We have a wonderful 1970 brick ranch that has some great retro touches. My husband and I are currently renovating our basement and I need some help with what to do with the stair railing. Could I submit a photo to you for your thoughts and help from the readers? Your site is a recent discover for me and I so enjoy it!

Well, sure, Heather. I ask her for some more info on her “Retro Renovation story” and she quickly responds:

Thanks for taking a look at this!  We bought this 1970 brick ranch two years ago just after we got married.  Funnily enough, neither of us wanted a brick house or a ranch, but when we first saw this one, it called our name!  It was a great decision!  The bones of the house were in great shape, especially upstairs.  A fresh coat of paint and refinishing the original wood floors (hidden under some nasty carpet) were all that was needed before we moved in.  The basement has been a different story!  After gutting the existing stud walls and paneling due to water damage – and fixing said water infiltration – we are now in the process of rebuilding.  I am looking for your help on the stair railing.  You can see from the attached picture that a portion of the stair will be open to the den.  The shaded areas show where the new walls will go.  All the rail/ picket combinations for purchase at the big-box stores are traditional, turned-wood pickets that do not fit this house or my style!  Any suggestions?  Our budget is modest and we will probably do the work ourselves – so a hand-crafted, wrought-iron number is probably out of the question!  I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

By the way, perusing your site has given me all kinds of ideas for the rest of the house.  I’m not sure my husband is going to like you

Thanks,
Heather

Thank you for your nice comments, Heather. Hope I don’t get you in trouble with DH, but that’s what marriage is all about, isn’t it? The honey-do projects…. On to your question…

My idea for a 1970s style stair railing:

I immediately *knew* what my suggestion was for your stair railing: It’s like the one shown here. (Note, I cannot use this image on my site as it is copyrighted from istock.com. I tried to find it and buy it from istock.com but could not find it.)

Update: Reader Joel created this design for Heather in response to this post. Yes! Perfect 1970s -- just what I was thinking!

I think that this style of railing — which we still see on decks today — was quite common on the interiors of 1970s homes. And I bet you could replicate it yourself, pretty easily. Walking down the stairs you are not going to see the “pretty side” of the railing, but you will see it from the basement room itself. I’d look for good wood that will take a stain well, I think that’s key, along with general craftsmanship. And, of course, check with your local building inspector to make sure you are designing and installing the rail according to current building codes — and safely.

Readers, what do your stair rails look like?
Upload photos to this slide show:

• Tips: (1) PLEASE set your camera to no bigger than “medium” images, so files aren’t too large — large files really slow down the slide show and over time increase my costs to run this website. 
• (2) Uploader DOES work but message you get on screen *may be* funky and confusing. Upload ONCE and trust the image it there — I just need to “set new photos free” from my control panel and will be checking hourly to do so. 
• (3) Terms of Use apply – please read them before you share. Submitting photos = consent.

Related posts:

1. Decorating ideas from a retro 60s avocado and orange time capsule basement How to add light to your basement? This wonderful 60s...
2. 6 ideas from Karen’s retro kitchen remodel — including pink terrazzo countertops! There are at least six different things I like about...
3. Jon & Trixi uncover a 1962 retro kitchen under layers of ugly remodel I first *met* Jon when he wrote to ask me...

In fact, Shaw already has several “Royal Emeralds” in its current carpeting collections — close enough to teal for me. I looked it up, and the color “teal” is named for the color of the markings on the head of a duck, the common teal. I found this needlepoint pillow on ebay and wouldn’t you know it, as you can see, teal plays so very nicely indeed with other mid mod and postmodern colors including orange, avocado, browns, and even aqua. I sure like having a reason to put a duck on the front page of Retro Renovation.

Above: “Stylish Twist” from the Shaw HGTV Home line of floor coverings. I think this teal is a fabulous color — but I would not do it on wall-to-wall carpeting. In my experience, any carpeting this dark shows every spec of dust, dirt or dog hair. And I while I love to vacuum, I only do it every six months, whether it needs it or not…

Above: Marimekko Raysmatto shower curtain with teal and blues… Currently on sale at Crate and Barrel for $19.95.

Marimekko bath towels, too. Ummm, I’m letting “teal” bridge saturated and not so saturated. Marimekko calls it teal. I’m pretty tolerant about defining my teal-scale. Also currently on sale at C&B.

Marimekko YUM.

Reader Jocelyn sent in photos of her teal or tealish chairs.

Jocelyn writes:

The room’s definitely still in progress – we need to tear out the powder blue carpet (our house was built in 1951, and there’s hardwood underneath – just another example of generational decorating preferences), and I’ve just chosen a fabric to have drapes made, but here are some pics as it stands now. These include the chairs before and after, the couch, the mantel decor, a painting in the nearby hallway, and the wall unit (which we just put up, so it’s only half-decorated – an excuse to buy more objets!). It’s a big room – 20+ feet long – so there’s no way to get it all in one photo.

Jocelyn’s pretty painting with teal and other mid mod colors.

Jocelyn says:

This is the fabric that’s going to be our drapes. I looked at thousands and thousands of fabrics. This one has a nicely oversized print, and the geometric floral gives it a retro feel.

http://www.fabric.com/just-arrived-just-arrived-home-decorating-fabric-richloom-home-decor-fabric-richloom-cynthia-midnight.aspx

I’d suggest Richloom Fabrics to anyone looking for bold retro fabrics – they alone had stuff with the feel I was looking for.

http://www.fabric.com/SearchResults2.aspx?Source=Header&SearchText=richloom&CategoryID=1d5f47dc-9991-4088-93f3-26a376046a5e

Mantelpiece with blue.

Interestingly, this color ain’t so far off my 2012 color of the year — Bitossi Rimimi blu. If teal ends up being Pantone’s 2013 color of the year, I’m still gonna crow about my prognostication skills — again (after my orange — my 2011 Pamtone, turned up as the 2012 Pantone choice.)

What do you think of the color teal?
Do you use it in your home? 

Related posts:

1. 10 color schemes from 1968 Well, the color schemes from this 1968 Sherwin Williams brochure...
2. Retro Renovation 2011 Color of the Year: Orange You know I think that “Color of the Year” proclamations...
3. Interior Design Color Wheel Have I ever mentioned that in my next life I...

1. Find yourself some large pieces of artwork. I see way too many interiors with dinky works of art. You need to “mix it up”. You need some big pieces. Too much little itty bitty = clutter. Of course, you can “mass” your small pieces to create the effect of one large piece. But nothing beats something large. KAPOW!
2. Repeat your shapes. Big round dandelion repeats orb-shaped Nelson light. This kind of repetition is soothing to the eye, subconsciously. On the other hand, be careful about mixing geometric shapes. An orb light near an orb-shaped work of art works. Turn that Nelson light into an ovoid and it would be Disconcerting.
3. Tom Tru rocks. That’s a Robert Bushong print — on canvas, framed in aluminum — created for Tom Tru, of Lambertville, NJ. For sale from ebay seller moderndecodence, below, along with the orb-shaped Nivico sound sphere speakers. A very big round <3

click into ebay here

Related posts:

1. Arranging artwork in your 50s home…. and, a set of 50s art prints – today’s ebay pick What to put on the walls of your mid century...
2. In praise of kitchen tables – plus a new photo gallery A kitchen island can be fantastic, for seating and especially...
3. In praise of vintage Daystrom dinettes These days I am quite in love with cozy vintage...