This Blogger’s Stunning French Vintage Home Has So Many Ideas to Steal

It’s cozy. It’s cute. It’s European. It’s French vintage, and you’ve probably seen the soft shades of neutral that define this design style weaving their way into the depths of your Instagram feed. It feels a little bit millennial, but not in a terrazzo contact paper, round mirror, midcentury way. It’s more ornate … nostalgic, if you will — but it’s still Instagrammable, of course, which is what led us to author of the Maison de Mings blog and French vintage extraordinaire, Amy Mings. Her home in Raleigh, Illinois is the epitome of what I wished my apartment looked like. I sat down with Amy to get all her French vintage secrets — and she had a lot to tell. Here, we take a look around her stunning space, which has tons of cool ideas to steal.

Take a step inside Amy’s supercute entryway and you’ll feel it. A gold vintage mirror — the standout piece of this space — is the first accessory that’ll catch your eye. But look a little closer and you’ll notice beautiful woven baskets hanging next to the doorway and a natural wooden bench. “I certainly think there is a farmhouse element to French vintage,” explains Amy. “This style is so enamoring to me because it’s also functional, and, like a farmhouse, everything in the space has a purpose.”

When it comes to decorating, step one is getting inspired. It turns out, Amy’s inspiration is simple: France! “[My husband Mat and I] visit Provence in the south of France often. A simple walk through the Saturday market in a village like Bonnieux or Forcalquier can provide me enough inspiration for an entire year,” she says, adding that Pinterest is also a big idea generator when she’s stateside. Amy found the armoire pictured here at a barn sale, and Mat got to work restoring it. The vintage artwork came from a local estate sale.

As for snagging vintage finds, Amy’s go-to recommendations are Facebook Marketplace, estate sales, antique stores and barn sales. The blue Victorian sofa in her living room? A Facebook Marketplace find she came across while traveling in St. Louis. The vintage cane-back chairs were also from Marketplace. Amy’s pro tip: “To give the chairs a French vintage look like the rest of our home, we refinished and reupholstered them both in classic Provencal colors.”