There are so many places to get design inspiration these days – Blogs, Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok – but is there anything better than a hard cover book, with beautiful photos and stories to match? Not only does a great design book get your creative juices flowing, but they can also be a part of your décor. We love too many of them to cover in one blog post, so we decided to highlight just a few that we feel offer the best guides to decorating with vintage finds. They aren’t new releases, but they are our favorites.
Flea Market Fabulous by Lara Spencer
We are big Lara Spencer fans, so it’s no surprise that this book is our all-time favorite for decorating with flea market finds. Lara is best known as a co-anchor on Good Morning America, but she’s also a former host of Antiques Roadshow. Her first book ‘I Brake for Yard Sales’ is also a favorite. What we love about ‘Flea Market Fabulous’ is that it’s broken down into nine different design challenges, where she uses almost all rescued and reinvented pieces found while thrifting. With each room, readers are taken through Lara’s step-by-step process – she identifies the design dilemma; creates a decorating plan; makes a mood board for inspiration; compiles a shopping list; scours flea markets for furniture and accessories that work in the plan; then she restores or reinvents the pieces she finds. Everything comes together to create a gorgeous space. We just love all the colorful and instructional before, during and after photos that really help the reader see what’s possible, with a little planning and imagination. And there is a handy guide in the back that helps calculate costs for refurbishing your flea market finds. This book was published in 2014, but it’s still a go-to that we refer to often. Find it here.
Vintage Living by Bob Richter
This book is aptly subtitled – ‘Creating a Beautiful Home with Treasured Objects from the Past’ because it documents the author’s own home and others that are full of treasures found while thrifting, but especially those found in the attic of his family’s home. The author, Bob Richter, is an interior designer and vintage lifestyle expert that is regularly sought after by major media outlets for his expertise. We are just in love with his ‘Vintage Living’ book. Every page is filled with glorious photos of his eclectically styled home, captioned with specific detail about each important piece in the photo. Anyone who loves the thrill of the treasure hunt understands the importance of an old piece’s story – it’s often the reason you fell in love with it in the first place. The dedication in this book really stuck with us. Bob thanked his family for teaching him the meaning of emotional value. That sums up the love of vintage pieces in our minds…they evoke emotion. ‘Vintage Living’ was published in 2018 by Rizzoli (they publish the most gorgeous fashion and design books) and you can find it here.
Cozy White Cottage by Liz Marie Galvan
Liz Marie Galvan is a blogger, interior designer and co-owner of the vintage home décor boutique The Found Cottage. Her 2019 book ‘Cozy White Cottage – 100 Ways to Love the Feeling of Being Home’ is dreamy from 1-100. As fellow Michiganders, we’ve been following Liz’s blog for a long time. We so appreciate her vulnerability in the way she shares her life with readers, and how she lets us all follow along as she beautifully renovates her farmhouse. Honestly, we would rate this book in our top 5 for many reasons, but in this blog, we’ll focus on her use of vintage in design. In No. 4, she talks about historical charm in a home, and how to weave it in if you have a new home that needs character. Her Top 10 Antiquing Pickups are detailed in No. 7 (great list!). No. 15 beautifully describes vintage collections and how they reveal a bit of who you are (so true – Beckie feels this way about “The Ladies”). And we love, love, love her tips on showcasing treasures under cloches in No. 21. We could go on and on, but trust us, you want this book. Find out where to pick it up on Liz Marie’s blog.
Flea Market Style by Emily Chalmers
‘Flea Market Style’ is full of inspirational ideas and photos to help you use preloved items to create a unique home. Author, Emily Chalmers, is an interior stylist, art director, shop owner and self-described flea market addict. On her flea market strategy, she says “Think of yourself as a talent scout seeking supermodels. You will quickly learn how to spot a gorgeous piece.” We just love that way of looking at treasure hunting. ‘Flea Market Style’ is divided into two sections – the first highlights the wide array of vintage items that make great home décor. It covers the variety of pieces that will suit any design style – eclectic, rustic, retro or minimalist. And she gives great tips on what vintage finds make the best impact in a room, and how a little love and care can give them a whole new life. The second section shows you how to put it all together, room by room. Overall, this book is a great quick reference guide for the vintage enthusiast. It was republished in 2018 and you can pick it up here.
Creative Walls by Geraldine James
This book is an art lovers dream – it proves that displaying photos, objects, textiles or china is an art form in itself. Geraldine James is now a three-time author, with other titles ‘Creative Display & Creative Spaces’ and the new book ‘Flea Market Secrets’. In ‘Creative Walls’, she offers inspiration for organizing your treasured collections on any surface in your home to create character, charm and elegance. She believes a wall is a blank canvas and “a great big opportunity”. We love how she looks at clothing and accessories as pieces of art – as shown in the examples below with jewelry and handbags. Our biggest takeaway from this book is that we shouldn’t hide our most meaningful collections or memorabilia in the basement. There are so many creative ways these precious things can and should be displayed to be enjoyed. ‘Creative Walls’ was published in 2011 and you can find it here.
Junk Gypsy by Amie Sikes and Jolie Sikes
For us, the Junk Gypsy’s are the epitome of inspiration when it comes to loving junk. As a matter of fact, they call themselves the ‘purveyors of the world’s finest junk’. They say the book was inspired by three elements that are their compass – The Road: where they get their inspiration; The Flea Market: where practical magic meets elbow grease; and Home: where their hearts are. If that isn’t enough to make you fall in love with these gals, keep turning the pages of this book. In it, they beautifully tell the story of their family, and their journey, and how Junk Gypsy’s was born. In their words – “We knew about junk as a way of life before we knew about junk as a way to make a living.” Their book includes helpful safety tips to remember when bringing junk into your life; the story of Large Marge – their custom 1980 Suburban, painted pink with a horn on the hood, flames on the side and a chandelier inside; highlights of airstreams they have remodeled for Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley, and so much more. They even added an epic road trip playlist that we WILL be adding to our Spotify. Much of their style is a little over the top for us, but we get endless inspiration from them on how to showcase vintage pieces we love, which is exactly what being a ‘Junk Gypsy’ is all about. The best place to shop for this 2016 book is on the Gypsyville website, of course.
Hope you like these great book recommendations. We will come back and review other favorite design books soon. In the meantime, let us know which one of these you like best.
~ Beckie and Jill