Vintage Portraits Are the Secret Ingredient to Bringing Casual Elegance to Any Space

Whether it’s the Bridgerton influence, a love for all things secondhand, or the allure of a personal touch, old portraits are starting to make a regular appearance in homes. As regency and Victorian aesthetics rise in popularity, so does the desire for decor that has a past—and the mysterious, romantic quality of these portraits bring an instant Old-World feel you can’t find in modern art.

Unlike the rapid-fire images we’re bombarded with on social media or through text messages, antique portraits (usually from the 17th and 18th century) reflect a slower pace and more elegant way of life. Collecting portraits has become more prevalent, with 1stDibs reporting a 9% increase in searches for them over the past year: There seems to be a growing nostalgia for decades past, a trend that’s shown up in the resurgence of home designs like mid-century modern, curved furniture, and retro appliances.

When searching for an old portrait to hang in your home, don’t expect to find depictions of happy, smiling people. Dourness was expected, Sarah Moulden, curator of 19th-century collections and the National Portrait Gallery, told the Wall Street Journal. 

“Actually smiling [in a portrait] could be seen as breaking with decorum,” she says. The imperious expression of an elderly gentleman, so typical of these kinds of paintings, can go a long way to making a room feel layered and lived-in. 

On eBay, these artworks go for thousands of dollars: You can buy one of a 17th/18th century woman for $6,000. But a quick search on Etsy for vintage portraits brings up a range of much more budget-friendly options.

If what you’re looking for isn’t out there, you can create your own bespoke pieces in a few simple steps, as TikTok creator @hummusbird explained in a video. She simply downloads digital files of artwork and prints them on photo rag paper.

"It's like a matte, textured paper," she says. "So they actually do kind of still look like paintings."

These pieces don’t have to feel serious: Bring a touch of whimsy to a powder room with a portrait of a young child, or create a gallery wall of faces down a hallway. Mix up the types of frames, from gold and ornate to simple and sleek. When asked if they’re relatives, feel free to say yes—once these portraits have found a spot to live in your home, they’ll begin to feel like family.