Decorating with Vintage Distressed, or Shiny and New?

With the explosive popularity of Pinterest, the social media landscape has been introduced to the design styles of pinners across the nation and around the world.  Interior design trends can spread like wildfire thanks to the power of photography on the web.  Pinners have been sharing their designs and inspirations, causing trends to go “viral.”  Thanks to Social Media, the lifespan of a design trend has been cut in half.  New fads come along and spread so quickly that we don’t even have a chance to dust our new accessories before they are regarded as “so-last year.” 

Conversely, many of the design trends shared on social media focus on reusing and re-purposing accessories and furniture pieces.  Rather than buying inexpensive accessories and furniture in order to keep up with design trends, many forward-thinking homeowners are finding ways to incorporate “found” objects in their decorating landscape.  They are using one-of-a-kind vintage pieces to furnish, decorate, and accessorize their homes.  Check out this great headboard in the image to the right.  It was made from a vintage door and tin ceiling tiles.  You can find hundreds of examples of reused furniture that is actually really beautiful and attractive on Pinterest, and even on Google.

Even interior decorators are encouraging this trend by shopping at antique and consignment stores in order to provide a more unique, one-of-a-kind look for their clients.  Coinciding with this trend is the use of truly “old” distressed furniture.  Sure, you can purchase a vintage “looking” bookcase from Pottery Barn or World Market, but you can also visit many unique home furnishing stores that import unique used pieces from around the country and around the globe.  The talented designers who merchandise the model homes for Eastwood Homes have been known to incorporate distressed and one-of-a-kind pieces, giving the homes a more lived-in and custom look.​

So what do you think?  Should we follow the latest trends in design, based on what House Beautiful and Elle Décor recommend?  Should we find our own style and throw caution to the wind, choosing pieces that speak to us regardless of what trendsetters are telling us?  And how do you feel about re-purposed and distressed furniture?