Vintage decorating starts with an idea

METRO DETROIT — Decorating a home with vintage furniture doesn’t have to be hard — just keep in mind the budget and the chosen era.

Tim Pearl, a resident of Berkley, designed his office to have a 1930s look. He and his wife, Rebecca, bought their house four years ago, and his office was the last space they had to decorate. During the pandemic, Tim started working at home.

“My wife was like, ‘Well, you spend so much time in there, you should really make it your own,’” Pearl said.

Pearl said he has always been fascinated by the 1920s and the 1930s and watched “Peaky Blinders,” a crime drama set in those years, on Netflix.

“I just thought, ‘Well, if I’m going to do it, I’m going to go all-in and really try to make it as authentic as possible,” Pearl said.

Most of his pieces come from Facebook Marketplace. He said his desk came from an office that went virtual and his chair came from another man who was working from home. He also got his fireplace and his 1930s-style hide-a-bar cabinet from Facebook Marketplace.

He said some of the trinkets in his office are from antique stores, and he 3D-printed his sconces.

His interest in the 1920s and 1930s came from the wide range of family members who worked in the automotive industry. His dad, his uncle, his aunt, his maternal grandfather, his wife’s dad and his wife’s grandfather all worked in the automotive industry.

“All of that automotive culture just always fascinated me,” Pearl said.

Pearl said the post-Industrial Revolution era interests him the most.

“I love the colors; I love the music,” Pearl said. “You know late, late ’20s. It just seemed there was so much hope. And it’s also very calming to me.”

Steve Humphreys, owner of Vogue Vintage in Ferndale with his wife, Lynn, sells midcentury modern decor ranging from the 1950s to the 1980s. He gets the pieces in his store from people who want to sell the items.

He said a lot of people come into the store who want to decorate their homes with vintage pieces.

“They won’t do the whole house in vintage, but they’ll put pieces in there that will stand out, and that’s the stuff we carry,” Humphreys said.

He asks for and receives pictures of the pieces once the customers place them in their homes.

“They look great here, they buy them, but once they get them isolated in their house, (the items) tend to leave and look better,” Humphreys said. “I don’t know how that works out that way, but it does many times.”

He said those who are looking to decorate their homes with vintage items can start by researching online.

“Look at different people’s homes and try to match it in to what you have,” Humphreys said.

He also said to look through the store and see what they find.

Andy Schulist, owner of Mad 4 Mod in Livonia, said they sell vintage furniture including bedroom sets, desks and cocktail tables.

He has a wide range of customers, from those who know exactly what they’re looking for to those who have visions in their minds of what they want but don’t know much about vintage furniture. Schulist said he helps people by asking what their budget is, what they’re looking for and other questions.

Schulist said it all depends on the person’s budget when looking for vintage items.

“If they just want something really basic, maybe go out there and look for a piece that may be a little bruised, not perfect, may need reupholstering, or may need a little bit of touch-up, you know, things like that,” Schulist said, “and then start from there.”