The Use What You Own Trend

2025 Interior Design trends say “Move over microtrend, Target design aisle, here today, gone next month home goods - Authenticity in design, layering personal finds, and vintage aesthetics is now the new design darling.

Embracing what you already have, up-styling vintage, creating a one-of-kind personalized style, and loving what you inherited is at the forefront of this year’s style profile.

• Home dwellers are creating homes that reflect personal stories and values.

• Old is now New - meaningful objects with sentimental value or cultural significance layered within in the home to spark conversation, express identity, and create micro-havens within a home (i.e.. readying nook)

I personally think that the whole vintage re-imagined came out of the Pandemic when logistics prevented us from buying new. Using or reinventing what you have, shopping pre-owned, and scouring thrift shops isn’t a new discovery, all these sources have been right around us all along, just forgotten because for decades ‘fast and new’ has been the mantra.

Celebrate it, use it, restyle it and make it your own.  

JOIN me this Wednesday, April 2nd at the Orland Park Public Library for a “Use What You Own” workshop 6:30pm. Register here -

INTERIOR DECORAITNG WORKSHOP

Head over to Orland Park Library 4/2/2025

THE USE WHAT YOU OWN AESTHIC

Nana’s plastic encased sofa has a timeless style and it’s vintage craftmanship towers over today’s fast fashion made version. Scoop that treasure up and have it reinvented to create a personalized, unique piece that can be a showcase of a space.

Photo: (source).

Old silver-plate serving pieces are collected and displayed on a wall of a bedroom to create a unique focal point.

Photo: BHG

One of my clients was struggling with her husband's gifted grandparent's dining set. They really wanted to honor it in the dining room, but the dark wood wasn't appealing and the table wasn't going to work with daily use.  The restyle solution was to purchase a new table and have the rest of the set painted to match.  The celebrate what you have result is the perfect mix of old and new. And the big bonus is they now get to love that set as much as his Grandparents did.

Have an old chair with in good condition fabric, but in a less than desirable color? YES, you can paint it. At my direction, my client painted his Mom’s accent chair with a new hue using chalk paint.

YOU CAN PAINT YOUR ULPHOLSTERY!

Reinvent an old piece with a fresh coat of paint - in this case, fabric!

Why not get ready every morning in vintage style and maybe a wink and nod to Mom with a lovely vanity vignette of your makeup necessities organized in old silver serving pieces.

Photo: (source)

Don't haul that old sofa, chair or ottoman out to the curb - instead, have it reupholstered. If you have a vintage piece of furniture that you just love, it’s comfy, just the right size and it’s made fantastic - reinvent it instead.

Have a sofa you just love and is just right for a space? Reinvent it.

Great pieces in your home, like these accent chairs, can be reupholstered and refreshed.

Aunt Millie's tea cup collection boxed in tissue somewhere?  Unwrap them, head over to a craft store and cook up a batch of wax to make them into candles. They'll warm your heart with their romantic flicker on your sofa's end table as you settle in for the evening.

Photo: (source)

Transform an antique photo of your heritage with a blown-up image updated in a wrapped canvas technique. Add a few more in various sizes to create an unique gallery wall.

Photo: (source).

I'd love to know what you have done with your old stuff!