ReTRo HouSeWiFe

RETRO FURNITURE MAKES A COME BACK

Guess What? Retro Furniture is all the rave again! From Modern Classic design, to chrome and vinyl kitchen tables and chairs to the trusty old kidney shaped glass coffee table of the 1950's and '60s. You don't have to look far to find it either! Even stores like JC Penny's and Target are catching the retro furniture wave. Speaking of wave, here is "The Wave" Oval Glass Coffee Table

Could it be that nostalgia has set in? That we yearn for a simpler time with plenty of time, cocktail parties with friends, and our parent's furniture that we vaguely remember from childhood? Back then, we thought of it as our parent's furniture, not pieces that would end up being called retro furniture in a design paradigm 30 years later. Whether you are into Retro Furniture or not, the furniture on this page will certainly bring you back. I know they did me!

RETRO FURNITURE TIP? Tell us at the retro housewife hotline

Are those Eggos in that toaster? I bet you think that Eggos come out of the '60's or '70's! WRONG! The Eggo got it's name in 1937 while it was still batter. Around 1945  Eggos took on their modern day frozen form, and have never waffled since.

Now Eggos is owned by the Kelloggs  Company. They seem like a very happy bunch, as you can see from their very colorful Logo:

I think you can never go wrong with a toaster. Even if you don't like toast, they can always double up in a pinch and become space heaters! I recommend using the "dark" settings for this.

Groovy Baby! Where'd you get that Swinging Lamp?

The Arco Style Lamp is the quintessential piece for your retro design. Simple, modern and at the same time, from the past. What do you think of when you look at this Arco Lamp?

Is it laminate? Is it formica? Who can tell? It is very retro, and is also rather famous! This is called a Tulip Chair, and it was designed in 1956 by a chap named Eero Saarinen, who was obviously fond of vowels.

Was it just me, or did anybody else have a Formica table like this at some point when they were growing up? I can even remember sitting at our kitchen table which  was very similar,  and doing my school work while my mother cooked dinner. In those days all the counter tops were green Formica, had square edges to bump your head on, and were what I refer to as "Old Toaster Green". Well guess what folks! People are buying this stuff again! The Chrome and Formica table in the picture above is now called the "Chrome Retro Oval Dining Collection" and is on sale online for $438.90. I wonder how much a table set like that would have cost in the 1960s? Back then we wouldn't have referred to it as a retro dining collection. We would have called it the kitchen table...

Mission Stack-O-Matic Record Player, Radio and CD Player
 (For Sale Here)

FORMICA 

Formica. There was a time when every surface in the house was made of Formica. Kitchen counter tops, tables, even the bathroom countertops were made out of Formica. Turns out that Formica is a BRAND of Laminate. So technically, everything is still made out of Formica. We just call it Laminate now, and it has changed so much in appearance that we wouldn't recognize it as the same product.
 

Here is Some Retro Formica

Retro Chrome and Black Formica Soda Fountain Style Table - A la 1950s Style! This table is modeled after the famous style of the American 1950's Diner - brand new at Vision Decor!