Explore vintage home decor, antique decorating ideas, New England antique store guides, and eclectic home styling inspiration from Dabbling & Decorating.
Welcome! If you’re new here, this is the perfect place to begin your journey into vintage, thrifted, and antique home decorating. Inside this page, you’ll find my best guides, favorite styling tips, popular blog series, and go-to shopping resources, all designed to help you bring character, charm, and a sense of the familiar into your home. Whether you’re curating your first vintage vignette or styling inherited treasures in a way that’s uniquely yours, there’s something here to inspire every step of the way. Because the most meaningful homes aren’t decorated, they’re remembered.
Familiar Finds, Styled Your Way™
Here’s a simple way to begin your vintage home journey:
What Is Eclectic Vintage Style?
If you’ve ever mixed a flea market crock with a French antique mirror, next to a thrifted wicker chair and your grandmother’s blue transferware, you’re speaking my language.
Eclectic vintage style is all about blending eras, textures, and stories. I love pairing rustic with refined, antique with modern, and adding a little New England charm to every space.
It’s not about perfection, it’s about personality.
On this blog, you’ll find:
- Thrifted treasures styled with love
- Antique and vintage collections that evolve over time
- Seasonal decorating rooted in cozy nostalgia
- A sprinkle of coastal Maine and Vermont mountain views
If your heart skips a beat over old crockery, rusty lanterns, or blue and white anything, welcome. You’re in the right place.
Eclectic Decorating Style Guide
Want to create a home that feels cozy, collected, and completely you? This guide dives into how to layer vintage, antique, and thrifted pieces effortlessly, sharing easy tips to help you embrace an eclectic vintage style that tells your story, one thrifted find at a time.
Best Thrifting Tips for Vintage and Antique Home Finds
Welcome to The Secret Cupboard, a collection of my favorite thrifting tips, vintage decorating ideas, antique shopping lessons, and the little discoveries that make a home feel collected over time. This series is where I share what I always look for while thrifting, the vintage and antique finds worth bringing home, styling ideas that make old pieces feel fresh again, and honest lessons learned along the way. Whether you’re wandering flea markets, antique malls, thrift stores, or estate sales, these posts are designed to help you shop with a more creative eye and decorate with character, history, and personality.
Vintage Decorating Ideas for a Collected, Character-Filled Home
Decorating with vintage finds is one of my favorite ways to create a home filled with warmth, charm, and personal history. Whether you’re styling a thrifted table setting, refreshing a cozy corner, or adding antique touches to everyday spaces, these ideas will help you bring timeless character into your home. Let’s explore the most recent vintage decorating inspirations!
A Sunday Home, Styled Your Way
The Sunday Home is about creating a home that feels familiar, collected, and softly lived in, not overly styled or perfectly matched. It’s the kind of decorating that layers vintage finds, meaningful heirlooms, weathered textures, and slow seasonal touches in a way that feels deeply personal and welcoming. Throughout this series, I share simple vintage styling ideas, softly spoken rooms, and familiar spaces designed to feel linger-worthy every day of the week.
Explore the Vintage Home Decor Glossary
Curious about the vintage and thrifted pieces I use throughout my home? Visit the Vintage Home Decor Glossary to explore 15 of my favorite styling ideas, from milk glass to blue and white dishes, antique quilts, and more.
DIY Vintage Projects to Add Charm and Character to Your Home
Sometimes the best vintage finds are the ones you create yourself. From repurposing old treasures to simple DIY projects that bring a timeless charm to your home, these ideas are all about adding a personal and creative touch. Here are a few favorite DIY vintage projects to inspire your next decorating adventure!
Vintage Styling Guides to Help You Decorate with Confidence
Want to bring antique charm and character into your home? These vintage-style guides make it easy to start decorating with confidence, whether you’re styling a cozy table, displaying vintage books, or identifying your favorite antique chair styles.
Vintage Road Trips, Antiquing Trails, and Shopping Guides
Some of my favorite decorating inspirations have come from the road itself, wandering through antique shops, discovering hidden vintage gems, and exploring small towns filled with character. From weekend antiquing adventures across New England to RV road trips through Canada and Newfoundland, these travels have become a huge part of how I collect, decorate, and tell stories through home. Below, you’ll find my favorite road trip series, shopping guides, and vintage trails to help inspire your own next adventure.
Ann was recently interviewed and featured in this AARP article: “Hit the Road for a Thrift Trip”. AARP members are sure to enjoy this one.
Antiquing in New England
From tucked-away antique barns in Vermont to coastal vintage shops in Maine, this series shares some of my favorite antiquing destinations throughout New England. I’ll take you inside the shops I love most, the vintage finds I bring home, and the small towns that make these adventures so memorable. If you love weathered treasures, scenic back roads, and collecting with a story, this “a shop, a stay, a find” series is for you.
RV Road Trips and Vintage Travel Finds
Traveling by RV has completely changed the way I antique and explore. From Nova Scotia and Newfoundland to New England road trips and beyond, these adventures combine vintage shopping, scenic stops, cozy stays, and collected decorating inspiration along the way. You’ll find road trip stories, favorite stops, RV travel moments, and the kinds of unexpected vintage finds that only happen when you leave room to wander.
“The RV is our ‘third place,’” Ann says. “It’s the freedom to travel on a whim, bring our dog, and chase vintage treasures wherever they might be hiding.” — House Beautiful, “Why Buying an RV Is the New Vacation Home, According to Experts.“
My Favorite Vintage and Antique Shopping Guides
Over the years, I’ve gathered together many of my favorite antique stores, flea markets, vintage markets, and thrift shops into easy-to-browse shopping guides. These guides are designed to help you discover the places I return to again and again for vintage decor, antique furniture, collectibles, and styling inspiration. I’m also sharing my interactive vintage trail maps and favorite antiquing stops throughout New England and beyond.
Use this map as your guide to some of my favorite antique shops, flea markets, thrift stores, cozy inns, and memorable places to eat throughout New England and beyond. These are the spots I return to again and again for vintage treasures, inspiring small towns, good food, and the kind of road trip moments that make antiquing adventures so much fun.
Vintage Ski Lodge Decor Ideas for Winter
Living in the heart of Vermont ski country has deeply shaped the way I decorate, especially during the colder seasons when home becomes its own kind of retreat. This series is inspired by everything I love about New England ski lodge style, vintage skis and snowshoes, crackling fires, weathered wood, wool blankets, antique finds, layered textures, and the familiar feeling of coming in from the cold. Here, I share cozy, yet collected decorating ideas inspired by Vermont living, mountain homes, old ski lodges, and the timeless charm of vintage winter decor done in a softly spoken, lived-in way.
As Featured in Country Living
My Vintage Ski Lodge Decor series was recently featured in Country Living and syndicated internationally in Elle Decor Italia and ELLE Netherlands in “5 Antiques That Sell Out Every Winter, According to Antiques Dealers.” If you love decorating with vintage skis, snowshoes, sleds, and toboggans, read the full piece here, then scroll my series for ski lodge styling ideas and real-life vintage finds.
In My Mother’s Maine Home
This series is a deeply personal look inside the coastal Maine home my parents built and filled with antiques, collected heirlooms, and generations of memories. Over the years, I’ve slowly updated and restyled these rooms while honoring the history, character, and familiar feeling that made this home so special to our family. From antique coastal decor and inherited treasures to before-and-after transformations and softly weathered New England style, these posts share the ongoing story of preserving a home filled with meaning while making it my own.
Our Home, Featured in Country Sampler Magazine
In 2024, our coastal Maine home was featured in Country Sampler Magazine, a true dream come true! It was an unforgettable experience, and I’ve shared all the behind-the-scenes moments, vintage styling, and emotional details in this special post.
Vintage Coastal New England Decorating Ideas
Looking for vintage coastal decor ideas? Explore timeless New England decorating inspiration, thrifted finds, and creative ways to style your coastal home.
Vintage Booth Styling Ideas and Seller Tips
Vintage booths are one of my favorite places to gather decorating inspiration, discover unexpected treasures, and study the art of displaying old things beautifully. Over the years, I’ve explored vintage markets, antique malls, and curated booths throughout New England, learning what catches the eye, what makes shoppers linger, and how thoughtful styling can completely transform a small space. In this section, you’ll find vintage booth styling ideas, display inspiration, pricing tips, and practical lessons for anyone dreaming of starting a vintage booth business of their own, or simply bringing that collected vintage booth look home.
Thrifting with the Gals: Vintage Finds and Styling Ideas
For over six years, Thrifting with the Gals has been one of my favorite and most loved series here on the blog. Together, a group of vintage-loving friends and I share our favorite thrift store finds, antique treasures, flea market discoveries, styling ideas, and decorating inspiration from across the country. From what we’re always searching for while thrifting to how we style our best vintage and antique finds at home, this series is filled with creative ideas, collected spaces, and the joy of giving old pieces a fresh new story.
Quick Vintage Decorating Tips to Inspire Your Style
Just getting started or looking for a spark of inspiration? My Styling Tip series shares simple vintage decorating ideas, from creative windowsill displays to quick centerpiece makeovers. These tips are short, sweet, and easy to try in your own home.
Letting Go of Vintage: How to Downsize and Rehome Your Beloved Decor
Learn how to downsize and rehome vintage decor with care. This heartfelt guide shares tips for letting go of beloved pieces while honoring their stories. Whether you’re retiring, downsizing, or simply ready to declutter with intention, this guide is here to help you pass on your beloved vintage decor with purpose.
Vintage Finds, Modern Headlines
Who knew a love of old treasures could lead to so many fun features? See them all here.
Meet Ella, Our Vintage-Loving Bernese Mountain Dog
We can’t forget our girl Ella, our loyal Bernese Mountain Dog who rides shotgun on every thrifting and antiquing adventure. From flea market road trips to cozy couch moments at home, she’s a big part of the vintage charm we love to share.
Join the Vintage Decorating Community!
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Whether you’re styling your home with vintage soul, thrifting for that next meaningful piece, or road-tripping toward your next great find, I hope Dabbling & Decorating becomes a familiar place you return to again and again. I’m so glad you’re here, and I can’t wait to share more vintage decorating ideas, heartfelt stories, and beautiful, timeworn treasures with you along the way.
Love Collecting Vintage Pieces?
Follow along on my Vintage Collectibles Pinterest board for even more antique and vintage collecting ideas, from yellowware and ironstone to pewter, vintage books, and layered heirloom pieces.
Happy thrifting, always.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dabbling & Decorating
You’ll find vintage home decor ideas, antique decorating inspiration, collected home styling tips, and seasonal decorating ideas inspired by our homes in coastal Maine and the mountains of Vermont.
Yes! I share antique shopping guides, New England antiquing road trips, RV travel stories, flea market finds, thrift store stops, and favorite vintage shopping destinations throughout New England, Canada, Newfoundland, and beyond.
The Sunday Home series is about creating a home that feels familiar, collected, softly styled, and personal. It focuses on vintage finds, meaningful heirlooms, weathered textures, seasonal touches, and rooms designed to feel welcoming every day of the week.
Thrifting with the Gals is one of my longest-running blog series featuring thrift store finds, antique treasures, flea market discoveries, styling ideas, and vintage decorating inspiration shared alongside a group of vintage-loving friends across the country.
Absolutely. In my In My Mother’s Maine Home series, I share antique coastal decor ideas, inherited family pieces, before-and-after room updates, and stories about preserving a meaningful home while making it feel personal and lived in today.
Yes! You’ll find vintage booth styling ideas, retail booth display inspiration, pricing tips, seller essentials, and practical lessons learned from exploring and studying vintage booths and antique markets throughout New England.
Join the Vintage Circle — Familiar Finds, Styled Your Way™
Love vintage treasures, thrifted gems, and a home that tells your story? Leave a comment, share this post with a kindred spirit, or head to my Start Here page to explore more. Want fresh prompts and timeless ideas? Subscribe to join our Seasonal Vintage Decor Styling Challenge for weekly inspiration and behind-the-scenes peeks.
