Put together a half dozen pieces of this DIY fun furniture for kids, and your child will have endless play ideas. Made from just one simple box construction, the pieces are great for pretend games, the right size to use as table and chairs.
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Way back when, it’s what every girl wanted: A cedar-lined Lane hope chest for linens and her trousseau. In upper-middle-class homes, giving a teen cedar chest was a longstanding tradition — and practically a requirement for marriage.
Books in a home once signaled that the residents were intelligent, worldly, and could afford to collect their favorite volumes. Look back at some vintage bookshelves from the past!
Folk-art painted furniture: Upcycle & renew furniture with tips from famed vintage artist Peter Hunt
For decades, artist Peter Hunt specialized in upcycling furniture and found objects by renewing them with colorful peasant designs. Here are examples of his work, and tips for how you can create your own folk-art painted furniture!
Artist Peter Hunt was known for his colorful peasant-style folk-art paint designs. He insisted that everyone – even people who couldn’t draw a straight line – could create these whimsical designs, using the simple techniques he explains here.
When post-WWII prefab housing was becoming passe, in the ’50s, a new version of the prefab home emerged – the kind of upper-middle-class home with many mid-century modern design ideas that would become popular over the next decade.
Take a seat and look back at these vintage 1960s chairs that used to fill homes – with styles ranging from the minimalist mid-century modern styles to the living room chairs with bold colors and patterns.
Through this rare collection of photographs and other ephemera, see what New York’s classically elegant old Ritz-Carlton Hotel was like once upon a time, starting when it opened in 1911.
Sometimes we get the sense that people in the fifties lived in black and white. But as you can see in this collection of colorful vintage 1950s home decor photos, they lived with bright and bold hues, too.
What’s a Nauga? In the 1960s, the people behind Naugahyde vinyl upholstery found the unlikely answer. It turns out that the Nauga was an adorable monster-like mascot who made furniture a lot more fun.
What should you put in a hope chest? It’s an old-fashioned tradition, so we tripped back 100 years to get these explanations of what they were for, and why they were such a big deal for women long ago.
If you’re looking to make a bedroom look a little retro, take a look at these DIY headboards with a vintage look! They may be just the inspiration you need for some old-fashioned home decor.
With space-age design elements like starbursts and swooshes, and the large backplates, some of the most popular mid-century modern door hardware was absolutely iconic, and easy to recognize.
See a Scholz Mark 58, a marvelous mid-century modern home built in 1958. From the blue bathroom to the wooden wall paneling, every inch of this reinterpreted California Ranch house screams retro… and we love it.
These vintage home decorating fabric styles and patterns show you what was popular in 1965, both in terms of what designers were offering, and what everyday folks were buying at popular department stores.
See what it looked like inside the Titanic – the interiors of fancy lounges, dining rooms, first-class cabins and other luxurious delights – before the ship sunk to the ocean floor on her maiden voyage in 1912.
Here’s a look back at some authentically vintage ’50s master bedroom decor, featuring things like colorful retro carpets, modernist furniture, and old-fashioned bedspreads.
New York City’s luxurious original Waldorf-Astoria was among America’s first big hotels. When it was built during the Victorian era, it was considered the finest hotel in the world – and soon became the most famous, too.
Check out these groovy vintage sofas from the ’70s – curved models, sectionals, modular couches and a whole lot more that just screams retro.
Here’s a look back at singer and actor Bing Crosby’s house in Holmby Hills, California, as it appeared in 1950.
Take a look back at a few views of the pretty and peaceful backyard and the Kennedy family pool house behind the Virginia home known as Hickory Hill.
Of Gloria Steinem’s apartment in New York, the feminist icon wrote in 1970s that it offered cheerful rooms to live in and a private place to work. Take a look!
Vintage actor James Coburn’s home in 1970 was filled with exotic treasures from around the globe, and colors and patterns to match. Take a look!
See some of the vintage baby gear from the 1950s that parents used when raising our parents and grandparents – including a lot that wouldn’t be considered safe today.
How did they decorate small homes back in the 1940s? Here’s a look at how career girl could set up her first apartment back during the post-war years.
This vintage mid-century modern show home – the House & Garden magazine Hallmark House for 1963 – offered nearly 5000 square feet of ’60s style.
The Rosedown mansion in Louisiana was built in 1835, and after eventually falling into disrepair, was renovated in the ’60s. Here’s a look inside!
What was old bedroom decor like from the early 1900s? Here are some rooms from just after the turn of the century, from the simple to the super-floral.
These 60+ vintage patio furniture sets – charming tables, chairs, chaises and more – were as popular in the 1940s through the 1970s as they are now.
Vintage accordion folding doors like these were popular – and affordable – home improvements that almost anyone could install. Take a look back!
What was Walter Matthau’s house like back in the ’70s? His wife Carol said that they gave it a country look and country feeling. Take a peek inside!
Vintage dinettes – matching table and chair sets – were popular in the ’60s and ’70s because they were affordable and came in a wide variety of styles. Take a look!
Back in the late ’50s and early ’60s, the American Dream could be had – affordably and in style – if people wanted to buy mobile homes (trailers).
Vintage card tables and other folding furniture were a staple in every home decades ago.
See lots of fab & frilly vintage canopy beds from the 1970s, during their great revival period, centuries after they first became popular in England and France.
Vintage bean bags were super-popular in the ’70s because they were fun and super comfy – filled with pillowy-soft polystyrene beads.
Flash back to 1960 with the Scholz Mark 60, a prefab mid-century modern home! From the blue bathroom to the wooden wall paneling, every inch of this house screams retro
If you need a book, you used to need to look for the most important item in the library — the vintage card catalog.
Take a look back at these vintage Hide-a-Bed sofa models – fold-out beds tucked into a couch to sleep guests – no spare bedroom needed.
Here, look back at the rediscovered art of stenciling, plus see dozens of examples of traditional stencil patterns from throughout history!
Whether wet-look vinyl or fur-look polyester, these vintage ’70s toadstool ottomans & swivel chair combos were the epitome of budget home style.
What did the future look like from the ’60s? See some modernist-style retro futuristic home concepts that captured the midcentury era’s sleek style and space-age optimism.
With its gold edging and hardware, this style of French-inspired furniture design was popular for homes in the ’60s and into the ’70s. Take a look!
See how the famously handsome football star Joe Namath used to pitch rocker-recliners and other easy chairs from La-Z-Boy… and the ads weren’t exactly subtle.
Take a look back at these old-fashioned La-Z-Boy recliners and vintage easy chairs from the ’70s – the decade of the velvet and plaid reclining chairs!
Why stop with the walls when decorating your home when you can add color and flair up high? Here are some retro examples and home decor tips on how to wallpaper a ceiling!
Change the look and feel of a room to match the seasons! Here’s vintage living room decor set up three different ways, in true ’60s style.
Peek back into the musical past of vintage Wurlitzer organs as they were back in the ’60s, in all their woodtoned retro glory!
Check out these 12 retro basement remodels, including a ranch room with a Western atmosphere, created with cowhide furniture, a totem pole, and a colorful pattern for the floor copied from a Navajo blanket.
Our practical dream house: Practical in the sense of low maintenance. Dreamy in the way it realizes the family’s hopes. What a house costs to
Some vintage 1940s interior design decor trends veered into the overdone, like the ‘glam’ Hollywood-inspired look here – filled with satin, ruffles & bows.
Look back at adorable vintage nursery decor and furniture from the ’50s, plus get expert advice from interior decorators about old-school baby bedrooms.
