down)

I changed up this little spot in our dining room to include my favorite color palette: blue and white, greenery, white, and natural wood:

These glass canisters with wood lids I picked up early last year when antiquing. They were originally large apothecary jars but I think they are so interesting!

Because both jars were chipped I got them for a great deal, which is another example how a little cosmetic damage can be worth it!

Here are some vintage glass canisters with lids I found:

Option 1, Option 2, Option 3, Wood Jar 1, Wood Jar 2

I’ve left these jars empty before in my bookcases, but I decided to fill them with a bunch of wooden ‘collections’ I had. One is filled with wood stamps, and the other with wood spools. 

Collections of wood stamps found here: Option 1, Option 2, Option 3

Collections of wood spools found here: Option 1, Option 2, Option 3

If you love antiques as much as I do, then I hope you enjoyed looking through my vintage finds and seeing how I used them in my home. Hopefully you gained some inspiration on how to use vintage pieces when styling your home so you can create a collected look!

Tell me, which was your favorite vintage item?