How to find your retro home look
Sep 17, 2014 | by Becky Oeltjenbruns
Does this space inspire you?
Adorning your home with vintage is just as fun as dressing yourself up with retro fashions! We’ve already shown you some great tips for decorating with vintage. And although there aren’t any hard and fast rules when it comes to this approach, getting started can be a challenge. Below you’ll find four great questions to consider as you begin. Join us as we discuss how to find your retro home look and offer your thoughts in the comments.
What things speak to you?
Nostalgia is a very individual thing. What one person finds charming, another may not appreciate. That’s where the joy of vintage comes in – with so many decades, designers, and styles to choose from you can easily find what inspires you. Consider colors, patterns, and textures from the different genres. Perhaps the bright colors of the Pop Art era invigorate you or maybe the sleek lines from the Art Deco period capture your heart. Whatever your fancy, educate yourself on the available motifs and take your cue from the elements you enjoy. Remember – the key is to make an inviting space that reflects your taste and passions. The best part about decorating with vintage is that you can accomplish this mission on a budget and without worry of being copied.
What are your everyday living patterns?
When you start to consider interior design, don’t make the space reflect what you think it ought to, but make the space work with the lifestyle you already enjoy. By fitting your designs to your life, rather than trying to adjust your patterns to your furniture, you’ll be much happier and get more usefulness out of your space.
Beautiful stair by Jacques Doucet
Ask yourself: how often do we entertain and converse? do we need pieces that are multipurpose because we don’t have a lot of room? how careful are we or our kids or our pets around our current pieces? how often do we clean? Answering these specific questions can help guide you to certain genres. The height of “at home entertaining” was during the 1950s and 1960s, so much of the furniture and arrangements are conducive to that. However, before television and cars, seeing guests at home was very common, so antiques from the Victorian period may also be a good fit. (The difference is that the more modern times reflected casual entertaining.) Multipurpose furniture is also found in 20th century vintage pieces. Amazing things were being done at this time with room dividers, so start exploring these options. If you aren’t an avid duster, then the very detailed features from early 1900s home accessories may not be for you. Look for things that are more streamlined as these hide wear and tear/use more effectively.
Again, the theme is to make the pieces you bring into your home work for you, not against your natural inclinations. As there are so many decades to explore, visit local shops to find examples from different time periods. Don’t be afraid to get hands-on.
Do you enjoy experimenting or do you prefer sticking with standards?
The 1960s and 1970s were two decades when the avant-garde was embraced. Different lighting fixture styles and colors that pushed boundaries were more and more popular. If you like more “comfortable” styles, then look to the late 1940s and 1950s, when people wanted to define the ideal home environment. Safe, but still beautiful, this is a great option.
Tacoma Washington collection of mid-century furniture, picture by Joe Mabel
Always keep in mind that you can mix and match different decades. With some creativity everything vintage can play well together, so trust your own eye as you consider the questions on this list.
What materials do you love?
Wood and upholstery has always been a choice material combination for furniture, but if you like the look and feel of metals or plastics you want to look toward the mid-century more specifically. While the wooden pieces from the Arts & Crafts movement feel very strong, the wood used during the 50s often feels more fluid (gotta love that bent plywood!). So even though you find a material palette you love, there is still a world of possibility open within that substance.
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For our readers: What do you ask yourself when you start retro decorating projects?