Vintage Decorating - 1961 - Part 2

Some of you may remember my Vintage Decorating - 1961 - Part 1 post from April.

Why it has taken me a full 7 months to get Part 2 up? I dunno - I like keeping you in suspense? I got distracted? I looked at the scans in my to do folder and thought, I'll get to that soon - approx. 100 times?

Probably, all of the above.

Anyway, here it is - more goodness from the 1961 Better Homes and Gardens Decorating book!

(This first one is for you, Pam! If you haven't seen the Save The Pink Bathrooms site, run over there and check it out - it's one of my favorites, and explains everything much better than I ever could...)

Besides the glaringly obvious "Wow! That's a whole lotta pink!", there are a couple things here to take note of... First, the awesome free standing towel rack - I don't think I've ever run across one, but what a cool thing if you could find it! Second, the apothecary jars on the counter - these I have seen, and they are an inexpensive way to give your bathroom a bit of vintage flair.

Also notice how they used red as the accent color with all that pink - once again here's the retro rule that you can pick one color and just use different shades of it to decorate the entire room...

Here's some more pink for ya - this time a pink and gray combination, which I really kind of like. I mentioned gray in the first post - it is a very popular neutral option throughout the book. I think it is definitely more interesting than what we think of as a neutral today, don't you?

This bedroom is also a great example of the love for all things matchy-matchy - it is basically the same pattern on the bed skirts, chair, wallpaper, and curtain valances...

Here is pink and gray that is a bit on the more sophisticated side - darker, with the cream colored accents and floor to lighten it up a bit. Notice that the pink is carried on in the other room - using the same color scheme throughout your entire house lends a feeling of cohesiveness and flow. Pink is a rather daring choice, but if you love it, I say go for it!

Ok, this is the last pink one, I swear. How could I not include this one? Look at the red carpet, and that amazing curved floral couch - in red and pink, of course! This is also a great example of black as an accent color - a lot of the rooms in the book have black thrown in somewhere, maybe because with all the bold color schemes you need some black to bring things down a little?

This room also has a great fireplace wall - fireplaces were focal points back then just like they are today, either as an entire wall, or like this:

Now that's a fireplace! And how drool-worthy are the tables and chairs in this room? I mean seriously. And the pendant lights... put it all together and you are in mod heaven!

Now this fireplace is cool, but the color scheme here is a bit much to bear. Orange and turquoise? Even the black accents aren't able to tone that one down! Maybe if the curtains were different, maybe if they were done in the polka dot fabric? I just don't know... What do you think, can this room be saved?

Ahhhh.... now here's a room to love! I guess I lied about the no more pink thing, but really this one is all about that amazing bookshelf/fireplace combo wall. I love how everything in the room has a vertical or horizontal stripe texture going on - the paneling, the books, the shelves, the bricks, even the pattern on the couch and tables.

While we are on the subject of built-ins... *swoon*

Oops! More pink. It snuck in there when I wasn't looking. It's ok though, because those chairs are to die for. And those lights - ultra swanky!

What is really interesting about this room is the wall of curtains - and yes Pam, they are pinch pleats! This is a trick used in a few rooms in the book, hanging curtains over a wall instead of just over the windows... in fact, check this out:

This room combines two interesting retro design tricks - the wallpapered accent wall, and the curtains hung with no window in sight! The curtains are hung right from the ceiling too, I suppose to add height to the room...

Here's another wallpaper wall, this one has trains or boats or something on it... I think works though since the furniture is solid, no repeating of the pattern. Sometimes repeating the pattern can be a very, very bad thing:

Wow. Yeah. Western themes are kitschy fun and all, but I think this is just a bit too much!

Can I just say that most of the furniture (and the lamps!) in this book make me really, really happy?

I mean look at those couches... and that chair. And again we have the horizontal and vertical textures throughout the room, and one color in different shades... and fab, squish between your toes carpet, of course...

White is the one color that is pretty scarce in the book, but here's a cool room that I think might be inspired by the poodle, but I can't be sure. Again, love the furniture, but the big blank white wall makes me nervous.

Last but not least is the gray room - I told you gray was popular! This is another example of a room done entirely in different shades of one color - thank god for the orange accent pillows, and the cute little round table! Here's another angle:

Pop! There's a green chair! And check out the candle sconce thing on the wall - awesome. And they even threw some oh-so-60's fruit in a wood bowl in there for good measure!

Well, I hope this post was worth the 7 month wait... I guess I will tackle my 1968 Better Homes and Gardens Decorating book next - probably a few months from now... ;)