Just because it’s Winter doesn’t mean you need to resign yourself to hibernation indoors and gorging on the chocolates leftover from Christmas! (Well – not forever. Although the recent weather does slightly make us want to curl up in a ball next to a big fire in our onesie.) Winter is the perfect time to do some much-needed clearing out and organising a refresh of your interior design, personal style (or both!) to reflect your dreams for the new year in line with any new year resolutions.
In fact, here at Your Vintage Life we are in favour of breaking with convention and replacing the Spring Clean with a Winter Clean! If you’re dubious – just think how satisfying it will be to get one step ahead of the game compared with your friends and have a fabulous vintage update to your life before Spring has even begun to, well, spring.
photo courtesy of Simon Whitmore for FW Media: Style Your Modern Vintage Home
When clearing out your home, we recommend being just ruthless enough to get rid of the items you genuinely feel are cluttering your precious space – without accidentally throwing your aunties wedding present of antique figurines into the bin. It can be a tough balancing act and an emotional one as we connect possessions to memories and emotions. To keep you strong, bear in mind that you don’t want to end up like Britain’s biggest hoarders. (Shudder.)
Now to the fun part – shopping to replace your unwanted items! We know its tempting to stay indoors while the weather is so miserable outside, but this is the perfect time of year to grab some fantastic vintage bargains. Especially when everyone else who normally makes these fairs so crowded (and grab the best bargains) will be curled up at home. So wrap up in your warmest (preferably vintage) woolies and grab a flask of hot chocolate. The vintage world is your oyster!
We are firm fans of the ongoing pop-up trend, which allows some truly innovative designers and sellers to showcase their unique goods at a lower cost. As you all know we sell at vintage fairs, but we also love to shop at them. Often they are full of hand picked traders who offer a wide range of genuine vintage goods – from ladies & menswear to a stunning array of vintage jewellery, fashion accessories, haberdashery, retro furnishings, homeware, vintage posters and antique maps, all from the 1920’s – 1980’s.
Our shop at Furniture Flea, London
We love the way these fairs present an array of traders at varying price points to suit all budgets, so unlike some vintage stores a trip to the fair needn’t break the bank.
Another vintage fair we are big fans of is the Sunbury Antiques fair, which has been taking part in Kempton Park since 1979. This twice-monthly fair is a true treasure chest and has become one of Europe’s premier antiques markets, attracting over 700 stallholders with 350 stalls throughout indoor halls (good for rainy days!) and over 350 stalls in the outside drive in area.
And if you buy too much, you can always buy a vintage suitcase to take all your booty home in!
We look forward to hearing from you with news of your vintage finds!
