Create Your Retro Kitchen

Love the retro kitchen look, but don’t know where to start?

Creating a retro kitchen theme is easier than you think, and even in today’s economic climate, it can be achieved without spending a lot of money.

Nothing adds instant charm and appeal to a contemporary kitchen like decorating with vintage accessories and linens from the colorful post-war 40’s or the mod 50’s.

In fact, deciding on your color scheme is probably the most difficult part of the project.

Do you prefer the bright, primary colors and fruit patterns of the 40’s, or the pastel pinks and aquas of the 50’s? Do you have a colorful piece of vintage enamelware, or a set of retro dinnerware that you can pull one or two colors from to use throughout the room?

If time and budget allow, painting the walls is still the most affordable way to instantly change the look and feel of a room. But if painting is not feasible, don’t let that discourage you. Any existing neutral color is the perfect backdrop for colorful 40’s accessories or 50’s atomic prints.

Once you’ve decided on your color scheme, adding retro kitchen accessories is easy. You simply can’t get it wrong if you buy only those pieces that you make you smile. And with careful shopping, they can usually be purchased for less than their modern-day counterparts.

Vintage textiles like tablecloths, dishtowels and potholders are still plentiful and for the most part, inexpensive, yet they have a huge impact on the overall look and feel of your theme.

Install a rack with hooks above the stove and hang vintage cooking utensils with red/white or cream/green painted handles that will make a great display when they’re not in use.

Extra wall space can also be utilized to display a funky kitchen clock, a retro wall phone, or a collection of vintage trays or aprons.

And keep in mind that authentic vintage kitchenware is not just for display. For example, I love my set of primary color bowls, and use them every day for mixing, storing and serving. The same is true of my vintage refrigerator dishes; they are used daily, and they’ve actually eliminated the need for disposable plastic containers in my kitchen.

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