How to make a modern home feel older

The fastest way to make a modern room look artificial is to fill it with imitation history. The better approach is to introduce a few materials and objects that age honestly and let the modern shell remain visible.

Replace shine before replacing furniture

Highly polished chrome, bright white plastic and cool overhead light often create more of the "new" feeling than the actual architecture. Warm lamps, aged or darkened metal, timber, woven textiles and ceramics can change the character of a room without a major refurbishment.

Buy one old thing

An antique or vintage mirror is often easier to live with than a whole room of antique furniture. The same is true of a small table, framed print, chair or cupboard. One object with genuine wear can stop everything else looking newly assembled.

Avoid themed buying

Searches for "gothic decor" tend to return objects whose principal feature is that they announce the theme. Search for the underlying thing instead: an iron candlestick, an old botanical print, a wool blanket, a dark wood side table, a linen curtain.

The room should make sense even if nobody knows the word Cottagegoth.