How to Decorate with Vintage Garden Decor Ideas Indoors

Ready to bring the outdoors in for some simple spring decor? Try these vintage garden decor ideas for casual, easy, inviting home decorating! Keep reading to see how I use some outdoor vintage garden decorations and thrifted, vintage pieces to bring that cottage garden style into my spring home decor!

Spring decorating is so much fun and there are SO many beautiful ways to decorate. Once Easter is over, one of my favorite ways to bring a simple, spring style into our home is to use vintage garden ideas with favorite vintage finds and thrifted items. Vintage garden decor ideas can add such a pretty cottage look to your spring home decor and at the same time, help bring the look of outdoor spaces into your indoor spaces during this beautiful time of year!

I am often asked how to decorate for spring once the Easter holiday is over. Since there is still a lot of the spring season left for decorating once Easter is over, I love this question!

This year, I am just loving the earthy colors, neutral tones, and touches of terra cotta. These elements lend themselves perfectly to vintage garden decor ideas so I am having a lot of fun decorating our home with amazing vintage decorations for this later spring style.

However, since there are so many beautiful ways to decorate for the spring season, I thought I’d at least mention a few other home decor styles I enjoy incorporating into my vintage home decor with vintage treasures in the spring.

vintage garden decor in a graphic for this post

Page Contents

How can I style my house in the spring?

These are just a few ideas that I have used in the past and still love:

Vintage garden style
Audubon decor
Pops of color with flowers
Soft blues and greens with plants
Light, airy style with neutrals

large wire basket on an antique coffee table with a spring vignette styled inside

How do you style vintage decor?

If you’ve been around the Robyn’s French Nest community for even a minute, you already know I absolutely love old things. Even when I was a little girl, I was fascinated by the antiques at my Memaw’s house. Even though my decorating style now is a lot different than hers was back then, I can honestly say I’ve been inspired most of my life by estate sales, flea market finds, and old plates from antique shops. There is just something so interesting and even fascinating, at times, about vintage furniture and home decor. Imagine the stories that these unique pieces could tell!

For my spring decor, I decided to pull out the earthy, terra cotta touches and a little bit of a vintage cottage garden style for my spring decor. The vintage garden design, in general, feels like it perfectly fits the seasonal cottage style that I enjoy using for home decor in our home! In the springtime, elements like seasonal flowers and vintage tools are a great idea to bring the style of outdoor decorating into your indoor living spaces.

Here are some of the main elements I am trying to carry through in each space:

Terra cotta pots and saucers
Neutral textures for fabrics (pillows and throw blankets)
Glass cloches
Greenery with moss and plants
White stoneware
Baskets and woven texture
Concrete garden figures
Framed botanical prints

beautiful view of a mantel styled for spring

How to Decorate with Vintage Garden Decor Ideas Indoors

What is a rustic garden style?

A rustic, or vintage, garden style can take on many different elements. You may choose to focus on chippy woods, potting bench, old pots, and wildflowers for a garden area. However, vintage garden decor ideas could also have a more European style with garden statues, topiaries, and clean lines. Of course, these are just two of many different styles.

Living in South Florida, actual flower gardens require a lot more time, patience, and dedication than what I am able to give it in this season of life. Even though we don’t have actual garden flowers outdoors, I love to bring some elements of vintage garden decor ideas into my spring home decorating!

Let’s chat about a few ways to bring these fun vintage garden decor ideas inside to decorate for spring!

beautiful straw hat gallery wall in a spring living room

Ideas to Decorate with Vintage Garden Decor: #1

Incorporate terra cotta pots and saucers throughout your vignettes.

One of the easiest ways to bring that vintage garden decor style indoors is by using things that you would actually use in a garden, such as pots and planters. I love the earthy color of the terra cotta pots. Actually, they remind me so much of the gorgeous rock formations we saw at Arches National Park on family vacation one year!

Whether large or small, you can incorporate crusty old terra cotta pots into your decor in many different ways. If you are working with new terra cotta pots and want that old look, just use some lime wash or even whitewash a little paint onto the new pots. Of course, rubbing in a little dirt will add to the patina of your clay pots too!

Here are a few ways I’m using them in my vintage garden decor:

Stack them in varying heights
Lay some down in a vignette
Use saucers under other decor, such as a bowl, pitcher, or candle
Actually put plants in them (of course)
Pile them in a big bowl

You can see how I made a whole centerpiece using some of my favorite thrifted terra cotta pots, both new and old, over on THIS POST!

Pro Tip: The best place to find crusty old terra cotta pots to use in your home decor is at thrift stores and flea markets. Make sure to look both inside and outside the building. Some of the thrift stores I visit keep their vintage garden tools and old pots outside at the back of the thrift store!

large terracotta bowl holding small terracotta pots

centerpiece styled with terracotta pots, a small plant, and a white rabbit

Ideas to Decorate with Vintage Garden Decor: #2

Add a lot of texture with textiles.

One thing that I always love to look at in a garden are the many, many different textures and layers. Even though I obviously want the interior of my home to be soft and cozy, I still love the concept of the textures and layers, drawing inspiration from the outdoors.

However, I can still make my indoor spaces super cozy while drawing inspiration from the textures, layers, and earthy tones from outdoor living spaces too. One beautiful way to accomplish this is by incorporating neutral textiles that have a lot of texture.

Some people may say that neutrals aren’t as cozy. However, I think that when neutrals are done well and use a lot of texture, they can be the most restful, calm, and cozy spaces of all!

Pro Tip: Add throw pillows and throw blankets that have a lot of texture, such as tassels, fringe, raised texture on the fabric, mix of kinds of fabrics and a mix of neutral tones.

Just like all of the neutral colors in stone are not exactly the same color, you can get a more textured look by adding a variety of neutral tones to a seating area. White, cream, ivory, light beige, and light tan are all really close, but mixed together, add a lot of depth and interest to your sofa and living space!

Here are some favorite individual pieces of textured neutral styles I’m enjoying this year:

gorgeous neutral gingham pillows styled in white armchairs in the music room

Here are some favorite textured neutral styles I’m enjoying this year:

Ideas to Decorate with Vintage Garden Decor: #3

Style vignettes with glass cloches

I know, I know. Decorating with glass cloches is something I do all year round, not just for vintage garden decor. However, glass cloches actually originated in Europe for gardening. So….doesn’t that make them a great addition to our cottage style vintage garden decor ideas in the spring?!

You can put almost any vintage items (or even new items!) under a glass cloche to turn it into a statement piece or feature a collection. Over on THIS POST, I chat about over 21 ways to decorate with glass cloches!

For spring, specifically, I am enjoying using my glass cloches for a touch of vintage garden decor style.

Here are some ways I’m decorating with glass cloches this spring:

paired with architectural salvage
over a faux plant
featuring a collection of white stoneware mortar and pestles
over a vignette of terra cotta pots and saucers
turning a small vintage clock into a statement piece

There are SO many more creative ways that I love to use glass cloches in spring decorating. However, below you can see a few examples of what I have out in my home:

I find glass cloches in many different places. While I will link a few great options for you below, a great way to build a collection of glass cloches is to keep an eye for them at flea markets and even yard sales. There’s nothing like a good thrift store find (cue a $1 glass cloche) to inspire some home decorating!

small egg gourds styled in a white mortar and pestle under a glass cloche

wicker cloche styled over a plant and candle on a side table

closeup of neutral chair with a white mantel styled with a glass cloche over a small clock behind the chair

Ideas to Decorate with Vintage Garden Decor: #4

Add greenery through moss and fresh or faux plants.

Even though I do love flowers, I find that I often gravitate toward greenery most of all. Whether fresh or faux, greenery adds so much life and movement to a space. At the same time, wispy vines and organic shapes of a greenery vine added to a vintage planter soften the often straight lines of a room and furniture.

In fact, you really won’t find a space in our home where I don’t have some kind of plant or greenery in the room, including the bathrooms!

However, if you want a more clean, simple home decor style, consider bringing in a simple plant and then adding some live moss through the room. The best thing is to layer the moss around fresh or faux plants or even just in a pretty bowl for a centerpiece.

Pro Tip: Layer moss over fresh and faux plants to cover the plastic lining. This is a budget-friendly way to get a high-end look!

Don’t forget to add drainage holes to your pot!

Here are some of my favorite kinds of greenery to use:

These realistic greenery branches
Real touch eucalyptus stems
Realistic thyme topiary
Favorite gypsophila tree
Artificial small fern in old concrete planters

picture of a bird's nest on a large vintage window and a faux tree in a large basket

Here are some of my favorite kinds of greenery to use:

These realistic greenery branches
Real touch eucalyptus stems
Realistic thyme topiary
Favorite gypsophila tree
Artificial small fern in concrete pot

large faux branches in a wicker vase in the kitchen

Ideas to Decorate with Vintage Garden Decor: #5

Mix some white stoneware with the terra cotta.

How do you make a vintage look?

There is nothing about this idea that is actually specific to vintage garden decor ideas. However, I love the clean lines and vintage style of stoneware mixed in with the terra cotta pots and saucers. The white and light colors help to brighten up the over all look and connect with the neutral tones in the textiles too.

Thrift stores, flea markets, antique malls, and vintage shops are great places to look for white/light-colored stoneware. Even though most of mine is vintage, there are also beautiful new pieces that can offer the same aesthetic too. Really, you’re just looking to incorporate a curated, collected look with these vessels while brightening up and breaking up all of the earthy terra cotta tones.

Pro Tip: group pieces together to create collections for a fun way to give new life to your old decor with great vintage style.

Here are some pretty white home decor pieces you can use to mix with terra cotta:

beautiful dining room shelves styled with mortar and pestles and other ironstone

Shop these favorite vintage garden decor style accessories:

Wicker cloches
Fresh moss
Realistic greenery branches
Mini terra cotta pots with saucers
Glass cloche with wooden base
Large European-style wooden trencher (add a fresh fern to this for a quick and easy centerpiece!)
Straw hats
Realistic thyme topiary
Cute gardening tools
Irregular wooden riser
Stoneware watering pitcher
Large wooden bowl
Footed metal pedestal bowl for an indoor garden
Pretty gardening apron (use in the kitchen too!)
Large, textured, white terra cotta pot
Small outdoor planter–use indoors with a fresh or faux plant
Extra-large 16″ glass cloche with bell jar top
Hanging wood slice tray- so cute with plants!
Vintage-style French market basket- hang from a cute hook or on the corner of a chair (and actually use it too!)
Framed botanical prints, vintage style
Inexpensive wall art for a gallery style wall
Vintage style iron gates for a focal point on wall decor
Woven plant stand

List of vintage garden decor ideas and antique items to hunt for at thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales, and antique stores:

Old chair (particularly metal or concrete finishes)
Garden chairs
Old buckets
Old window
Vintage door or old doors
Old watering cans
Galvanized finishes, like an old galvanized bucket or old galvanized washtub
Old wheelbarrow
Old bike
Vintage yard art, like concrete statues, planters, or even a bird bath
Small garden statues
Vintage or vintage style gardening signs
Beautiful planter with chippy patina
Thrifted straw hats
Woven market bags and baskets
Old garden stools

view of a ladder hung above a table with chandeliers hanging from it

Are you inspired to add some vintage garden decor to your interior?

I always like to add a reminder that just because you see a home decor blogger (me!) rearranging and restyling several rooms for the late spring season, you do not have to do that much in order to add a fresh look to your space.

In fact, you could create a fresh look in your dining room by simply creating a new centerpiece with a vintage garden decor look. Perhaps you want a little tweak in the living room. Use this vintage garden inspiration to create a new vignette for your coffee table!

One of the biggest compliments to me, personally, is when my readers take a simple idea that inspires them, have fun with it, and create their own unique look.

I hope you’ll enjoy creating your own centerpiece, tablescape, mantel decor, or vignette to add a little vintage garden decor to your home this spring too!