When post-WWII prefab housing was becoming passe, in the ’50s, a new version of the prefab home emerged – the kind of home with many of the mid-century modern design ideas that would become popular over the next decade.
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This charming upper-middle-class home – a vintage ’70s designer dream house in Denver – was compact and neatly designed, the surfaces were hardy, the wallpapers were bold… and the style was so very seventies.
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.
Gorgeous, graceful old-fashioned decorative iron porches & balconies, crafted from intricate metalwork, adorn many homes and other buildings in the Southern states. Here, take a look back at some stunning examples!
These vintage zodiac cross-stitch designs could be used as-is, interspersed and contrasted with plain squares, or the designs adapted to many other uses — such as cross-stitch embroidery for table linens.
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.
Take some time to take a look back at these retro wall clocks, shown here in both traditional & mod designs, to meet the needs of every type of vintage home decor style of the mid-20th century.
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.
See several vintage ways to decorate mid-century entrance halls & foyers – using authentic 1950s and 1950s finishes and colors that made them as practical underfoot as they were pleasing to the eye
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.
Back in the eighties, these cute vintage Mr Culver’s Sparklers stained glass air fresheners took the problem of ugly room deodorizers, and made them look like little works of art that you could hang in the window.
The insecticide DDT was introduced in the 1940s, and originally thought to be safe for people and pets. It was marketed with happy cartoon characters and family-friendly products, but, as we eventually discovered, the poison was bad for people and animals, too.
Antique early American weathervanes shaped like horses, cows, deer, roosters, angels, ships and even fish were hammered in metal and used as much to decorate rooftops as to note the direction of the wind
The White House in the early 1900s showed off President Teddy Roosevelt’s renovations, updating it for the 20th century. Here’s a look back at the mansion, inside and out, in high-resolution photos, plus detailed descriptions of the rooms.
In the sixties, homeowners loved using tile in the bathroom, as you can see here in this eclectic collection of vintage 1960s bathroom tile design ideas!
Look back at these great examples of more than fifty 1980s bathroom decor ideas – plus retro color schemes – that cover the gamut from elegant to eccentric to extra-dated.
Before photography, you could keep memories of loved ones close by getting portrait miniatures painted. Now they’re highly-collectible antiques! Here’s a look at some of this classic artwork.
Take a look back at this collection of 60 vintage ’60s bathrooms for some authentically retro home decorating inspiration!
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.
Check out this collection of beautiful antique Victorian fireplaces – detailed mantels and classic grates – with an elegant style to suit homes of the late 1800s.
These pretty and old-fashioned paper Christmas ornaments are so easy to make, kids and adults can work on them together! As a bonus, they’re very cheap to create. Get directions and diagrams here.
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.
Although tile was available in a range of hues, when it came to creating the vintage 1950s bathroom tile design ideas homeowners wanted, the most popular colors were the ones shown here.
Here’s a look back to some of the most colorful examples of popular Kohler bathroom suites from the 1960s and 1970s – bold blues, harvest gold, avocado green, basic black & more.
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.
A shag carpet toilet lid cover with matching tank cover sound good? our counterparts in the ’70s loved their fuzzy toilet covers, and weren’t ashamed to admit it.
From the middle of the 20th century, see some classic and some creative vintage 1950s kitchen tile design ideas that were popular decades ago!
Do you remember these flower-shaped bathtub stickers? It seems like all the parents in the late 60s & early 70s had these colorful non-stick Rubbermaid appliques on their tub.
After WWII, millions of new small starter homes were built all across America. Here, see a collection of these practical, affordable little suburban houses – each one under 1000 square feet.
For the front and back yards of the ’70s, here are a few vintage 1970s Rubbermaid garden goods. See retro-style plastic borders for the lawn, plus a little something special just for the birds.
While not exclusively the domain of the fifties, the popularity of vintage pink bathrooms – including pink toilets, sinks and bathtubs, and other home decor – reached its peak during the middle of the 20th century. Take a look!
If you were planning to get a new kitchen for your home in the 1950s, here are nine of the most popular mid-century kitchen remodels and floorplans you might have checked out!
With this book, you can color in 44 classic Victorian houses from the 1880s and 1890s, when many elaborately-decorated homes were built in America. See what’s inside!
This flip-over chair – in the original Hudson Valley version of the 1870s or a colorful adaptation – offers the fun of choosing between two seats with a quick flip of a finger.
Looking at these mid-century bathroom color schemes of the ’50s, you’ll see that the look of white, stark home decor was quickly disappearing. In its wake was a trend toward colorful designs. Take a look!
You couldn’t tell a ’50s housewife that pastel pink washers & dryers weren’t practical. They didn’t have to be practical – they were pretty.
Just look at the richly-textured patterns in this mid-century modern carpet! And the vintage 3-level pile apparently offered the highlights and shadows in expensive sculptured rugs.
Keyed for color, comfort and convenience, the retro bathroom decor for two homes in the city and two in the country have been remodeled for maximum relaxation.
Here, check out 22 vintage kitchen design ideas – from funky fridges to creative cabinetry – plus other retro appliances and home decor we don’t see very often nowadays!
On TV, the I Dream of Jeannie bottle was magical – from the pretty painted outside to the plush, jeweled interior. Find out about the wizardry that made it work!
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.
Here’s a look back at 100 years of vintage Fostoria glass – from candelabra to stemware, in clear crystal or a rainbow of colorful hues – that people have been using and collecting for generations.
Whether plain or fancy, antique kerosene lamps like these were more than home decor – they made it possible for people to work and play late into the night. Find out more here!
This huge collection of 1940s vintage wallpaper samples show the decade was more colorful than you’d imagine from seeing just black and white photos. Take a look back!
Anyone visiting a county fair in the 1890s was likely to bring home a piece of ruby glass as a souvenir. They once sold for a song, and now are finds you’ll treasure.
Step back and time and enjoy these charmingly vintage Christmas scenes celebrations from the 1940s through the 1970s.
Old-fashioned orange pomander balls made with cloves first became popular around the 17th century, and have been in use ever since. Here’s how to make your own fragrant decoration!
Vintage Fenton glass – candy dishes, bowls, vases, lamps, baskets and more – came in milk glass and in radiant colors.
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.
Early in the 20th century, people started moving from the city out to the suburban districts and small towns. See some classic All-American suburban houses from that era here!
Want some retro-style holiday decor? Find out how to make some vintage Christmas crafts from the ’60s: a burlap wreath, tabletop Christmas trees, a starburst decoration, papier mache ornaments and more.
