Retro Furniture Living Room

Retro Furniture Living Room

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The modern retro living room

Retro interior design means different things to different people, broadly encompassing styles from the 1950s onwards. This can take in (among other things) mid-century Scandinavian furniture, curvy mod Sixties styles, and the plush fabrics and bold earth-toned patterns of the 1970s. There's no need, of course, to fully commit to one of these schemes. Vintage furniture can be incorporated in to almost any interior, and a splash of Seventies pattern or shag carpeting can liven up an otherwise serene space. In this gallery we're showcasing our favourite examples of retro design, from full-on Mad Men style to subtle mid-century chic.

You may also like: Our big gallery of living room design ideas

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  Paul Massey

  Open Plan Living

• Wooden Mezzanine

  Maddux Creative were tasked with tranforming this converted factory in Queen's Park into a dynamic family home. In its previous incarnation, this exposed mezzanine was a no man's land used for storage. A pair of deep-seated, Seventies leather armchairs are combined with a plush Berber rug and a circular Sixties table with a ceramic mosaic top, found at a gallery in Brussels. 'We don't prescribe a look', says Scott Maddux of Maddux Creative. 'We like to enhance the ideas and interesting pieces our clients have already'.

• Paul Massey

  Colourful Mid-century Living Room

  Heidi Lightfoot and Steve Gibbons' mid-century house was built in 1936 by the renowned public sector architect Mary Medd. They have chosen furniture that compliments the modernist style and keeps the free-flowing interiors light and airy. In the living room they have used an Arflex 'Naviglio' sofa from SCP to unintrusively divide the seating and dining areas.

• Luke Edward Hall

  Forest-Green Sitting Room

  The forest green sitting room in Luke Edward Hall's flat is painted in Leyland's bold 'Forest Storm', which makes the space cosy. Although there was initial concern about how dark it was ('I did think for a moment, what have we done - we're living in a dungeon,' says Duncan), the final result is very beautiful. The room fortunately benefits from two large sash windows, so it remains bright and light. (For more tips, see our ideas for green wall paint.)

  Luke and Duncan's decision to steer clear of beiges is typical of their decorating approach. 'People spend so long thinking about paint colours, but you can very easily change them,' says Luke. In this spirit, they are hoping to soon replace the green walls with a dusty, faded pink, which will compliment their collection of houseplants. 'I think it's good to look at lots of different paint brands before settling on a choice. I like Farrow & Ball's range of colours very much, but I won't always find the colour I'm after. Paper & Paints in Chelsea is also a wonderful shop, with a range of punchy colours. Dulux and Leyland are good too though,' says Luke.

  The 1960s tan leather Walter Antonis chair is a recent acquisition from Goldwood by Borris, a dealer in Antwerp, Belgium, and it is decorated with a vintage kelim cushion. A collage of framed prints and pictures surrounds the chair, including an oil pastel sketch and a print by Luke, a large Rene Magritte poster from the Penny Guggenheim Collection in Venice and a Pablo Bronstein print. 'We buy lots of old exhibition posters from eBay - they're great value and lots of fun,' says Luke.

  Piles of books sit by the window, hinting at Duncan and Luke's inspirations. The books chronicle everything from Cecil Beaton to mid-century architecture, and Fornasetti to Nigel Slater.

• Mid-Century Modern

  There's no denying that much of the appeal of this living room comes from the striking architectural features, but when some eternally stylish mid-century furniture in pale greys and moss and lime green is added, the slick space with its white wash walls becomes even cooler.

• Kate Martin

  Seventies Symphony

  Interior-design duo Keech Green reworked and redecorated this London flat for their young clients, with the results paying homage to the house's Arts and Crafts heritage.

  Michael Keech and Graham Green have a considerable pedigree working with historic buildings, and were unfazed by the need to reinstate damaged cornices and missing marquetry.

  The chic room is decked out in a Seventies symphony of Hermès orange and chocolate brown complete with a bar orange and brown, with Abbott & Boyd's grass-paper wallcovering.

• Jan Baldwin

  Palm Beach Living Room

  This living room styled by House & Garden's Ruth Sleightholme was inspired by Seventies Palm Beach. The brown leather sofa is at once inviting and luxurious. Elsewhere emerald green velvet chairs and a bubblegum pink side table add colour and a rattan bench continues the retro theme.

• Sharyn Cairns

  Seventies Glamour

  This London house is a mix of mid-twentieth-century Scandinavian and European pieces together with a layering of contemporary and that all-important bit of Seventies glamour. Interior designer Suzy Hoodless opted for a chic sofa from Ligne Roset in the sitting room. Designed by Didier Gomez, this is the 'Malhoun', and the modular design is available in different configurations. The Fifties walnut and brass table by Italian designer Ignazio Gardella is flanked by Chiavari dining chairs bought in Stockholm. The Seventies chandelier is by Seguso, while the wall light is a mid-century classic by French designer Pierre Guariche.

• Sage Green Chairs

  These gorgeously retro, sage green chairs are even more appealing when placed in a simple white scheme and combined with a modern rug, in similarly retro colours.

Retro Furniture Living Room

Source: https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/gallery/modern-retro-living-room

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