Vintage 1950s bedroom decor: Tips from 1958
Today’s best home decorating has reached a medium in which the lavish and the stark have been blended, sifted and molded into a combination of beauty and good taste.
The bedroom, for example, has undergone a metamorphosis in the past three generations. Once one of the most sumptuously decorated rooms of the home in which fancy and furbelows figured prominently. It then, for a time, took on a Spartan air of the strictly utilitarian, where beauty was banished as non-essential.
Today, decorating of the bedroom has attained a smart but informal elegance in which drama is achieved through the skillful combination of simplicity with rich materials.
Many modern-day bedrooms feature paneled walls of such sophisticated woods as creamy beige west coast hemlock, for homeowners find that wood lends rich texture and quiet elegance to the bedroom while never detracting from elements of the decor.
Retro double queen-sized beds with a fresh white & blue color scheme
White bedroom furniture with blue walls & floor
Home decor tips from 1958: Color with discretion
Color should be used with discretion, and decorators have found that certain hues add to the restful quality of this room. Colors from the cool range — blues, blue-greens, clear greens and violet — are all good for bedroom decor, and earthy shades stemming from the tones of natural wood also enjoy great popularity.
Light ceiling treatment is necessary for this room to assure an airy atmosphere, and the pale shading of natural hemlock decking is preferred.
Unfailing good taste, simplicity, fine materials, and a spark of individuality — these are the ingredients for successful contemporary decorating.
1950s bedroom: A midcentury master with blue and green soft furnishings
Wood floors, blue/green/yellow striped bedspread and chairs, plus a blue accent wall behind the headboard.
Elegantly yellow old-fashioned bedroom style
1950s bedroom: Kent-Coffey’s lovely walnut bedroom furniture (1957)
From 1957: Here iyou see proof of Kent-Coffey’s success in making furniture that seems to be so much more expensive than it really is!
Basic, go-anywhere pieces give the “Sequence” group a marvelous flexibility, Chests, bookcases, desk, dressers — see how they align themselves lo solve a difficult “long wall” problem, or turn a corner neatly
Four-poster bed with burgundy draping
ALSO SEE: With its transparent four-poster bed, this pink 70s bedroom mixed traditional with trendy
Blue and tan master bedroom suite decor
The striped blue, brown and white carpet fits the light-colored wood of the midcentury modern furniture style.
Separate single beds for a married couple
In this retro bedroom, dark wood furniture with gold accents is backed up with a black and white lattice pattern wallpaper.
1950s bedroom with Armstrong cork tile flooring (1950s)
In this distinctive bedroom, the Armstrong cork tile floor furnishes a handsome bedroom for lace, brass and velvet. As an added touch of elegance, hollow diamonds of brass with centers of gleaming white vinyl are set right into the floor — one of today’s most dramatic new decorating ideas.
Armstrong cork tile is just right for a bedroom floor. It has rich, natural color and texture. It looks so luxuriously warm and comfortable and feels that way — even to bare feet.
ALSO SEE: Look inside Gene Kelly’s house from 1950 for some simple vintage celebrity style
Johnson-Carper master bedroom interior designs from 1950
With these new Fashion Trend styles, you can bring true fashion to your bedrooms at remarkably moderate cost.
Here are gracious modern designing, good woods, exclusive hardwares, many seen and unseen values, and the exciting new color tones of frosted plum Imperial Walnut, Gall Grey, Mahogany, Cocoa Brown Walnut and light and lovely Ivory Sonora.
In each suite, many pieces to choose from, all designed for versatile arrangements. Fashion Trend is sold by thousands of dealers from coast to coast — for people with limited budgets and unlimited good taste.
Low bed in a master bedroom featuring white horizontal wall paneling
1950s bedroom with blue and white decor
Paneling popular in bedrooms: Decorating ideas from 1958
Usually, a sleek quality is preferred for bedroom walls, so panel boards cut with a tongue and groove, which fit together without a break, are most often specified.
Because of wood’s neutrality of color, the paneling is usually finished with clear lacquer or varnish to retain its natural assets. In the case of the bedroom, where homeowners want to give added attention to a smooth, lustrous finish, paneling is often completed with a hand-rubbed waxing.
Furnishings for the bedroom, though utilitarian in function, simple in design, can be lavish in effect with individualistic touches contributing much to the scheme of things — a hand-carved or padded headboard, a bedroom set of oriental flavor in Chinese lacquer, flowing casement draperies in Shantung, raw silk, or textured linen.
“Chinese Coin” bright red single beds for married couples
MORE: Space-saving small home decorating hints the ’50s way
Midcentury modern style bedroom furniture with cool blue decor
Unique midcentury modern emerald and beige master bedroom suite
The wicker room divider in the middle of the space offers a creative way to segment this retro bedroom.
Retro yellow main 1950s bedroom design
The high ceilings and patterned carpet give this room a distinctly old-fashioned look.
1950s bedroom: “Old Colony” furniture designs
This mellow, traditional furniture takes your plans for the future very seriously! Like the sensible open stock idea, its “Home-Planned” designs assure a basic harmony — but with a pleasant flexibility that brings fresh charm as you later add to living, dining and bedrooms.
The Heywood-Wakefield emblem is a trusted symbol of the lasting value that comes only from superb craftsmanship and selected native hardwoods.
Old-fashioned red & pink main bedroom theme from the ’50s
ALSO SEE: 23 vintage pink bathrooms: Wild bubblegum-era midcentury home decor of the 1950s & 1960s
Twin bed with dramatic floral pattern and striking red accents (1959)
Retro master bedroom with floral print wallpaper decorating
Wake up in a bright new bedroom!
Let this lovely Bassett bedroom set a bright pattern for your day! It’s a modern suite, simple and straightforward, yet it brings so much to your bedroom.
Each piece, you see, stands cleanly “off the floor,” giving your room a sense of space and lightness. And planning your color scheme is easy, because Bassett gives you three different woods to choose from, in four exciting finishes!
MORE: How to be a perfect ’50s housewife: Cleaning your home
Midcentury modern style 1950s bedroom
“Nightfall in Lancaster City”
Mellowed by the soft glow of solid maple furniture — side-by-side twin beds.
Modern Heywood-Wakefield honey-toned furniture with green fabric
ALSO SEE: A 1950s home tour: See inside a small house in San Francisco
Monument’s new bedspread — “Hocus Pocus”
A completely different-looking jacquard bedspread… with its primitive design, its picture, frame motives. As much at home with modern… as it is with Provincial or traditional.
Classy modern white bedroom design with orange accents
Vintage master bedroom with warm brown and violet color scheme
Vintage 50s bedroom with lacy white canopy bed
ALSO SEE: 70 beautiful vintage canopy beds from the 1970s
Master bedroom with pink velvet and white furniture
Gorgeous carmine red master bedroom with white furnishings
Classic 50s bedroom with a teal twist
1950s bubblegum pink dream bedroom for two
Old-fashioned bedroom furniture with warm colors
Nostalgic lacy white bedspread with maple furniture
Soft floral bedroom design with a rose blanket
1950s yellow-green patterned bedroom
Light blue master bedroom from the 1950s
Red and navy bedroom design
Two side-by-side single beds
Green and blue color scheme for this cool bedroom
Peaceful rose pink and white vintage bedroom decor from the 1950s
Romantic old-fashioned pink canopy bed in a vintage master bedroom
This room is filled with gold-leaf and brass antiques for some Victorian style in the fifties.
Dreamy and sleek pink bedroom (1950s)
High windows in the master bedroom afford plenty of unbroken wall space for furniture placement. Luscious shell-pink tones used throughout the room were inspired by the pink marble tops on the ebony modern furniture.
Bedroom with a draped pink bedskirt and curtains
Small fifties master bedroom decor in green
Simple mid-century bedroom style
A new luxury of sheets in Du Pont Nylon – These new sheets of 100% Du Pont nylon are caressingly smooth… give you a feeling of dreamy luxury… These new sheets of Du Pont nylon come in a rainbow of pastels as well as sparkling white.
Early 1950s Tropic Mist & Walnut bedroom furniture designs
Give your bedroom that one-in-a-thousand look with this clear, smooth, off-white mahogany group, custom-styled in advanced modern design with its accent of dull finished solid walnut in the molded base structures. Bright brass trim gleams on solid mahogany drawer pulls. Drawers glide on permanent action treated guides…
Traditional-style master bedroom decor from 1950
Capture the charm of an eighteenth-century French chateau with Touraine, by Drexel… Find new glamour for your bedroom in the precious Brittany fruitwood finish, new color possibilities in its rich honey hue, and new delight for your eye in this lovely design, with the smoothly flowing, richly carved detail, so well-loved by the courtiers of Louis XV.
ALSO SEE: 140+ vintage 1950s wallpaper samples for some real retro decor inspiration
Elegant main bedroom decor with a single bed (1950)
The American Idea: A sense of the past in the present. Here, one of today’s great developments — Celanese acetate, the beauty fiber — weaves a luxurious taffeta, perfect background for antique grillwork designs borrowed from another era.
White wicker vintage bedroom furniture with blue sheets and accents
Vintage 1950s bedroom decor with wooden shelves and cabinetry
How wonderfully easy it is to make a 24-hour-a-day room out of a “sleeping room” when you plan with versatile, beautiful Ethan Allen Custom Room Plan furniture by Baumritter. Here’s quiet elegance and charm to give you welcome relaxation and privacy after the cares of the day.
Early 1950s twin beds with floral accents
Retro cabin-styled bedroom with green plaid designs
MORE: Look back at these vintage bookshelves, book nooks & other beautiful old-fashioned home libraries
Vintage white bedroom furniture with pink queen-size bed
To lengthen a square room: Tips from 1959
By the correct use of color, a perfectly square bedroom can be made to seem longer in one direction. The contrasting wall method also can be used in this case.
Only original museum pieces can rival the old-fashioned beauty of the Needletuft heirloom bedspreads you choose for your finest eighteenth century and early American rooms.
“Martha’s Vineyard,” for example, combines Cabin Crafts stitcheries unsurpassed for authenticity and charm: candlewick, punchwork, rippletuft, and giant feathertuft. In mellowed heirloom white, it will remain lovely through the years, will need no ironing.
MORE: 100+ fabulous ’50s floors of linoleum & vinyl
Photo of a 1950s bedroom with evergreen soft furnishings
Vintage 1950s master bedroom with wood dressers
The green carpet plays off the leaves in the retro floral wallpaper.
To make a room darker: Mid-century decor tips from 1959
Large bedrooms with several windows, often are over-bright, and too much light can be annoying. In planning a new decor for an over-bright bedroom, choose a darker paneling and floor covering. These will somewhat neutralize the natural brightness.
MORE: Did married couples really sleep in separate beds back in the ’50s?
Mid-century modern wood bedroom furniture & blue decor
White styled master bedroom with dark wood furnishings
In the best tradition, Tiara has a romantic association with the past. In these contemporary masterpieces, White brings you the irresistible beauty of ancient artistry with a new vigor, simplicity and individuality that is proudly American.
ALSO SEE: Antique secretary desks: See 30 examples of fancy & functional furniture
ALSO LOOK AT: See inside Bing Crosby’s house from 1950 for some classic celebrity style
Birdseye maple furniture in a vintage bedroom
To make a vintage bedroom look brighter: Tips from 1959
Draperies and furniture absorb light, and the correct use of color can usually “pep up” a dull bedroom. Light color planks, such as yellow or green, will brighten a dark bedroom.
Since light usually strikes the floor first, make sure that the rug or floor covering material is also a light color. Plain white planks are also becoming popular in modern arrangements, since bright accessories will supply a colorful contrast.
Simple retro bedroom with cabinet-style headboard
Fancy 50s master suite with steps up to a living area
This unusual placement of the main bedroom — right off a living/dining area — nevertheless looks quite elegant.
ALSO SEE: Remember these vintage gold-edged bedroom furniture sets from the ’60s?
MBR full of red walls, offset with yellow & forest green decor
1950s bedroom with green carpet & reddish paint
Elegant vintage master bedroom
This vintage bedroom features light blue carpeting and dark wood furniture
Vintage yellow bedroom decor from the 50s
While the quilted golden bedding shown below nice, the bolster-style pillows look a little less than comfortable.
Retro 1950s master bedroom decor – pink, purple and blue
Vintage 50s bedroom decor in yellow
Deep red bedroom walls, accented with pale violet fabric
Color can change the size of your room: Tips from 1959
The proper use of color in a bedroom redecorating project will not only provide attractive decor, but can change the apparent size and proportions of the room.
A homemaker doesn’t require a course in color appreciation to plan a modern and efficient bedroom decor, but an understanding of certain basic principles is essential.
Many professional decorators have used plastic-finished Marlite planks and blocks for bedroom projects because these easy-to-handle panels are available in 10 “companion colors’ styled by Raymond Loewy Associates. and they also have a washable plastic surface.
MORE: See how vintage accordion folding doors divided rooms & filled doorways
Vintage 1950s home decor – Large master bedroom suite
Vintage 1950s master bedroom decor – Blue
Old master bedroom decor with folding fabric-covered shutters
ALSO SEE: See 40 stylish vintage window coverings from the ’50s
Vintage orange/goldenrod bedroom decor from the 1950s
Decor tips for a large room from 1959
Panel the walls with predecorated hardboard planks in a dark, warm color. An accent wall behind the beds is an easy way to add interest to the room.
Marlite blocks in a lighter color or a handsome woodgrain on the accent wall will create visual interest in a larger bedroom’s decor.
MORE: Longing for an uncluttered life? Doris Day tells you how to get organized! (1959)
Main bedroom with twin beds with matching white bedspreads
To widen a narrow room: Tips from 1959
By paneling the end walls with a warm color, such as pink, and the side wall with predecorated hardboard planks in a cool color, a bedroom will appear more uniform.
Floral wallpaper and two twin beds
MORE: Did married couples really sleep in separate beds back in the ’50s?
Light feminine white and pink
Old-fashioned green and white interior decor, with wood
Vintage 1950s master bedroom decor – Red carpet
To make a small room look larger: Tips from 1959
Panel all four walls with planks of a receding color, such as blue or green. A feeling of spaciousness is achieved by eliminating strong contrasts.
Mom & daughter changing yellow sheets in the 1950s
NOW SEE THIS: 130 vintage ’50s house plans used to build millions of mid-century homes we still live in today
3 Responses
I have a ’56 bedroom set that is almost exactly like this one! Could you tell me what the current value of this would be if I were to sell it?
This Bassett Furniture bedroom suite was feature in Life magazine in 1956 and I was the model for the ad. Can you tell me the month of this ad??
Hi! This ad is from October 1956. :-)