Want a bit of an interior design makeover at home but honestly not sure where to start? It’s easy when you know how. Your personal style and the items you choose to surround yourself with are really important - you’ve got to love them and live with them, after all.
Sometimes you want something a bit out of the ordinary, something that not everyone else has, that will stand out and create chatter about where you got it from and where your friends can get something similar.
Discovering a new place to shop for unique furniture, beautifully inspired home lighting or a handmade pottery lamp base, or finding a treasure trove of home inspiration online is easy when you take a look at these three tips for finding unique pieces for your home. Let’s get started and give you some inspiration.
Check out social media
If you’re someone who is always scrolling through TikTok or Instagram for inspiration on anything from how to cut your hair to what the latest fashion trends are, then use these same platforms to look for interior design suggestions for your home.
It doesn’t matter what your style is, there will be someone out there who shares the same tastes as you and wants to show off their flair to their followers. Search interior design hashtags and look at what people in the know are promoting or sharing on their own feeds.
Another good place to look? Folks on these platforms embrace retro living or cottagecore styles. They’ll often know all the right places to shop to get vintage bargains to brighten up your home or find that unique treasure you’ve always wanted to have. It doesn’t matter what your era is - there will always be someone who knows what to buy and where to look!
Keep an open mind and think laterally
There can be an overwhelming array of things to choose from when thinking about picking unique pieces of furniture or other kinds of household goods - whether you’re looking in person, in shops, or online. So it pays to prepare carefully before you start shopping so you know what you want (and also what you don’t want!)
Even if you do have a particular item in mind, say for instance a type of table or chair you’d like to source, but simply can’t find it wherever you look, think creatively about ways you could achieve a similar look yourself without spending too much money.
For example, if you want a table made from reclaimed wood but can’t source exactly what you want - get out there and look for things like old tea chests, or even old door frames that can be cleaned, sanded, or stripped down and turned into something that you’ll be proud to say you made yourself and want to show off.
Whilst it’s also great to shop locally wherever possible, if you’re sourcing individual elements of a piece to make it yourself, think globally and search for materials that come from all over the world - reclaimed metal and wood are sold cheaply and giving old materials a new lease of life is the ultimate in sustainability.
Be savvy when it comes to reproductions
Reproductions of traditional antiques are becoming ever more popular, and there often seems to be a plethora of people selling such items online. You may be attracted to the idea of having something that perhaps costs less and is an exact replica of something you’d had in mind for your home.
However, it’s important to exercise caution and make sure that you don’t just go for the first item you see. If you have an idea in mind for a piece of furniture you want, look around at many different sellers and talk to as many of them as you can. Here, you’re looking for something that’s as close as possible to the original as possible but that comes from a seller who is truthful about what they’re doing and can give you provenance for all the materials and the techniques they’ve used to create their item.
Sometimes, it can be better to look for and buy an original item if it’s proving too difficult to find what you want at a lower cost from someone who sells reproduction furniture. The last point to make is that it's often better to wait, bide your time, and buy the item you want at full price from a seller you trust.
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