The Sunday Society guide to incorporating vintage furniture into your home

In the latest issue of UNO, we spoke to Kristyn Thomas of The Sunday Society about her love of bringing new life to furniture that might have otherwise been forgotten. Here, she shares her tips on how to incorporate vintage and antique furniture and decor into your home; what to look for, and how to find it.

UNO: Hi Kristyn! You’ve built a business on having an incredible eye for vintage European furniture; how do you know which pieces to bring home?

Kristyn: My advice is always to buy things that you love. I would never suggest that someone would go out with the intention of trying to achieve a certain look. When you see something you love, even if it isn’t necessarily the look you’re wanting, if you have a reaction to it, that’s what you should build your decor around. People get concerned that things don’t match, but if you step back and look at the whole picture, there will be a look running through it. You usually have similar taste across all items, even if you’re not aware of it. It’s better to fill your home with things you love. If you love it, you can make it work.

Do you stick to a particular era?

I prefer a very layered look from different eras, rather than everything looking so 2020, or so 2015 (or so 1932!). If you’re mixing eras, it really tells a story of your lifetime and experience. It also means you need to update it less. You buy once, and buy quality, keeping pieces that are going to last. It goes beyond what’s in fashion. I have 250-year-old intricate carved French antiques mixed with mid-century eastern European pieces and it kind of works, I love each piece. 

For someone that’s never bought any vintage furniture before, where’s a good place to start?

If you’re a bit nervous about incorporating vintage items into your home, you can always start small; choose smaller elements, like an old breadboard in your kitchen for example. It’s a good way to bring that warmth into an otherwise contemporary space. Then you can build up to those big pieces of furniture. I think it helps to think of things in different ways as well - even if it’s something that’s quite industrial, you can use it in a way that is very far away from its original purpose. 

And how do you find those special items?

Take the time to wander around, visit different shops that have a range of different things. Whatever speaks to you, ask yourself: what is it about that item? Is it the proportion, the colour, the type of timber? Then try and identify that common thread to help you find more things you like. I’m inspired by a lot of European Instagram accounts, and people that have that European aesthetic I love, like Lynda Gardener. You can use Google Translate to search for what you’re looking for in another language online too!

What has been your most treasured find to date?

In our hallway, we have an amazing set of telegram drawers. It was an online find from about eight years ago - we’d been looking for something for almost ten years prior. I had always kept an eye out. We’d just finished building our house, and definitely had no budget to be buying interesting, fun things. But we saw it, and it was perfect, and we just asked ourselves when we’d ever find it again! It fits perfectly in the space - so sometimes you have to just jump on it. With vintage pieces there is only one - if you want it, you have to get it! Make it work!

What about a favourite find for your store?

One of my favourite things we’ve had in the store recently is a matching pair of twelves drawer units in solid French oak, from an old cotton factory in the North of France. An identical pair - that’s pretty rare!

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Read more about The Sunday Society in the latest issue of UNO, or you can visit them at their store in the Matangi Dairy Factory, at THESUNDAYSOCIETY.CO.NZ or on Instagram @THE_SUNDAY_SOCIETY_NZ