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  • Home » Other Rooms » attic & basement » Decorating ideas from a retro 60s avocado and orange time capsule basement

    Decorating ideas from a retro 60s avocado and orange time capsule basement

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    Posted by: pam kueber • December 21, 2008

    retro basement

    How to add light to your basement? This wonderful 60s room spotted by reader Tom B., ready with the camera for retro recon, provides a great example.

    Tom writes:

    “Pam, My wife and I hit up an estate sale late yesterday and stumbled across a “time capsule” room I just HAD to share with you:  Get a load of the green stained walls, built in seating nook and orange tweed carpet!!! and look at those windows!

    Tom continues:

    “a closer view-

    “get a load of the sweet little handprints in the stain on the right-And a closer look at the windows-

    60s-basement

    “did i mention that this room is in THE BASEMENT!!!! there is about a 10” gap between the walls with lighting along he ceiling:

    mid-century-basement

    “and here’s the next room over, similar windows and a false fireplace. (i loved this basement!!!!):

    time-capsule-basement

    “The rest of the house was pretty unremarkable, just a normal, late 60’s ranch home. The kitchen had a wierd combo- the original wood cabinets/appliances with new beige/white corian countertops/backsplash. it was an, er, interesting look… (sorry no pics of that)

    “I also picked up a new in box, ceramic doorknob escutcheon with gold fleur de lis printed on it along with a grocery bag full of other stuff for a whopping DOLLAR (like i said it was late)  Anyway, i hope you enjoy the pics, feel free to use them however you want.
    your faithful reader,
    TomB”

    Thanks, Tom — great green paneling, wonderful carpet! And just to be super clear, readers — those are fake windows in the basement. Built out from the wall, with lights behind them, to simulate daylight at the touch of a button. Pretty nifty!

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    Comments 10
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    Comments

    1. Elvis says

      December 22, 2008 at 3:07 pm

      SumacSue, your recollection sounds eerily similar to mine, except the desk unit my dad built in for my sister and me was painted white, with every drawer a different warm color (orange, yellow, brown, etc.) So cool!

      And I guess every dad whose teenage daughters want to put up hearthrob pics has the same reaction: save the paint job!

      Thanks for the memories!

      Reply
    2. lynngweeny says

      December 22, 2008 at 4:32 pm

      Sumacsue,
      Nope, our bedroom was in a darling single level ranch house in Anaheim, just a few miles from Disneyland. We badgered our folks for years to add a 2nd floor because we wanted a staircase banister to slide down. Can you imagine how we quickly we would have destroyed that?

      Reply
    3. Tiffany Phares says

      December 31, 2015 at 1:20 pm

      Late to the party, but anyone have any idea how they stained/painted that paneling? I’m wanting to do something similar in our living room in something close to this color…but ours is veneered panels in a dark orange brown and I’m afraid the stain won’t lighten it up but make it darker. Thanks for any info.

      Reply
      • pam kueber says

        January 1, 2016 at 3:45 pm

        I am not an expert on this. With wood floors, you need to sand out the stain, then restain. With a veneer you won’t have much to work with. You could try something like Citristrip Gel — it might lift the old stain. On the face of it, I would agree with your guess: New stain will not lighten up old stain.

        Reply
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