Retro Is In Again

It's how retro is defined that determines what is "in" again.

Most people seem to use the term to describe the era in which they were born. Since my decorating partner, Matt Fox, and I, were born in the 1950s, we are excited to learn that the some of the colors and styles of the period are back.

Recently, Matt and I were asked to create a rec room with a '50s theme. Since we wanted the room to be a stylist reflection of the times we decided to do a little research.

What made the '50s so special, we asked. For one thing, it was a time of change in America. As the GIs returned home from World War II, married and started families, more housing was needed. In response to this need, the suburbs were born.

The average home in America in the '50s sold for $14,000. At the time this seemed like a fortune, since the average salary was just under $3,000 and most families had a single income.

The '50s also marked the beginning of the age of television. At the beginning of the decade, fewer than one home in 10 owned a TV set. By the end of the decade, nine of 10 homes had access to all three network channels available at the time.

Young families were optimistic about the future, and demonstrated this optimism through their color palette--greens, yellows, aquamarines and pinks--lots of pink. This palette extended well beyond walls ... even pink kitchen appliances became relatively common.

Blonde wood was the style in the '50s, and furniture sat low to the ground. Upholstery fabrics were brightly colored and filled with freeform shapes. Curvy shapes were also used for many accent pieces. Poodle motifs appeared everywhere.

Music was central to life. Elvis ushered in rock and could be heard on juke boxes in diners across the country, as well as one of the biggest teen hangouts--the local soda fountain.

Having learned so much about the '50s, Matt and I felt ready to begin our rec-room project. Since we were working on a budget, we decided to recreate the look without using expensive vintage antiques.

Instead, we started by creating a focal wall. Our color choice was obvious: pink. Wall art included records, a poodle skirt with matching scarf and a life-size standing cutout of James Dean.

We felt the pink could become a bit overwhelming, so in the bar area we decided to create a three-tiered wall effect. Using an authentic color palette, we painted the top third of the wall pink, the middle third was painted a teal, and the bottom third became gray. To make the colors stand out even more, Matt installed white trim along the seams where the colors met.

He also added some period flair to the counter of the bar, which was beginning to take on the appearance of a soda fountain. First he sanded, primed and painted the counter white. Next, using a foam brush, he applied paint to some geometrical stamps and stamped the entire surface, first with pink, then with teal. To complete the look, he added squiggle lines with a permanent marker.

Having completed our focal wall and the soda shop area, we were left with two other wall surfaces to paint. We decided to paint the walls white, but felt some additional texture was needed.

We first applied a coat of satin-finish white latex paint. Once it was dry, we rolled a layer of glaze onto the entire length of the wall, about the same width as a piece of wallpaper. We then used a wallpaper brush to add large swirls, repeating the process until both walls were textured.

The only thing left was the furniture. We added a '50s-style table and chairs, covered in, what else, pink and teal Naugahyde. A few boxy chairs were used to create a conversation area, but the finishing touch was the addition of a real juke box.

This room was a blast to work on, and a blast from the past when finished. The completed room was fun and energetic, creating an atmosphere of optimism--all of the things a '50s-style room should be.

(Matt Fox and Shari Hiller alternate writing this column. They also are authors of Real Decorating for Real People and co-hosts of the Home & Garden Television show Room By Room.)