Vintage by nina book review

I have had the heading Vintage Book Review on my blog for quite a while now so I decided it was about time that I actually wrote one.  I bought this book a couple of months ago but first heard about it last year on Facebook.  I put it in my Amazon wish list and waited.  Waited for it to come down in price and for the English version to become available.  Neither of those things happened so I could resist no longer and had to buy it.  As you may have realised by the title of my blog, the book is called Vintage by nina and is written by the Danish interior stylist and antiques dealer, Nina Hartmann.

 Nina collaborated with Swedish Photographer Maria Isabel Hansson and it is a seamless partnership.  Maria appears to understand Nina's visions and the results are electric.

Vintage by nina

So first things first, do you want the good or bad news?  Well I'll get the bad news out the way first.  The bad news is, this book is not in English.  The good news is, who cares!  They say a picture is worth a thousand words and boy do these photos speak a thousand words in any language.

Vintage by nina - angel wings

There are angel wings

Vintage by nina -pierrot

Pierrot dolls

Vintage by nina

Vintage by nina - fabric boxes

Fabrics and fabric boxes

Vintage by nina - globe de mariee

Globes de Mariee

Vintage by nina - mannequins

Old mannequins

Vintage by nina - corsets

Old corsets

Vintage by nina - ballet dresses

 Beautiful frothy ballet dresses.

When the book came through the door I eagerly unwrapped it and instantly fell in love.  The photos above are just a very small portion of what the book offers but it takes you through every room in the house and all the items are 100% vintage and antique.  All the items were sourced from flea markets around Europe and I seriously need to find out where they are.  Nina has an amazing eye for detail and you can understand why she is one of the most celebrated stylists in Scandinavia.  You can find her vintage and antique items on her website, vintagebynina.com and she has also has a showroom in Stolkholm.

The thing I love about this book is the fact that you can tell all the items are genuine antique or vintage.  They aren't vintage or antique style but the real thing and for me I can feel that in every page.  You can feel the history of the objects coming through the pages and somehow they feel tactile as though you can imagine how they would feel and smell.  That I suppose is the magic of Maria's photography, bringing every item alive and allowing you to live vicariously through the pages.  I do have a lot of interiors books but for me this book stands alone and is in a league of its own.  Who cares it isn't in English.  It allows you to use your imagination and for that words aren't necessary.  Goddamit she even makes chopping boards interesting!

Vintage by nina

I found this book to be incredibly inspiring and I could feel the fire in my belly telling me to get out there and find as many wonderful, unusual and beautiful objet d'art as possible.  We can't all have the vision that Nina has but we have our own creativity and its important to nurture it any way you can and for me that means staying true to what I love and not what other people tell me is fashionable or the right look. Reading books like this should inspire us to create our own style in a way that celebrates our personalities.

Vintage by nina

If you are desperate to read it in English then I suggest you make friends with Google Translate!  Failing that why don't you pop over to Eliza Interiors and Design as she was the only person over here that I could find with any copies for sale in the English version.  I'm not sure she still has any but may be worth an email.  I decided to stick to this version as the English one was double the price and to be honest the photographs were what I wanted to see (there was even a photo of a cat, can this woman do no wrong!)

Vintage by nina

This book is beautiful and deserves to be read when you know you have time without interruptions, when you can sit in peace and quiet and absorb the wonderful photography.  You owe it to yourself to put your phone on silent, put your feet up and relax in the surroundings of Nina's Vintage.

I should make it clear that all the images are from Vintage by nina and the above photos are taken by me of said images for the purpose of this blog.