Retro living rooms are all the rage – aside from being on-trend, creating a retro living room is also a lot of fun. For homeowners who have saved their furniture from the 1980s, redecorating to create a retro vibe is easy – but most of us will need to find new pieces to create that unforgettable vintage look. So what can you do to bring back the Swingin’ Sixties, the groovy Disco Era, or the Bangin’ Eighties? Try these décor strategies to give your living room that “blast from the past” feeling you’re bound to love.
Paint: Colours and Tones That’ll Take You Back in Time
If you want your living room to be a true tribute to your formative years, you’ll need to use paint colours that were popular way back then. The 1940s saw lighter colours with metallic notes come into style, but as the decades wore on, the 1950s and 1960s brought about the introduction of the Mid-Century Modern Colour Palette. Deep earthy tones and bold colours were common, as were floral wallpaper patterns. The 1970s and 1980s saw the introduction of completely different wall styles, with wood paneling and bright striped wallpaper becoming popular. The kinds of colours you’ll want to use will depend heavily on the specific decade you’re trying to recreate.
Living Room Furniture: Key Pieces to Look For
Although it is possible to find authentic retro furniture at garage sales and vintage shops, there is an emerging market of reproduction furniture lines that are bringing back all the big styles you know and love. Reproduction Mid-Century Modern furniture is quite popular right now, and a variety of companies specializing in the style are coming out with sofas, side buffets, bookshelves, and other pieces that have a retro look but come brand new off the factory floor. These pieces sometimes incorporate unique new styles to create a fresh spin on the period, but often, you can find an exact reproduction that is completely faithful to the original piece.
Looking for something with more character? There’s also a large market of authentic vintage furniture. Authentic vintage furniture works great as conversation pieces, and adds character and history to your living room. However, an authentic period piece will cost more than a reproduction, and will usually have some wear and tear. If you can find a quality authentic piece that has survived the decades well, it could make a great centerpiece.
Retro-Style Accessories Pull it All Together
The retro era offers up lots of great accessories that you can use to create a sense of nostalgia. Shag carpeting is coming back into style, which means there are plenty of choices if you’re looking to add some shag carpeting to your living room. A large shag rug in avocado green or harvest gold would add a great retro touch. Looking for more accent pieces? A winged swivelling armchair can go a long way.
Decorating your living room offers you an opportunity to be creative and pay homage to history. And with retro living rooms coming back into style, you can easily make your living room the toast of the town with just a few well-chosen accent pieces, paint colours, wallpapers, and furniture.