LIV Chats To…Antique Lovers Sam & Tamara About Their Beautiful Vintage Homes
This week we're chatting to Sam & tamara from @vintagecuratorinteriors- their style mixes vintage PIECES, antiques and splashes of muted colour.
Hi both, first things first, please can you introduce yourself!
Hi, we are Sam and Tamara, vintage, antique and interior loving friends who met many years ago through instagram!
We work together from our North London homes (5 minutes from each other) running @vintagecuratorinteriors, @samandtamaradecorativeantiques where we showcase the vintage pieces we have for sale (www.stdecorativeantiques.com) and @virtualvintagefair, a platform we set up during the pandemic to support vintage and antique traders running small businesses like us.
Please tell us more about your stunning home and how @vintagecuratorineteriors came about?
Sam’s home is the one that features on VCI. Like most people who found instagram early she started by posting (heavily filtered!) pictures of all sorts of things she liked (flowers, restaurants, shops, architecture) until she found that sticking to her niche, interiors really was the best option. For years posting was just about having fun and sharing her home, but over time she started to use the account to showcase her interiors style to grow her interior design client base, her sourcing clients and to work for brands creating content.
More recently, since she and Tamara joined forces, VCI is focussed on vintage and antiques within interiors and how we as friends and business partners create and have fun together with antiques - How to use them, how to style them as well as featuring beautiful places (shops, restaurants, lifestyle stores, garden centres, holidays) that lean towards sustainability, salvage and vintage. We often create reels with current stock demonstrating how to use these pieces in your home (the series is entitled “Antiques in your Home”). Part of the joy of creating is spontaneity. If we’ve been out sourcing we will create little videos entitled “car park pop up” of our finds from the day. We hope to work with more brands that are in line with our sustainable and fun approach!
Please could you describe your interior style? has it always been the same or has it evolved over time?
Sam’s style has definitely evolved but always at its core has been a love of antiques and vintage with a modern rustic vibe. Her recent renovations have seen a significant shift away from a dark, monochrome look towards a softer pallette of soft white and green.
Tamaras interior style, glimpses of which can be seen on @samandtamaradecorativenatiques is very much a fusion of earthy textured neutrals, combining antique furniture and decor with splashes of colour and contemporary pieces. She loves mixing different eras, styles and materials - there can be a 19th century Kilim rug next to an antique Chinese cabinet, a Victorian sideboard and contemporary ceramics.
What brands or trends inspire you or your home purchases?
Neither of us is particularly brand led with our interior choices as we tend to be drawn to classic design that fits our personal aesthetic. When we do shop for homeware we like to support small brands.
What interior Instagram accounts inspire you, could you name your top 3?
It’s so hard to name just three! Can we have three each?!
We both love
@hillhousevintage. Paula's account is just so joyous combining everything that we love. Vintage, gardens, dogs, cake. history and a bit of theatre!
Tamara would also add:
1.@tat.london - pure aspiration and to die for interiors and antiques
2.@em.gurner - the combination of styles, colour and eras
3.@cave_interiors - elegant and eclectic
Sam adores:
1.@blackshorestyle - I love Sally’s aesthetic, her images are just beautiful
2.@astylistguide - Sam shares so many beautiful interiors, all of which I’d love to live in.
3.@seansymington - Sean is wonderful. Our styles are very different (I’m sure he'd call mine boring!), but I love his fun use of colour and he is a genius with mixing fabrics and pattern.
We love your account, especially all the amazing vintage finds! How and where do you find them?
As antiques and vintage dealers that's our job! To find gorgeous vintage and antiques pieces. Inevitably many of them end up in our homes (either temporarily or permanently) because we really try to buy things we personally love. Our favourite hunting grounds are @sunburyantiques at Kempton, @asfairs and more recently @wembleyantiquesmarket which is the new kid on the block. We also love a good old rummage at a local carboot!
We just love both of your homes! Do you each have a favourite space in each other's home?
Sam loves Tamara’s conservatory which has the most wonderful light and is the perfect place for a nap!
Tamara loves Sams new kitchen which is a breath is fresh air and serenity and calm in interiors at its best!
What's your favourite home purchase you have made recently and is there anything on your Wishlist?
Sam is really into her garden at the moment and recently bought a potting table on @ebay. She also bought an amazing antique caste iron bath on there for £27 but her all time favourite home purchase is an antique oil portrait of a lady that turned out to be from the studio of Luca Giordano and dates from 1634-1705.
Tamara’s favourite purchase is a beautiful faux bamboo armchair dating from the early 1900s originally bought to sell but now lives in her hallway. On her wish list is beautiful linen curtains from the East London Cloth Company.
If you had to change one thing in your homes, what would it be and why?
Sam would love to win the lottery so she could build an extension in her side return. The space is totally unused and it wood make the perfect home office area, looking out over the garden.
Tamara would redo the loft in her home which is over 30 years old and definitely does not utilise the space correctly.
And finally what does the future hold for @vintagecuratorineteriors is there anything left up your sleeves?
There’s always something up our sleeves! Part of the joy of working together is the creative connection we share. We are always coming up with new ideas and trying them out but what the next thing might be is always a bit of a mystery. We are pretty spontaneous in our approach to things.
If you have enjoyed reading all about Sam and tamara’s venture and their beautiful homes, head over to their Instagram page @vintagecuratorinteriors to keep up to date.
