Mixing vintage style with urban chic creates a modern retro look

Mixing old styles with newer looks is very “cool” and a popular decorating style today. In some circles, phrases like “Urban Chic” or “Fresh Vintage” are used instead of “retro.” It’s still “retro,” but a different take on the past when shoppers combine “edgy” vintage collectibles with contemporary-style furniture and decor. Others understand “Urban Chic” a little differently, referring to the rise in popularity of collectors looking for metal furniture and industrial styles compatible with city life. Of course, this is also a throwback to earlier times. Metal fixtures and furnishings dominated mid-century homes and were used for magazine racks, phone stands, ashtray holders, seating, serving pieces, etc.

Today’s urbanites like to shop for old industrial steel shelving, vintage metal desks and chairs, old commercial desk accessories, and plenty of factory finds to decorate lofts, apartments, and homes. This opens up a whole new market for vendors who start looking for items in unusual places. Suburban homes feature high-tech kitchen surfaces and lots of stainless steel. Shoppers now love the vintage metal canisters from the 1950s that seem to fit perfectly into today’s elegant kitchens. The “metro-retro” look is often paired with collectibles from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s to create eclectic interiors that are unusual, outrageous, and affordable.

If the industrial look isn’t your thing, there are other directions to consider. I have met many young collectors who are attracted to the “bohemian style”. “Bohemian style” is what happens when flea market picking is out of control, but in a good way. Somehow, collectors make the look come together with unifying color schemes, themes, patterns, or rhythms that organize the collections. Once again, collectors mix and match different eras, styles, textures, wall coverings, etc. and, like seasoned decorators, bohemian collectors tell us that “it works.” This style is difficult to explain, so I might suggest reading Elizabeth Wilhide’s Bohemian Style, a publication by Watson Guptill. While 1960s and 1970s collectibles have moved more slowly into physical stores than in earlier periods, “fashion collectibles” are gaining momentum as major department stores emphasize these styles. Designers are taking greater risks than in the past and it seems that buyers are once again being forced to experiment with home interiors, products and materials.

Let me remind you what you said years ago “let it all hang out”. In fact, both manufacturers of new products and collectors of old products are “doing their thing”. Numerous online businesses are growing with “sixties nude” websites catering to shoppers who love palettes of pink, brown, and lime green, as well as cute patterns of stripes, polka dots, and swirl designs. In fact, there are web designers who specialize in just this style.

While “twenty-thirty-something” shoppers have fun ordering new home and clothing items inspired by “psychedelic” colors and designs, mature collectors
they want the originals and are active buyers at flea markets, shops and shows. Colorful toasters and fondue sets, once thrift store staples, are now “cool” finds for serious collectors and casual shoppers alike jumping on the “retro” bandwagon. The next time you turn down a set of kitchen canisters with a mushroom design, think again, you may be overlooking a true “retro” gem that even Pottery Barn is keeping an eye on.