Cool things you can find in your parent's house

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When you were younger, you may have looked around your house and thought it was old fashioned or dull, but now you are older and have your own space to decorate, we bet you have a new found respect and understanding for your parents' taste! 

The great thing about visiting your parents is that you will begin to see how many cool vintage and retro items they have that you could easily either repurpose or 'borrow' to make your own home look amazing and what you once thought of as a bit fuddy duddy, you probably now see as effortlessly stylish and the epitome of vintage furnishing.

Take a look at our list of things that all parents seem to stow away in their houses that you could repurpose in your own and see if you could do with visiting your folks!

Vintage kitchen accessories

We aren't saying that all parents are hoarders, but they do seem to like hanging onto strange items, not least vintage kitchen accessories. Take a look in any kitchen drawer at your parents' house and you will probably find old bakelite handled utensils and Sheffield steel butter knives, but if you're really lucky, they may have also hung onto some vintage ceramics.

Pyrex has become immensely collective in recent years, as has 60s glassware, so have a good rummage in your parents cupboards to see if you can borrow anything cool and fabulous. You never know what you might find to add to your vintage furnishing collection!

Old fashioned drawers

The shabby chic movement has seen youngsters that previously only wanted ultra modern and sleek furniture turning their attention to retro and vintage pieces that could be transformed with nothing more than a lick of paint. Though many will have sought out pieces to play with from car boot sales and flea markets, we have a feeling that parents' houses have been raided for vintage furnishing purposes too!

Just look at this fabulous chest of drawers from The Treasure Trove, complete with a new paint scheme. This was probably found in a parent's house before being claimed and upcycled to look amazing in a new space and we can totally see why!

Vintage maps and globes

There's something so wonderfully tactile about globes, but have you noticed that it's usually only older people that seem to have them in their houses? We wonder at what age people start to buy them, or appropriate them from their parents?

A wonderfully retro and stylish vintage furnishing touch to add to any house, globes and old maps makes for great artistic pieces, especially those that have been altered or marked according to experiences! Though it's not necessary to install parquet flooring to adequately display your globe, we do think it pairs rather well, so for retro style houses, give that a thought too!

Antique chests

If you find an antique chest at your parents' house, don't get too excited; it doesn't mean that they went to Hogwarts! What it does mean, however, is that before antique chests and trunks became hugely popular, they were used for storing things away in the garage or loft, so your parents could be in possession of some fabulous vintage furnishing items!

Commonly transformed into blanket boxes and coffee tables, we love old chests and crates as they all have so much character, unlike so much modern, flatpack furniture. There might even be some fantastic family stories linked to them, so be sure to ask before you add some glass and forget about the heritage!

Vintage ladders for upcycling

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Old ladders that you might find in your parents' garage or garden shed shouldn't be seen as junk or rubbish as they are prime candidates for a shabby chic makeover and upcycle to create vintage furnishing items that your friends will covet.

Used for a myriad of functions, vintage wooden ladders make great modern home additions, as they can be repurposed into handy shelves, as seen here, used as bunk bed connectors or just displayed as they are, to bring a bit of retro character into your home. A rub down with some sandpaper and a coat of chalk paint can do wonders for antique wood, so don't let your parents throw out any old ladders!

Old records

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We would never suggest that you use good condition records as wall art, unless protected in a frame, but singles and albums that have been damaged, scratched or even broken, can make amazing decorative items and many parents seem to hang onto them! We think that framing the sleeves is always a great way to preserve the past too, while reusing the vinyls themselves and what a fantastic way to ensure that your walls look just that little bit different to everyone else's thanks to some vintage furnishing.

For more retro styling inspiration, take a look at this Ideabook: Idyllic Vintage Homes.

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