Monique: Designing with vintage interior
Create a unique home with a mix of colors, romantic and vintage style, it’s a beautiful way to give your home a personal character. We know when it comes to designing a new home or redesigning your apartment, it can be overwhelming as the choices can be endless.
We interviewed Monique De Greef an interior fanatic, and she knows exactly where to start and has amazing tips for you. Do you love vintage, colors and a touch of romance? Check her Instagram account @stermoow - aaaand read all her inside tips below 🙂
Monique, we absolutely love your bright colors, romantic and vintage style on your Instagram feed. When it comes to mixing bright colors, what are some basic rules you apply?
“Work with a color palette, in my house I chose the base color pink because it’s currently my favorite color. Do you find it difficult to choose a color? A look in your wardrobe tells you a lot about your favorite shades and tones. To complement the base, I have worked with colors that are close to pink such as purple, burgundy red and orange. My palette mostly consists of warm tones, and I personally think that gold is also a nice addition to the palette.
Furthermore, I think it's great to add a few extra 'bangers' such as a bright yellow vase or green lamp. This ensures that it doesn't get too sweet or boring in your interior!
In addition, you can work with different color accents in other rooms. For example, I chose blue dining table chairs and in this color I also applied wallpaper in the kitchen, so it creates a whole.”
Where do you find all your amazing vintage interior accessories?
“The collection I have at home is something that I have collected over many years. One of my hobbies is going to the thrift shops or flea markets, but because of my new job, I haven’t been able to go as often as I used too.
You can also find many cool items on second-hand platforms/websites and they are even offered on Instagram. I don’t mind driving all over the country to pick up gems. Even when I'm on vacation I MUST always check out markets, antique-, vintage-, or thrift stores. You really make conscious purchases and each item has its a own story. That makes it personal!
At some point, this hobby got out of control, and I started offering vintage finds on the gram myself. Due to time constraints, I don’t get to this anymore. It is nice to build up a collection over time, items that you are no longer use can of course also be given a second life.”
We see you love to mix materials, which is super cool. If someone wants to start playing more with materials at home - what are your tips?
“My tip is just to do it, how? Trial and error ;-) A mix of materials gives depth and more layering to your interior. Combine glassware with marble, ceramics with brass, wood with velvet and check out what feels good to you.
A mix of materials is not only about accessories and furniture, but also think about the walls. I love wallpaper and moldings! Wallpaper gives such a different atmosphere to a room, and a combination of wallpaper with paneling is also very cool. I used this myself in my bedroom. Because I like detailed duvet covers, I worked the bottom with paneling and only applied wallpaper on the upper part of the wall. I also chose a wallpaper that has a relatively calm pattern and is not too present in terms of colors / contrast. Because yes, of course it has to match the rest!”
What prints are always trendy and make your home fun and unique?
“As far as I am concerned, the ‘fan’ print of the Art Deco style can be used in many different interior styles. And of course, I love a good floral print, this already existed many many years ago and by combining it with modern items you can always give it a contemporary vibe.”
When you start to redesign a room - where do you start? What are your top 3 tips?
“Tip 1: get inspired, do this online but also offline. I get a lot of inspiration from traveling but as well from a visit to a shop, hotel, bar or restaurant.
Tip 2: Make a mood board, and do so at a high level of abstraction. Think of this as a flexible process, because for example when you start to paint with a new color on the wall, you can get inspiration for the next step. A home is not styled in 1 day, give yourself time. Furthermore, it is nice to regularly update this. I paint or apply wallpaper to one or more rooms every year. Because I get a lot of pleasure and satisfaction from that. The paint or wallpaper doesn't have to be expensive. I notice that many people don't dare to do something like a bold color, or find it a lot of trouble. But it’s actually quite alright. Sometimes I have a color on the wall for years and someday I quickly find out that it didn’t turn out quite the way I had envisioned. Well then I’ll pull the paint roller out of the storage again!
Tip 3: Can’t figure it out? Then completely empty a room and start from scratch. Be critical of items, which ones you want back and which ones you don’t. Turn on some nice music and go move around and style. It isn’t quite to your liking? Then try to figure out what feels wrong, remove those items and start making other combinations that you do like. I think it’s a great process, that way you certainly don’t always have to buy something new. By being creative with the space and your own stuff, you can create a completely different atmosphere.”
Can you tell us your favorite inspirational Instagram accounts?
Thank you so much, Monique.
👉 Feeling inspired? Follow Monique De Greef on Instagram! ✨