Retro kitchen design: how to make it work in your home

Retro kitchen design is a growing trend in interior design, embodying a sense of nostalgia for simpler times. Companies that make kitchen appliances and accessories have been quick to catch on to this trend, and there is a wide range of retro-inspired kitchen products available on any high street.

If a retro kitchen design appeals to you, it’s possible to go completely retro or simply add little nostalgic touches to your current room. However, you need to be careful when designing your kitchen so that it still fits with the feel of your home; It is still your kitchen and not a stage.

There are a few simple steps you can follow when designing your new kitchen that will ensure it looks the way you’ve dreamed:

First, like a professional interior designer, create an inspiration board. He goes through magazines or googles images and picks the kitchen pictures you like best. Gather these pictures, maybe draw a circle around what you love in that kitchen. When looking at these pictures side by side, see if there is a common theme, and one theme I can almost guarantee is that the kitchen in the picture is bigger than yours. Is the style that has attracted you retro? If so, does it appear to have been influenced by a particular era, is it art deco or 1950? Most retro kitchen designs are inspired by the 1950s, when the new consumerism really took off and kitchen appliances became the housewife’s favorite items.

What is your favorite color combination? Is it the classic red, white and black or perhaps the brighter jades, turquoise and shocking pink that appeal to you?

Second, you will have to consider your budget. Are you lucky enough to be able to completely remodel your kitchen or do you want to add retro touches with new kitchen accessories? If you’re working on a small budget, go into your kitchen and take an honest look at what you already have. Maybe you could repaint the cabinets or walls a bright retro color.

Third, how much space do you have in your kitchen? Can you fit freestanding appliances, like a large retro-inspired Smeg fridge in bright pink? Or do you have room for a plastic and chrome table and chairs or even a diner style booth?

The retro-inspired design should include brightly colored elements, chrome, plastic or Formic, and vinyl flooring, usually in a checkerboard pattern. Pair these materials and colors with kitchen appliances that have a more gently curved design. Also, remember that in the 1950s kitchen appliances would have been freestanding and very conspicuous and not boxed in and inconspicuous.

Lastly, add decorative items like vintage tea towels or replicas of old tin billboards or even road signs—think Route 66. Stained glass works great in a 1950s-inspired kitchen; Ice cream cups in sherbet colors will take you back to an innocent time.

A retro kitchen design can be fun and it’s remarkably easy to pull off, and it’s quite inexpensive with so many kitchen manufacturers making replicas and items inspired by the past, such as the De’longhi Icona range. The most important thing to remember when designing a retro-inspired kitchen is a sense of fun.