Which Design Era Are You? A Not-So-Scientific Guide to Finding Your Vintage Style Personality
If you’ve ever fallen in love with a brutalist lamp, a frilly Victorian mirror, and a pink ‘50s dinette set all in the same week—congratulations, you’re vintage-curious. But if you’re ready to stop impulse-buying and start collecting with clarity, it helps to know your design era personality.
Here’s how to figure it out (no BuzzFeed quiz required):
image credit: Maria Victoria
1. Think Like a Time Traveler
What decade feels like home? Not just aesthetically, but emotionally. Do you long for martinis and sunken living rooms? You might be a Midcentury Modern soul. Dreaming of florals, fringe, and just a hint of kitsch? Welcome to the 1970s. If your ideal afternoon involves tea, lace, and reading next to a ficus—hi, Grandmillennial.
image credit: Cindy Hattersly
2. Check Your Shopping Habits
Do you always grab the thing with clean lines and walnut legs? Or are you the person hunting down ornate gilded frames and velvet footstools? The pieces you gravitate toward (even subconsciously) are telling you something.
3. Look at Your Closet
Style often crosses categories. Are you all neutrals, structured silhouettes, and minimal accessories? That screams Bauhaus or Scandinavian Modern. Into puff sleeves, florals, or a little sparkle? You might be living in a Hollywood Regency dream.
image credit: TROVE
4. Study Your Pinterest Boards (aka your subconscious)
Scroll back far enough, and a pattern will emerge. If 80% of your pins include wicker, avocado green, or wood paneling, you’ve got retro running through your veins. If it's all creamy whites, antique portraits, and crusty ceramics, you’re a European farmhouse in disguise.
5. Mix, Don’t Match
Newsflash: you don’t have to commit to just one era. Most of us are walking contradictions anyway. It’s okay to be a little Deco in the dining room and a little ‘90s minimalism in the bedroom. The trick is to create rhythm, not a time capsule.
image credit: James Harvey
Final Thought:
Your design era isn’t about rules—it’s about resonance. When you find the time period(s) that light you up, collecting gets easier, decorating feels more intuitive, and your home starts to reflect something more powerful than trends: you.
-Juliette