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Mixing the old and new

Anna Brady on eclectic design and finding your style

It sounds so simple. Mix the old with new. Done well, it looks effortless. But the bad examples—laboured, jarring—show what a skill it is to create harmonious yet unexpected juxtapositions.

Set Of 4 Illy Espresso Cups, Judy Chicago
The secret is that it should look like it has evolved over time, a reflection of the owner’s life—items handed down or picked up from far flung markets, at artist studios or in the freezing gloom at 5am at a showground antiques fair. The magic is in the layering, the sense of a collection slowly built by an inquisitive and wide-ranging eye, the stories behind each of those objects. An object worn to a shine by centuries of use has a certain magic, an atmosphere. If an interior has been bought, wholesale, off the peg, it will look like it—flat and lifeless, it says little of those who live there. Much of the skill lies in the edit: what you do not buy, not what you do. Years ago, the folk art dealer Robert Young and his wife Josayne hung a wall of their stand at the Olympia art and antiques fair in London with a selection of vintage watering cans, carefully collected by the couple over many years. It soon spawned a hundred watering can copycats. But none were quite as good. The Young’s have that skill of being able to pick up on the one example among many that has that particular form, surface and character that make it sing. As can be seen with the watering cans. repetition elevates everyday objects into something sculptural, too. Whether a collection of well-turned wooden spoons or bowls or hats or duck decoys or jelly moulds. Hung in series they are transformed into an installation in their own right.

"Over the years, I've learned how to search for the universal, to uncover an essence that is common to both historical and contemporary things."

Axel Vervoordt, Stories and reflections (2017)

The Belgian interior designer, art and antiques dealer Axel Vervoordt is something of a god in this field, and his series of six exhibitions at the Palazzo Fortuny in Venice between 2007 and 2017 were a masterclass in mixing old and new to transportive effect. Vervoordt creates intensely atmospheric interiors which seamlessly blend Le Corbusier Chandigarh furniture with antiquities, Pierre Jeanneret with Japanese Gutai canvases. As Vervoordt says “ Stories and Reflections (2017), he writes: “Over the years, I’ve learned how to search for the universal, to uncover an essence that is common to both historical and contemporary things.” 

That universal essence is key to creating eclectic cohesion. Look for the links—it might be surface patina, colour, function, form, subject matter. Mundane, functional objects can often fit in most easily in an era-spanning interior—think how well rustic early provincial oak furniture can sit alongside contemporary art or utilitarian furniture. But equally, there’s an energy in contrast—imagine, for instance, an Abstract Expressionist painting hung above an ornate 18 century bombe commode within a Tribeca loft.

The daughter of an antiques dealer and a trained furniture restorer, interior designer Rose Uniacke’s pared back yet luxurious projects show that mixing old and new doesn’t have to be chintzy—a few, great quality pieces can be much more effective. As she writes in her latest book, a table in her sitting room sums up her approach “a 15th-century marble tabernacle sits surrounded by various treasures: pre-dynastic vessels, a large Warring States Chinese urn, a piece of Lalique glass, and a group of Francis Alÿs drawings. Displayed carefully, so nothing assumes greater importance than anything else.”

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Knowing where to start can be the hardest thing, but seeing as much as possible and trusting your gut is key. Visit art fairs for inspiration: Frieze Masters, Tefaf Maastricht, PAD London, the Decorative Fair in Battersea Park, to name a few. If you’re not sure of your style, revert to a good old-fashioned mood board or Pinterest. Save whatever you’re drawn to and you will start to notice a pattern emerging—colour palettes, textures, artists’ work, designers, certain periods of antiques. Even if you cannot define your style in words, this will often show you in visual form. 

Or do what the interior designer Sophie Ashby does and “start with the art”— choose one picture or object and build your room around that, perhaps picking up on a colour in a painting that threads through the room, or simply using the art as a focal point. 

Above all, don’t hesitate, have conviction. One antique item in a contemporary setting or one new object in an old home can look like an apology, like you’ve lost faith. So, don’t be too precious—experiment, enjoy the journey, and remember there is no “finished”.

ANNA BRADY is a feature writer, editor, art market reporter and former Art Market Editor at the Art Newspaper.

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