When you were a kid, there was nothing else like the joy of old-fashioned treehouses or forts: a little getaway that you built (maybe with some help) that could be a clubhouse or castle or spaceship or simply a place for a little peace and quiet.
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The mid century conversation pit: A photo timeline of that fascinating 60s and 70s living room trend
Ever since the 80s, the iconic conversation pit has seemed hopelessly out-of-date. Could it be poised for a comeback?
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.
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!
What were hostesses with the mostesses setting up on dining tables 40+ years ago? Here’s a look back at some beautiful vintage ’70s table setting ideas!
Based on one of the many traditional needlework crafts, these vintage needlepoint designs might just inspire you to get creative in all-new ways!
Take a look back into the ’70s to remember more than 100 different kinds of retro window curtains, including sheers, tie-backs and cafe curtains!
In the ’70s, the popular choice was shag carpet – with bouncier colors and more interesting textures and originality in designs than ever before.
This vintage mid-century modern show home – the House & Garden magazine Hallmark House for 1963 – offered nearly 5000 square feet of ’60s style.
Vintage Fenton glass – candy dishes, bowls, vases, lamps, baskets and more – came in milk glass and in radiant colors.
How were the most with-it interior design experts decorating kitchens back in the sixties? Here, see many different vintage 1960s kitchen tile designs, colors and styles.
This mid-century modern home design was created for a busy family of five, and in addition to the spacious floorplan, it glows with light, from huge windows and stunning clerestories.
See what was cookin’ in home design decades ago by checking out these kitchen islands from the ’60s! They combined form, function, and fun, too.
This new, revolutionary wall-mounted refrigerator and freezer that hangs from the wall is a completely new and advanced concept of modern living. Truly, it is the most convenient and magnificent refrigerator-freezer ever produced!
Forget white or stainless steel – these colorful vintage kitchen sinks came in bright and bold colors like red, orange, green, yellow and more!
If you look back at old home photos and these vintage sculptured and textured carpets were seen – three-dimensional carved or twisted patterns – you can pretty much bet you’re looking at decor from the middle of the 20th century.
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!
Want to see what some retro home decor looked like? We collected more than 140 vintage 1950s wallpaper samples, from classic to kitsch, and everything in between.
Check out these fantastic vintage ’50s bathroom floors that range from the simple to the one-of-a-kind home decor!
Anyone obsessed with vintage Strawberry Shortcake probably dreamed of these pieces of sugary sweet delight featuring their favorite gal – dolls and toys, of course, but also bedding, wallpaper, roller skates and more.
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).
What were popular ’50s floors like? They might have bold stripes, checkerboard squares, or many other classic and creative ideas. Take a look back!
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!
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.
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.
Samuel Colt’s Connecticut mansion also known as Armsmear, was built on a huge plot of land owned by the inventor of the famous gun. See what this grand and spacious Victorian home was like in its heyday!
What was a classic Craftsman house like – and what made it unique? Find out more here about this vintage architectural style and its founder, Gustav Stickley – plus see more than 70 old examples of this iconic design.
If you were a child or a parent in the seventies, or are looking to the past to style something new, you’ll love this sunny trip back down memory lane. We’ve tracked down some of the coolest, trendiest vintage kids’ bedroom makeovers from the 1970s. Take a look!
Here, see 15 ways homeowners and interior designers back in the 1950s used colorful vintage vinyl floor tiles to create trendy square patterns using a variety of colors, sizes and styles.
Light up your memory with some some great old home décor – more than 200 antique and vintage table lamps from the beginning of the twentieth century to its end!
These bold and bright retro 1970s sheet sets and bedding ensembles delightfully epitomize the colorful fashions – both in home decor and clothing – of the groovy years.
Take a look back at these beautiful vintage 1970s bedspreads — cozy designs with retro patterns, bright colors, and added texture from things like quilting, embroidery and fringe.
There were lots of vintage wall stickers and paper cut-outs available in the sixties and seventies – easy ways to decorate rooms at home, temporarily or long-term, without needing to hire someone to help.
Creativity is not something you are either born with or not: it needs to be discovered, nurtured, and expressed for it to grow. Here are 12 tips from the 1980s that are just as helpful today as ever, plus a look at some creative visions from the past.
We have heard Mathis’ voice for years – but who’s the man behind that rich, smooth sound? Find out more about this extraordinarily talented singer here, and see Johnny Mathis as he lived in his Hollywood home back in the 1970s.
From the 1950s: Dozens of bright ideas for your home with colorful oilcloth! Create many helpful things for around your home, because the coated fabric surface doesn’t spot or stain, stays color-fresh, wears and wears.
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.
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!
The Campbell Kids appeared in Campbell’s Soup advertising for decades, always with those little round faces. Here, see dozens of vintage toys, cups and more with their images, find out how they began, and meet the artist!
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.
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.
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!
If you want to make a tiny bathroom vibrant and colorful, here are some retro ’70s powder rooms for a little vintage inspiration!
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.
