Nailing Nostalgia: Our Top Retro Picks

Its warm, welcoming, quirky and timeless — what’s not to love about retro furniture? It also allows you to add a very individual, personal touch to your interiors, something that can be lacking in many homes adorned with mass-produced, often bland, pieces.

The Retro TV Stand

Despite televisions undergoing some pretty dramatic changes over the years, from clumsy and cumbersome to sleek and sometimes fairly huge, the TV stand remains a staple furniture item in any living room.

Retro TV stands need to be capable of not only housing all manner of home entertainment equipment, but must also look the part — no easy feat.

Thankfully there are retro TV stands on the market which fulfil both briefs perfectly. Take a look at the range from Zespoke. Characterised by their gentle curves, they can be customised in any one from an enormous range of colours and finishes — the ZeStretch Hoop TV Stand looks particularly good with an orange interior and wood effect exterior and is the perfect piece for those with a big collection of home entertainment equipment.

Think abut what you want from your retro TV stand — do you need extra shelving? Low-level TV stands tend to fit the vintage-style brief well and also make practical sense.

The Retro Coffee Table

Taking centre stage in most living rooms, the coffee table demands a lot of attention. As such a prominent piece, a retro coffee table will really boost the vintage vibes of the room.

Look out for curved shapes, low level designs and pieces in colours to match the theme — brights such as zingy orange and groovy purple, along with more muted shades such as olive green and beige work well, as do pretty pastels, such as bubblegum pink and minty greens.

Wood finishes are a good choice for those on the hunt for a coffee table with a vintage feel too — either a wood grain finish, or a solid oak would do nicely. Look for mid-century modern shapes too — short, angular legs, oval or ‘squoval’ forms and a delicate, rather than chunky appeal.

The Retro Sofa

As with TV stands and coffee tables, the sofa tends to form a focal point in the living room and so really contributes towards its overall style.

In terms of retro sofas, avoid loose covers and aim for something with a bit more structure to it. Vintage sofas are usually on wooden legs which angle outwards slightly, and are often fitted with colourful fabrics, such as teal, olive green, mustard yellow, orange or purple.

‘Button back’ style sofas were also popular during the 1950s and 1960s, as were those that featured soft, as opposed to sharp, armrests.

Don’t be scared of the rather ‘out there’ sounding colours — simply pair them with more subtle shades of grey and off-whites to tone the look down if you are worried — a nod to nostalgia is sometimes all that is needed to give a room some vintage appeal.

Retro Accessories

It is not just about choosing the right retro furniture, however. To get the look spot on, ensure your accessorise add to the scheme — choose original and unusual finds and highlight the fact that this is a space to reflect your love of this particularly fun-loving, yet wholesome era.

From vintage radios to space-age light fittings, ditzy 1950s floral fabrics to an artfully-placed old-school telephone — your accessories will bring the whole look together.