May 8 update: 306 photos so far in our gallery — wow, this has been EPIC! Hey, readers: Keep getting out the camera, get artsy fartsy with your angles, and let’s see your living room, too! Uploader enabled —>
I went looking on the blog recently for photos of readers’ living rooms, and I was disappointed that I did not have too many. My bad. Do you have a mid mod or vintage living room that you are super proud of? I invite you to upload your photos and share them with the Retro Renovation tribe. Above: Betty Crafter‘s midcentury modern living room — reflected in 70s mirror tile adjacent to the front door. So pretty!
And above: Jane’s living room. Also dreamy. Have fun with your photos — use natural light (no flash) and have fun with your angles; most cameras today, including those on phones, take great pictures. So experiment to get the best shot — yes, you, too, can be artsy fartsy!
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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:
hannah says
I am in awe of all these wonderful living rooms! But, my heart lies with the wallpapered one. That, really takes me back. The wallpaper, though if I’d have seen it in a shop I’d have passed it buy, but seeing it all tied together like this just sends me. I could die happy in that room. Fabulous decor taste. *swoons*
Jane / MulchMaid says
Sue Sweeney, your fireplace and chimney are gorgeous. I love the way it divides the room. Is that your dining room beyond, or do I see kitchen pendant lights?
Sue Sweeney says
Thanks, Jane! We love our house – I call it our “Brady Bunch House”! Can you believe that when we moved in we had a friend who tried to talk us into getting rid of the pendant lights? To the left of the fireplace is the window above the front door. There are metal pendant lights outside, and glass pendant lights inside. To the right of the fireplace you are looking into the back hallway of the house. I love the brick, too, although it probably needs cleaning (not sure how to do that). I think that it is called “Roman Brick”
Best,
Sue
Bobbie says
Wow Pam! These posts are AMAZING!
Will there be a permanent link to these photos? I’d love to be able to show my clients these images when helping them determine what mid century furnishings they would like me to locate for them. Visualization is difficult for some, and having a great reference like this would be wonderful.
What a lot of people don’t understand is that “mid century” is not a singular look…there were many variations, and the term itself covers the 1950’s and 1960’s. In some cases, folks are even incorporating some great pieces from the 1970’s into their mid century decor/houses with success! I see some great examples here.
This is very inspiring! Congrats to all of your readers for rescuing so many gems!
Best,
Bobbie
Christa says
Hi Bobbie-
You might try Flikr…Pam has a group there, and there are many other retro groups as well…ranging from 50’s to the 70’s. Lots and lots of pictures to see. Good luck!
Sarah V says
we may have re-claimed our livingroom recently from all het crap we had in there for our basement reno, but as it is a hodge podge of furniture from different periods (except the 60’s!!), it’s so not worthy of a share, but I’ll pretend mine looks like the one from Rochester NY, love!
Meredith R. says
I forgot to add — those are two of the Charley Harper national parks posters hanging above our green couch. Thanks for the tip, Pam!
pam kueber says
Yes, I noticed! I wonder how many are still available? Straight from the US Govt, peeps, cheap, no tax and free shipping, Charley Harper travel posters: https://retrorenovation.com/2011/09/29/charley-harper-posters-straight-from-u-s-government-original-stockpiles-cheap-free-shipping-no-tax/
Natalie says
Meredith R. – Where did you find the frames for the posters? Or did you have them custom made? I am having trouble finding frames for mine so they aren’t hung up. =(
Meredith R. says
Hi Natalie – The frames are custom. They were pricey for sure (the posters are huge), but I justified it based on the art being so cheap and my wall being so painfully bare. I think they look great and we’ve had lots of compliments. My favorite is that every few days/weeks my 5-year-old tells me about something in one of the posters that he never noticed before. They are remarkably detailed.
Loretta in Austin says
Jason (Blue Jay) & Nicky – great room! Love the accent wall. Where did you find the media console?
BlueJay says
Loretta,
Thanks! The console is on the newer side. We tried looking for vintage, but I couldn’t bring myself to drill holes into a vintage piece. It’s from a company called Zocalo (http://www.zocalousa.com). I believe they are made in the US, and the prices are reasonable (we got our console on sale, since it was a floor model). I found out after the fact that Zocalo set out to create affordable reinterpretations of mid-century design. We’ve had friends ask us if all of our living room is vintage (it isn’t: it’s about a half and half mix of new and old, since this is the most used room in our home). 🙂
BueJay says
Loretta, are you in Austin, TX? That place is an awesome mid-century haven! We went last year and our jaws hit the floor. The prices were definitely reasonable too! It’s a great mid-century city!
Loretta In Austin says
BlueJay,
Thanks so much for sending along that resource, will check it out! Yes, Austin, TX. Returned to my home state after 21 years in NYC and LA, with no prospects for purchasing in either location. After a few more local moves was finally ready to purchase in fall ’10 and my ’54 ranch MCM was love at first sight, and a good deal! It’s a swell pocket neighborhood in North Austin with great trees and nice sized lots.
BlueJay says
That’s awesome! NYC has some great architecture, but is it ever pricey! Our house is actually from 1992. We looked for mid-century houses, but most were in need of a lot of work, which we didn’t have the money for. Our layout is almost identical to a split level we looked at built in 1966 though, so we decided to run with the mid-century! The nice part about having a newer house that we can back date is that we don’t have to stay with just one decade of MCM! Our living room is 70s, our dining room and kitchen are an amalgamation of early 50s and 60s, and our bathrooms will be 60s and 70s; we’re gonna go early 50s for our Master bath.
Loretta Farb says
It’s nice to have options like that! I think I’m the third owner – previous owners lived there 23 years – got married in the backyard, left me wonderful rose bushes and native plants and a house in excellent structural condition…the inspector was impressed. Of course one of my first thoughts was to open it up with a demo of the structural wall between the LR and the kitchen and have a great open floor plan…I may return to that idea some day….Previous owners demo’d the third BR (as a 2 BR/2 BA I think that helped me have less competition – it’s a little over 1300 sq. ft.) With the opened up kitchen and den area from where the third BR used to be I have a Banquet Hall along the back of the house. My big winter project was to replace the faulty sliders wi French doors and painted them yellow. At my spring party a few weeks ago I got to throw open the French doors on a beautiful night and the party felt like it was in one room, the flow is so good between the Banquet Hall and the back yard. The back yard is starting to look like an Austin outdoor cafe!
BlueJay says
We are the 2nd owners and we have no plans to move, which is probably good because people already ask us when we’re going to update our place. 😀 We usually have to tell them several times that it was built in 1992; our friends seem to think our house is older than our development! Mission accomplished! We put french doors in our lower level; they really open up the space! The one main difference between our house and the 1966 split is that the kitchen in ours is open to the dining room~which we love. We can throw a buffet table in the space between the 2 rooms and serve from one side! We loved Austin when we visited. If we ever planned on moving again, it might be a serious contender. It really is a great place!
Nadine says
In Michelle’s living room NC – I have those same lamps on your couch end tables! I’ve never seen them anywhere else before. I have them in my bedroom but need to get them rewired. I don’t remember if they were my Great Aunt’s or my Grandmother’s. Beautiful room!
Christa says
Heidi,
I agree with Becky…EBay ( and now Etsy…a new favorite) CraigsList and Thrift shops(and the occasional dumpster dive)Along with that…patience! We moved into our place on 2001, and probably only in the last 2 to 3 years, have I finally got the furniture I want ( there are 3 pics of mine…2 marked mid century modern with an asian twist, and one unmarked up near the top…sorry) But those sources have got me everything from chairs to tables to art, to light fixtures. I never expect things to look new, and am always willing to put in some elbow grease to clean them up. Good luck, and don’t get discouraged…things will come.
Heidi says
Hi Christa, thanks for your kind words, good things do come to those who wait! I visit my local thrift shops almost every weekend, and I’m so excited that yard sale season is coming. It is a lifelong treasure hunt…
Becky from Iowa says
Heidi, my favorite sources so far have been the local junque and thrift stores, Ebay (for small items and my passionately adored green rya rug), and a few Retro stores in my area. We’re pretty poor Country Mice, so when it came to the *new* pieces I needed (just couldn’t find decent upholstered pieces around here; everything stank or I was afraid of bed bugs ;-)… I went a cheapo route and bought from TJ Maxx (the Lane wing recliner and the knock-off Milo Baughman club chairs) or Overstock (the made in the USA, gorgeous, nubby avocado green long sofa…shipped all the way from L.A. for $2.95!). I’ve spent a lot of time with Minwax products, restoring the wood pieces…and Watkins Danish Oil… My teak lounge chair (not pictured; still needs upholstery) and ottoman, the end tables, the chests of drawer, two short danish modern bookcases, the credenza and hutch, and the working 1965 Zenith console stereo (Free on Craigslist!) all needed a little spiffing up by me, but I find that kind of work fun–and I got two end tables, the chest, the hutch, the credenza, two bookcases, and three chairs, and the stereo, for a grand total of about $350.
Becky from Iowa says
Here’s the sofa I bought. The feet are totally wrong, but the overall design (tufted back, bench seat, and arms and nubby fabric) are great..AND there are nice, modern touches, like little bungee cords on the seat that attach to hooks on the platform of the sofa, and keep one end of the seat from flying up in the air (like I’ve seen in so many vintage photos) when someone is sitting on the other end. Hah! This one comes in two other colors (butterscotch and oatmeal) as well. I’m very pleased with the construction quality; this is a heavy puppy!
http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/JAR-Designs-The-Maxim-Sofa/5628602/product.html?rcmndsrc=2
Heidi says
Hi Becky, I am so impressed by how resourceful you are…I haven’t done much restoring on my own, mostly because of laziness, but I definitely have a couple of projects up my sleeve that I want to do but I’m a little afraid of. I tend to be the one who ends up with 20 tailoring projects in a bag in my closet that I never get to, and I don’t want to be like that with furniture! Maybe I”ll be better since I can’t really hide furniture in the closet. 🙂
Janice says
Loving all of the living room pics!!! Soooo jealous of all the beautiful vintage sofas. *Sigh* I just can’t seem to find one in decent shape. The good news is I am so inspired by all of your pictures it has motivated me to get my vintage curtains hung and get to painting!