Nina’s Apartment is 10 this year!

Happy birthday to me and my wee blog! I started the blog Nina’s Apartment back in 2008, can you believe it? No, I neither can I! I started the blog because I craved having an online place where I could gather ideas about styling with vintage. I also wanted to share upcycling projects and inspire readers to be more original in their interior decor choices. Ban beige! Was my first tagline.

A few years later I even had the joy of running my own shop under the same name, selling vintage furniture for four years. It is wonderful to give vintage pieces a new lease of life with paint or reupholstery. To rescue an unloved old teak sideboard from a garage, restore it and seeing a young family fall in love with it and give it a new home.

In all those years, while blogging, sourcing and selling vintage and even designing people’s rooms for them, I often got the same questions. “How do you know what vintage to buy?” “Can I make it look good with the rest of my interior?” “How do I make things work together well?” I decided to gather some of my thoughts and knowledge on it and create a little Guide for you! It’s a pretty little booklet with some great bite-size lessons and tips to spark ideas, give inspiration and help you get started on your own creative decor project.

And in return? It would help me so much if I could somehow earn a tiny bit of money from my blog after keeping it going and sharing my ideas for free for all those years. It’s not a lot, less than the price of a coffee and cake. Will you support me? It would be an amazing birthday gift! 🙂

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E Book A Practical Guide to Styling with Vintage

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Preview

 

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Who is this e book for?

This 12-page booklet is for people who love vintage furniture and using vintage finds in their own decor, but perhaps find it hard to select the right piece or how to make it look good in their home. Or perhaps you don’t know how to combine it with what you already have. And how do you prevent your decor from looking like a time warp? This E booklet is a helping hand to assist you in styling your home with vintage finds and furniture, create balance and make it all come together.

The lessons in the book are great reminders of what to think about when buying and styling with vintage; the style sheets serve as practical guides to create a certain ‘look’ and the lists are great to bring with you on your shopping trips. It is a high resolution PDF so you can even print it out.

Let me help you create an interior that reflects who you are and what you love…and stands the test of time. Enjoy!

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Or…if you don’t want the E book but would like to buy me a birthday coffee instead, then you would be absolutely amazing too! A BIG thank you for supporting me.

Decorating with vintage: how to get it right

Do you hang out at Pinterest a lot, pinning images of beautiful, eclectic rooms and wondering if you are ever going to be able to recreate something similar? Where do people find all these perfect vintage pieces of furniture and objects? How do they put it all together?

Here are 5 Tips to Decorate with Vintage:

• Buy what you love.
  

Your home should be pleasing to your eye. You have to live there. If you don’t love your decor, you will not feel comfortable in your own home. If you love those crazy antlers or that old travel trunk, use them!

Image: My Scandinavian Home

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• Don’t be afraid to mix wood tones.
  

Many people think that if they own one piece of oak furniture, the rest has to match. But wood is just a colour. Vintage furniture that was meant to last was made of wood. Check for tones in the wood grain that may be complimentary to one another.

• Be patient. Shop often.
  

My furniture did not come home with me in one weekend. That’s one of the luxuries of buying new – you can get a catalog looking living room in one shopping trip.  But in order to achieve decor with character, you may have to be patient for the right piece to come along. Check your local vintage traders, charity shops, flea market, Gumtree and Ebay, often.

 

Image: Design Soda

• Mix it up.
  

True design comes from mixing unexpected elements, colours, and textures. With vintage furniture, you run the risk of looking like you live in a time warp – same goes for vintage clothing.  Don’t be afraid to mix decades, vintage and modern, and shapes.  A very ornate antique cabinet can look amazing when given pride of place against a fresh white wall, next to a fairly inexpensive standard lamp from Ikea.

Image: The Future Kept

Image: Projektila

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• Don’t be afraid to re-purpose.
  

The goal of decorating with vintage is two fold – owning quality constructed pieces and creating a unique, eclectic look.  If you happen to find a fabulous dressing table, but have no room or need for one, try re-purposing it without the mirror as a storage sideboard or desk in the living room. A double door antique wardrobe could turn into a fabulous kitchen pantry with new shelves top to bottom, and painted in a vibrant blue.

How do you style with vintage? Do you find it easy or do you have difficulty creating a ‘together’ look?

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Vintage shops in Scotland: Meet Peapod in Rosemount, Aberdeen

Buying vintage and secondhand is the ideal way to find original, quirky gifts or things for your home or wardrobe. Of course it is also a great way of shopping consciously and eco-friendly. If you are ever in Aberdeen,  Scotland, visit Peapod, the most gorgeous little vintage shop in the area of Rosemount. Today I put the spotlight on Claire Milne, who founded Peapod. I asked her about her passion for vintage and why she loves what she does.

Why did you go into the vintage trade? What made you want to start your own business?

Five years ago I decided to change track and start my own business, with help from the Retail Rocks project. You should know Nina, you were there! (Nina’s Apartment also took part in this local business startup project- this I where I met Claire first! ed). My dad is a retired joiner and my mum is a fanatical recycler so furniture recycling and upcycling is in my DNA. Peapod was initially in Torry for the first year, and we discovered I was pregnant with my second child soon after we submitted the Retail Rocks application but thought we’d give it a shot anyway. That’s where the name came from, Arthur was the pea in the pod! After a year we moved to Rosemount and we went in a more vintage direction as it seemed a logical step as I had less time for painting furniture, and my passion for quality items that were beautiful just as they are was growing.

What inspires you?

For us it’s more of a who than a what. Through working in the shop we meet some amazing people. Who knew Aberdeen was full of such wonderful creative people? Where were they all hiding before? We are also inspired by the other lovely vintage businesses we meet, we’re lucky their enthusiasm and knowledge rubs off on us too.

What has been the biggest challenge running a vintage shop?

Time. Never enough of it. Sourcing new stock, having a stall at fairs, changing the window display, social media all take time. Self-employed people don’t tend to take days off, but if you love what you do you never complain.

What is Peapod’s strength? How have you tweaked and improved over the years?

Moving with the times and our ability to stay on-trend. Most new trends have their base in something that has gone before, so we try to source the original goods while still putting our own twist on it.

Who does your window displays? They are fabulous!

We both do (Claire and her business partner June. ed.) It can take a whole day to do a window display at Peapod. That’s what we do with our “day off” so it doesn’t disrupt customers and their browsing and purchasing. Great fun, we love a new window! It’s great fun and we’ve already started on our (dare we say it?) Christmas window!

What is the weirdest thing you ever had in the shop? 

When you do this line of work the weird and wonderful appear on a daily basis so it’s hard to pick just one item, you just get used to it.

And tell us about something so beautiful that you regret you sold it.

Ah, this is an easy one. An Abel Morrall’s thimble box with glass panels that I didn’t get to enjoy long enough before it was snapped up by someone with a very good eye. Also a black gloss bar that opened up to reveal a mirror with cocktail glasses design on it and a light inside. Knowing these items went to very good homes makes it (slightly) easier to let them go, and the people who bought them loved them as much as we did.

Why should people buy vintage?

We at Peapod are great believers in buying what you like. All current trends have a base in a vintage past and the older items are made to a higher standard. It’s one of the greenest ways to shop and saves amazing historic items ending up being thrown out and wasted. Buying vintage can also introduce a unique twist to a home that also features high street styles.

What’s your plans and ambitions for Peapod in the future?

Developing a larger online presence with our Etsy shop, keeping up to date with social media and working on growing the Peapod Pinterest page.

Peapod – address:

144 Rosemount Place, Aberdeen, Scotland
Open Tuesday – Saturday 10am-6pm

Facebook

Etsy

Pinterest

 

New arrival: Mid-century teak and metal shelving unit

Fantastic mid-century teak and metal shelving unit, handmade by the original owner. So beautiful! Would look stylish in a living room, dining room or office. Good for books, glassware or to display a nice collection of ceramics. Four shelves on one side and a fall flap cabinet and two door cabinet on the other. Shelves can be adjusted in height. Comes apart for easy transport.

Dimensions: 175cm wide x 157cm tall x 41cm.
Price: £395.00

Sparkling Vintage Ladies Night – Friday 8th of November

On Friday night 8th of November ladies are invited to join us for some quality Christmas shopping, live musical entertainment, drinks and canapes and the opportunity to get yourself photographed in our glamourous vintage photo-booth.

                                   DRESS-CODE: *SPARKLING VINTAGE* !

A great opportunity to dress up like a diva, catch up with friends and get started on your Christmas shopping! 🙂

Stalls include vintage fashion and accessories, beautiful one-off handbags, gorgeous crafts, unique handmade jewellery and gifts for your loved ones. Plenty to spoil yourself with too!

Tickets are limited and cost £15

BUY TICKETS HERE 

With your ticket you will get 2 free drinks, canapes, a goodie bag with little surprises and your photo taken in our glamourous photo-booth. Plenty of exclusive special offers in store too.

Jazz vocalist Cindy Douglas will be providing us with quality musical entertainment, fitting in perfectly with the theme and atmosphere of the evening. cindydouglas.co.uk

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If you’ve been to any of Nina’s Apartment’s bazaars before you know you can expect a fun environment, inspiration, quality products and a friendly atmosphere!

                          

Turn vintage tin boxes into cute upcycled planters

I recently bought a box lot of rusty old boxes at auction (without viewing – often a mistake!) and back home I was a bit disappointed. The boxes were all damaged, dirty and rusted, used for screws in someone’s garage, and I put the whole lot in storage for the time being.
Then last week, as I was sifting through old stock looking for planters to sell at my Mother’s Day shopping event, I remembered them.

I decided to have a better look now and as I opened the rusty boxes, the brightly coloured insides of the lids stared back at me and I smiled. Beautiful vintage advertising signs, well preserved in the dark while the rest of the tins changed colour.

I made small holes in the bottom for drainage, as well as through the lid and side so I could put a piece of string through to hold up the lid. Pansies and other bedding plants are now growing where once screws were kept.
Upcyling at its best.

My vintage furniture shop in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire….is open!

The proud shop owner!

The ‘al-fresco’ bar

Moustache mirror made by Dee-licious Finds, beautifully modeled by Chris

A courtyard full of vintage (and two wee boys)

Nina singing and hubby Glenn playing air guitar with the bbq fork

Upcycled telephone bench

The Malpaso Gang playing in the woodworking shed!

Nina’s Apartment vintage shop at Yeadons of Elgin

Today I drove up to Elgin, north Scotland, with a car full of vintage and handmade goodies and got my very own ‘shop within a shop’! It’s fantastic to see my stock displayed inside a beautiful shop amongst thousands of books. Hopefully the customers will love Nina’s Apartment @ Yeadons of Elgin and help it to become a well known place not just for quality books and stationary, but for quality, eclectic homeware too. I will regularly update the stock with vintage and retro crockery and stoneware, fabrics and linens, suitcases, furniture and of course my own cushion designs.

Please pay this wonderful bookshop a visit if you ever happen to be in the area.

I am so excited, I think it deserves a big High Five! Yeehaa!

Nina’s Apartment @ Yeadons of Elgin
32 Commerce Street
Elgin, Moray IV30 1BS
tel: 01343-20542411