We know that many of our readers love 1940s decor. To be sure, there’s a lot to like! For example, this 1940s kitchen — with its lovely green cabinetry, bits of red scattered about the room and that fantastic linoleum floor — is just calling me to come inside and spend an afternoon baking pies. For some, creating these kinds of rooms is easy — others may need a little help, especially if the room they start out with is less than ideal. Luckily this week’s vintage catalog provides lots of ideas and inspiration. The catalog was directed by Hazel Dell Brown — an amazing historical figure, the longtime queen of interior design at Armstrong.
This vintage catalog is formatted to feel like a scrap book of ideas that Hazel Dell Brown has collected over time. She has “hand written notes” scrawled in the margins and little sketches here and there to illustrate her ideas. What a charming format for what is basically an Armstrong linoleum sales brochure.
Linoleum floors were common in 1940s decor
The catalog contains several ideas specific to linoleum patterns — which were super common in 1940s decor. Hazel points out that this flooring can come to the rescue when a room’s furnishings are undistinguished. Remember, in 1944, we were at war. Materials were scarce. From the sounds of this catalog, folks were making do with the furniture they had and adding spiff around the edges.
The catalog also shows different ways that linoleum can be used — including on kitchen counter tops. Today, we hear often from readers who find remnants of vintage flooring in closets and at the bottom of cabinets.
Precautionary Pam notes: I also want to relate that in her book “Linoleum”, Jane Powell says that while linoleum is known today for its use of renewable resources (cork, linseed oil, namely), heavy metals such as lead may have been used in the manufacturer of old linoleum. So — Precautionary Pam repeats: Be sure to test the materials in your old houses for vintage nastiness like lead, asbestos and more — get with your own properly licensed professional to determine what’s in your house and its layers, so that you can make informed decisions about how to handle. Be Safe / Renovate Safe.
But now on to the meat of the catalog — the decorating ideas. Today, some of these decorating ideas may seem… over the top. But remember, this was war-time. Homemakers likely only had paint, fabric and — yes, flooring — to spice up their interiors. Look at ‘most any magazine of 1940s decor aimed at the middle class, and the ladies were painting and stenciling and embroidering and slipcovering. There was a lot of applied embellishment. You made do.
And here’s another example of the Pennsylvania Dutch style — shown with a brick patterned linoleum floor that amplifies the warmth from the fireplace across the entire room. Oh, how we wish we could get this floor — and even more so, the famous #5352 — today.
The use of warm and rich colors in this space — combined with the symmetrical arrangement of furniture — make for a calm, cozy and inviting living area. Of particular note — the way that linoleum inlays were used in conjunction with a small area rug to visually create one larger area rug. Using a small cloth rug with a less expensive linoleum floor inlay underneath is a smart way to “have a bigger rug” without the added expense.
This example of a linoleum inlay works with the design and furniture layout of the room. We instantly know that the focal point of the room is the dining table and chairs — because it is in the center of the room and has been “pointed to” with the linoleum inlaid floor. It is only after we have taken in the table that our eyes wander to the red draperies, the pie cabinet and yes — the red ceiling. This room is so 1940s decorating style. It makes me want to paint a ceiling a bright color. What a fun idea.
Here, Hazel cleverly uses curtains to add a space in the master bedroom for the new baby. Once again, notice the repetition of the scalloped shapes in the valance, on the curtains and the table skirt. One of the key elements of design is repetition, and Hazel shows us how.
Four 1940s bathroom designs
The bathroom above is my personal favorite from the catalog. The die cut rosettes and scalloped design that are inlaid into the floor are so sweet — to me, the epitome of 1940s decor. Notice how both the flowers and the scallops are repeated throughout the room — making for a cohesive and feminine space. There is an Armstrong linoleum product on the wall — “Linowall” — too.
The star and ribbon inlay in this bathroom’s linoleum floor is so much fun — it is also interesting to note that the mirror seems to have been painted with a ribbon to coordinate. And, check out the vanity — is the counter simply made of layers of glass?
This sunny bathroom has a space for everyone — gym locker style — but is made to feel like home with thoughtful decoration, cheery colors, hanging greenery around the window and personalized names to label each family member’s individual space.
Here’s another thoughtful bathroom, packed with storage — notice how the tub is pretty much “built in” to the storage in front of it. This actually seems like a pretty darn good idea.
Two 1940s studio apartment designs
Look at all the function that is packed into this well designed and decorated space. This design — which is an extra bedroom the homeowner wanted to rent to generate extra income — made a room for rent into a one room apartment instead. A day bed — used for seating or sleeping — eating area, kitchenette, and office space as well as room for storage. With this design, Hazel teaches us that good design can add value. Awesome wallpaper accent wall, Hazel! And, the medium blue paired with chartreuse and just a touch of rose — gorgeous. This is a lovely, lovely room.
This last room is yet another example of remodeling a single space into a room that serves many purposes. This example is described as an unused attic space that was converted into a livable one room apartment — complete with bathroom and kitchen. You hardly notice the sloped ceiling due to a masterful visual trick — using a dark and bold wallpaper to accent the straight and tall walls at the end of the room — and painting the slanted portion of the ceiling a light-reflecting cheery yellow. Keeping the color scheme simple also unifies the various functional spaces and makes the room feel larger than it is.
To see all of Hazel Dell Brown’s thoughtful decorating solutions to common problems, view the slideshow below.
Special thanks to MBJ Collection and archive.org for making this vintage catalog available via Creative Commons license.
Tips to view slide show: Click on first image… it will enlarge and you can also read my captions… move forward or back via arrows below the photo… you can start or stop at any image:?
Dulcie says
Ohhhh, that flooring is just to die for! I’ve got a few beautiful chunks I found lining the shelves in my basement that I suspect were at one time used in the house (some with gold sparkles in it!!) and I wish it was still there. Why or why don’t they make beautiful stuff like that anymore? I’m so sick of fake rock looking ceramic and neutral colors, I want bold, I want beautiful, I want to smile when I’m scrubbing my kitchen floor!
Suzanne says
I love all the floors (and just about everything else in the pictures)! Why can’t they make them like that anymore? I’m so coveting right now.
Carol says
I’m with you Suzanne. The graphic designs on the linoleum are killing me. I’m so in love with those patterns and have been since I was a child. My Grandmother had this in her kitchen and a blue background, floral patterned, linoleum rug in the living room with some graphic lines. If these products were available today, they would be in my house. I would lovingly sponge mop by hand on my hands and knees.
JKaye says
We had #5352 on the kitchen floor of the 1940s house in southern Ohio that we lived in from about 1958 to 1965 (from about age 3 to 10 for me). When we moved from the house, my grandparents bought it, so we continued to walk on good old #5352 for another 10 or 12 years, until they sold the house. It must have been durable stuff, since it lasted through many years of hard use from a big extended family. I would love to have it on the floor of my kitchen.
Hillary says
#5352 (in tan) was on the floor of my kitchen when we moved in 11 years ago. After 53 years it was pretty worn, but 50+ years is a lot to ask of a kitchen floor!
Joetta says
Linoleum tub surround sounds like a great idea to me! Imagine – no grout to discolor or mold, no broken grout or tile to repair, the ability to add hand rails or whatever without dealing with tile.
pam kueber says
I don’t know about the longterm waterproofness… I don’t *think* linoleum is specified for this use today…
Kathie says
These pictures confirmed it – this is MY era! Alas, I was born too late … As reader Robin wrote “I could stare at these pictures forever.” I’ve obsessed about the #5352 linoleum ever since as a child I saw it in my neighbor’s kitchen. Unfortunately, I just can’t find it. And that PA Dutch kitchen – ooooo … so many ideas! In that kitchen, there’s a pine hutch barely visible to the right. I have an exact hutch, which needs to be refinished. You can bet I’m going to stencil that design on its side! Thanks for these great pictures.
nina462 says
This is my time period too! Love it, but born too late.
I was just looking at the PA Dutch kitchen in a magazine I have from the 1940’s … no kidding!
I love the blue flower cutout linoleum around the bathroom. So cute!
And looking at the green/white kitchen with the leave table as an island. I have that table as my TV stand – but now move it to my kitchen since I’ve having my TV put into a cabinet from 1960.
Love this time period – I have several issues of The American Home magazine from the 1940’s. Your “Second Line of Defense” – lots of wonderful color pictures to die for!!
Marie says
Me three! I love the transitional style of the 30/40s. It carried over so much of the good parts of Victorian design (esp the well build solid mahogany furniture) but the colors lightened up to aquas and chartreuses and reds and yellows and brought in those feminine touches with the florals and laces.. I wish I could just walk into these rooms.
linda blackmore says
My house was finished when I was 9 months old in 1948. It was my brother/in/laws first house he built on his own. He was a lifelong builder of custom houses. I inherited it when my parents passed away. I love looking at these pictures. Wish this house had some more of the features of the time. I do have beautiful oak trim and floors an a little sunroom that was added later(actually a “breezeway” my daddy enclosed).
pam kueber says
🙂
Handy Andy says
I spent most of my young life walking around on Style #5352 – it was beautiful. Love this catalog!
pam kueber says
Yes, we *believe* that #5352 was the most popular design in Armstrong’s history. But that info in anecdotal, not researched….
Annie B. says
Same here, Handy Andy. My parents selected it for the kitchen of the house they built in 1964. #5352 has been one incredibly enduring style. Just think of all the childhood memories associated with it.
MCM is Grand says
5352 is my kitchen floor! The kitchen was remodeled in the 70s (??) but that floor is pretty much indestructible.
Morag says
It’s in the kitchen of a beautiful house I clean. Not sure the vintage but it’s in pristine condition. Has never been waxed. The owner has always used just water and a little Murphy’s to clean, so I do too. She’s resisted daughters-in-law urgings to “update” for years!
Suzanne says
I think the clear vanity is probably lucite, commercially available in 1937. Helena Rubenstein had a lucite BED, if you can imagine that.
I love the bathtub storage but imagine it’s pretty shallow behind those doors.
My favorite element is the curtained off crib and the baby-centric blue and white bathroom!
pam kueber says
Ah, thanks for the clarification – you may well be right.
Robin, NV says
Wow, I could stare at these pictures forever and still feel like I haven’t taken it all in. So much amazing detail and color! The inlaid linoleum floors are to die for. I can’t get over how sweet and charming the decor is – almost storybook cute. I wonder if the decorations are a response to years of depression and war – your home was your haven from the harsh realities going on in the world. A sweet, comforting place.
I love the first picture most of all. Notice the racks of canned food and the pressure canner on the counter. A true war time kitchen. Also notice in the second kitchen that there is knotty pine in the living room and the “Waste Not Want Not” stencils on the cupboards.
Diane says
Wow! Great rooms! They had better storage ideas back then than we have now! Thanks for posting.