From the vermillion living room to the elegant foyer, this 1960s New York home had played-to-the-hilt, marvelously uninhibited color.
Living rooms
This living room was mostly decked out in earth tones, but went beyond the usual with two cozy cubic cantilevered chairs that somehow made a seat made of squares seem comfortable.
A personal room that invited family or friends, this cozy sunroom from the 70s was a dazzle of color – but the colors never intimidated, never overpowered.
Here’s a gorgeous home from 1959 that featured a conversation pit by a fireplace – one example of a luxurious vintage midcentury modern home admired all these decades later.
A lively white and poppy red print called “Provincial” diminished the bad points of an awkward space when it was converted into this fab family room back in the early 1960s.
As one retailer selling this blue tie-dyed sofa said at the time, ‘The bolts of blue lighting in this unusual and dramatic resist-dyed fabric will knock you out.’
This cozy vintage living room decor from the late 1930s/early 1940s featured the kind of clean, crisp lines popular in early modern decor.
The upward sweep of this ocean view living room was shaped by red laminated wood beams that curved up to disappear into the vortex of the skylighted cupola.
This gorgeous living room full of exotic color could have come out of a Venetian palazzo, with tall shutters, bold shades and a creative style.
This decor from the early 1970s overflowed with a bold electric blue in many different textures, materials, and surfaces, making it look more like a living room art installation than a family home.
When this restored Victorian living room was made new again in the 1950s, the owners didn’t want to superimpose contemporary design on it, instead choosing to return it to its former glory.
This minimalist midcentury modern living room, cheerful and welcoming in character, left plenty of room for hospitality.
See how little hand-painted paper was needed to endow this beautiful silver and blue vintage living room with the drama and importance of a mural.
On one side of a vintage living room from 1965 was this charming little garden view dining area. Take a look!
In this living room from the 60s, striped wallpaper and stylish home decor created an entry hall out of a plain wall area. Here’s how!
A masterly mix of patterns gave warmth and a sense of intimacy to this hug vintage Texas living room/great room.
The design and decor of this airy corner of this Honolulu living room was an excellent example of how creativity can help make a small house seem larger.
Because of its dramatic expanse of glass, this 1960s living room’s tall window walls demanded a fabric showy enough to make a decorating impact, yet sturdy enough to stand the sun.
Even the simplest kind of molding can contribute a lot more to a room than you might imagine – as proven by this retro 1960s DIY living room wall decor.
A brilliant cacophony of reds was found in a neocontemporary living room/bedroom, with a shock of shiny red-lacquered walls.
This extraordinary living room features a stunning and soaring high curved wood ceiling that looks almost like the hulls of twin ships.
Even with special attention given to every element of this home, the soaring ceilings and mosaic tile floors of this 1950s living room stood out as being truly beautiful and unique.
This delightfully eclectic country-style living room from the 1960s is packed full of treasures in an almost Victorian style.
The vintage screen made of circles could work as a DIY project – this eye-catching retro room divider was simply made with craft hoops and oak strips.
This post-war modern ranch home in Los Angeles was built in 1948, and the space – including the cozy midcentury modern living room – was decorated by the editorial staff of House Beautiful magazine.
Just a peek at this cute, cozy and colorful mid century modern living room will show you how easy it can be to reproduce this look from 1964.
This rustic living room decor from 1968 stood out thanks to its high ceiling filled with three gorgeous wood trusses painted black.
This 1970s Beverly Hills homeowner liked to have a few friends in for tea in the curve of this elegant bay window, part of a room filled with antique treasures and classic furnishings.
Light-reflecting textures of white brick walls and terrazzo floor picked up the green tints of foliage through the window wall that dominated this airy and bright 50s living room.
In 1950, a midcentury modern living room designer created a welcoming space that offered distinctive color, buoyant originality, and practicality.
Here, a 1970s interior designer’s dramatic night sky living room took its colors from his discovery of a cotton batik fabric.
In this 1960s living room, the stucco walls were too damaged to wallpaper, so the homeowners hung printed fabric on the walls in a pattern that looked like a bold black and white tweed.
In this fresh and bright living room decor from the 1960s, the silver walls wrapped bright, clear, Botticelli colors in a shimmer that made them seem even fresher.
Stark white walls and the tangy snap of lime green were remarkably cool and serene in this light-struck retro living room in Miami.
In this homey informal country living room from the 1940s, coral-reds, greens, chartreuses and blues formed the pattern of the white cretonne used for the sofa, armchair and Dutch curtains.
For this stylishly eclectic living room, the decorators chose a warm scheme of yellows and off-whites “to emphasize a hospitable spirit.”
Straight out of the 70s, here’s a superb year-round party room, keyed to Pineapple Gold, a winter hospitality color, against Designer Hector Grant’s green and white background.
Marvelously spacious, this fresh & airy living room had ceilings 15 feet high, and was created in space that used to be a dark, closed-in garage.
The bright and bold bursts of color used in this 1930s celebrity home helped make this pink & white vintage living room really stand out.
This offbeat white-on-white living room shown was an almost total white entity, with opaque and luminous Plexiglas sofa platforms, glossy vinyl, matte walls, and a rug of satiny kidskins.
Plum – rich, dark, high-glaze- reflected all whites and brights in this passionately purple family room from the early 1970s.
In this home, every space, including the 1970s contemporary living room, had sliding glass doors, decks or balconies that opened up to the outdoors.
This 60s boho home had a big swing as the centerpiece in a big space that combined the best of a living room with a family room.
In a bid to make this 1950s tract house more functional – and help it to look a little less ordinary – a sunny living room makeover was in order.
Softly glowing textures of golden beige brick walls and silver-gray carpeting gave this large midcentury modern living room an intimate quality.
This 1960s living room made from a terrace space was filled with bold contrasting animal print patterns that filled nearly every surface, but combined to create a luxuriously exotic tent-like atmosphere.
His homeowner cleverly used framed butterfly prints to dramatize a long, blank wall – a feature common to the kind of calm 1950s living room found in many midcentury houses and apartments.
There was nothing run of the mill about the decor of this unusual and enchanting modern living room. Here’s a look!
Positioned below a low ceiling’s white beams and planks, the triangular fireplace opening gave this home’s bohemian living room an eyecatching look.
As seen back in 1967, this cool white apartment decor had decor that was crisp and invigorating – with bursts of yellow and green to warm it up.
In this simple, budget-friendly midcentury modern living room from the 1950s, a range of colors and textures played together harmoniously.
A high-ceilinged gray 1940s living room formed the background for this selection of modern furniture with coordinated carpet and fabric.
As many blues as the waters of the Caribbean was the color treatment of the beautiful 1930s drawing room shown here – a symphony in subtle blues and jade green.
This living room’s 7-panel diamond-patterned screen divider was painted in a variety of muted colors, and could perk up even the blandest space.
Totally carpeted in monochrome beige, this 1960s sunken living room conversation pit in a New York apartment living room provided a cloverleaf well of seating.
Black & white checkerboard patterns on the walls, the chairs and the sofas – some straight, some on a diagonal, some with fish-eye bulging effects – dressed up this retro 70s living room with graphic flair.
This retro room’s imaginative midcentury modern luxury style decor was the complete package: simple but luxurious, unique but functional.
