Decorating your home with antiques can be fun and can also add a touch of class and elegance to any space. Larger pieces can be expensive to purchase and may take up more room than you may have especially if the rooms in your home, loft or apartment are small. If you are trying to decorate smaller spaces or cannot make a massive investment you may want to use antique pottery and glassware instead. Here are some tips and tricks that you can use to incorporate these pieces into your home.

Once you start looking at the different time periods you will see that when a piece was made can highly affect how heavily decorated it is. In some periods, heavily decorated pieces were much more popular. You should think about what style of room you are placing a piece in to make sure that your new addition is suitable.

You should also think about whether you want to use the piece to hold or display items, or if you simply want it to look beautiful and have no practical purpose. This may affect which kind of item you choose and which materials will work best for you. A delicate antique ceramic vase may be too fragile to hold flowers or other items. If you want it for display only, however, then it could still work well for your space.

Cleaning items can be a challenge if they are very old or if they feature surfaces that are painted rather than glazed. Keep in mind that a piece that is being used and touched often will need more extensive cleaning so the way the surface is finished will be more important than if the item is simply being kept on a shelf and handled infrequently.

Glass pieces will either have designs etched into the surface or they will use different colors of glass to form a design. This makes them easy to clean. If, however, the glass is very old or there is any metallic paint used on the outside, you will need to be careful cleaning the piece so the metal doesn't wear off and the piece doesn't chip or break.

If you are looking for pieces to use in rooms where the decor is more modern or minimalist, you may want to look for glass pieces or ceramic items that have clean lines and simple color schemes. A more traditionally decorated space may be a better match for items that are more ornate or which may have more than one color used in their design.

Some individuals choose to work with interior decorators or antiques dealers when they begin collecting. This can be a good idea especially if you want to find pieces that will appreciate in value. Otherwise, you should be able to find beautiful items in many places such as antique shops, estate sales and private collections that are being liquidated.

Once you have a piece in your home, don't be afraid to move it around a little to see where it looks best in the room. You may be surprised and find that it ends up in a spot that is not where you intended it to be. In the end, it is up to you to find the perfect place for your new piece.