With so much focus these days on hardwood, tile, cork and here, of course – VCT – flooring, it’s easy to forget that in postwar homes, carpet was very desirable.

In our 1951 colonial-ranch, the long step-down living room had (1975-era) carpet, with plywood underneath. Okay, we tore it out and replaced it with beautiful Berkshires oak. But honestly, my husband and daughter really wanted carpet. I was stymied by the fact that the room is more then 15′ wide and we would have seen a seam in a design like the one in the 1954 image above.

Note – we absolutely have carpet in the basement, where it is colder and we plop on the floor in front of the TV each and every day, thank you very much! It’s a medium-pile gold, as close to harvest gold as I could find. Someday I’ll try and get a good photo of my cherry paneled rumpus room, it is so cool!

Anyway….If you prefer to go with carpeting, I’ve seen a lot of current styles not too different to that above. UPDATE: Be sure to read Stephan’s comment about Stainmaster carpets as a great solution. You can take your Sherwin Williams Suburban Modern or Sears Harmony House color cards along to shop.

This post was first published Jan. 12, 2008

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Reader Portland Laura alerted me to these great, new flooring choices. Streaky 12″x12″ vinyl tile from Congoleum.

Here is the link to the Congoleum Commercial section, where these tiles are shown. They are in the “CX” section. But all sections are worth looking at: http://congoleum.com/com-tile.html

Hurray! More, true streaky choices to supplement my previous only favorite, Azrock Cortina Autumn Haze. Thank you, Laura!
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“Retro flooring” is one of the top search terms for people coming to this blog. So, a couple of weeks ago I went hunting at the tile and floor shop — and found a few new flooring alternatives to share. This is my #1 favorite among them — a vinyl sheet flooring from Armstrong that suits a retro kitchen perfectly, is affordable, easy to clean and easy to get installed.

The style name is Saguaro – the ‘bricks’ are a nice modest size – and I like the colors, especially the Desert White (shown) and the more classic red Canyon Clay. Note, there is a larger brick style, Mesita. I think it is too big!

When I look at the floor in the photo, I think it would have been 100% appropriate for my kitchen — a very nice alternative to the Azrock Cortina Autumn Haze #423 that I’m so crazy about. You can see that for the room shot, Armstrong even paired this floor with retro elements – like the Saarinen tulip table in the foreground.

This floor style reaches all the way back to the 50s. And there is no doubt – vinyl flooring is easiest to maintain. So if you’re looking for a less-hassle lifestyle — and great retro style — this is a great choice.

Finally, if you’re looking for retro flooring choices – I implore you to check out the Flooring Category. Categories are to the right, and at the TOP of posts. (What’s below are Tags, basically there to help search engines connect people.)

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I am so excited – I have not one… not two…but 39 postwar brochures, magazines, pamphlets and more in hand and will be featuring lots of great new material for the blog in coming weeks.

How’s this for a start? An utterly groovy 1956 basement for lounging all weekend long. The decor is just spectacularly done – the regency blue and gold combination couldn’t be nicer!

The design is by Ken-Tile, one of the major names in vinyl composition tile. To be sure, the use of this tile was very creative in the 50s – and photos like this can teach us a lot about how to use an inexpensive material to great effect. There are some excellent choices in particular still available from Armstrong Imperial Excelon.

Sorry – no accordian. But our two girls really seem to dig the guitar playing guy, don’t ya think?

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As I see and learn more about home design in the postwar period, I seem to be getting more liberal in my views. That is, stuff that used to disgust me, I find, well….actually pleasing.

Take vinyl sheet flooring. In all the houses I remember living in, from 1971 on, we absolutely had vinyl flooring. I am the oldest of 5 children. And I must say – from sweeping then scrubbing the kitchen floor every Saturday morning for about 10 years – it cleans like a dream. The best, hands down. It also lasts – way longer than you want it to, if your choice was trendy.

Well surprise surprise, I pulled the advertising above from an Armstrong flooring brochure came from 1963. Although they call the product shown “embossed inlaid linoleum,” I am sure they are what we would call vinyl sheet. Click on the thumbnails to see the designs – some of them are absolutely awesome, with starbursts and gold flecks and such. If only these were still available today.

Meanwhile, I searched Armstrong’s present day line, and also looked at some other manufacturers, and could only come up with one current design that I thought could work in a retro renovation.

I’ll keep a lookout for more. As I said – I kind of like this stuff!

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