Need vintage wallpaper to match the era of your house? With its introduction late last week of 53 reproduction wallpaper designs from the 1930s, Bradbury & Bradbury Art Wallpapers now has every era — from Victorian to the 1960s — covered. Bradbury explains the 1930s look:
The 1930s were known for both floral and abstract geometric styles — the whimsical and the bizarre — and many with a bit of Art Deco flair.
Let’s take a look >>
My favorites are the sort of illustrative, handpainted-look florals layered over geometric backdrops, like #132 (above) and #144 (shown in the photo at the top of the story).
#138 (above) is quite lovely too — that soft peachy pink field color is divine!
Faux bois with flower pots in #114!
Super cheery #151.
Gnomes! Who doesn’t need a 1930s house with gnomes making a surprise appearance! #135.
Link love:
- See all 53 designs of reproduction 1930s wallpaper now available from Bradbury & Bradbury Art Wallpapers.
- See all my stories about wallpaper options for a midcentury and vintage house here.
WHY would a contractor fight with a homeowner about what the homeowner wants to put in. Beyond me.
No idea. I really got the feeling that he doesn’t care for mid century or vintage, so there was no appreciation from beginning to end. He kept trying to talk me into “other” options, etc. It got kind of truly annoying. Some people just truly do not understand mid century and think of it as simply old or out of style. No class. lol
Interestingly, all the contractors who worked on my kitchen were OVER THE MOON in love with what I was doing. The Building Commissioner bust a smile a mile wide when he walked in to do the inspection, “We’ve been tearing out kitchens like this for the past 20 years — now we’re putting them back in!” he said. I truly think they were happy to be doing something outside the norm, for once.
My bathroom remodeler was less ecstatic, but never once did he question my choices. That was a tougher project actually because of product delays right from the start yadda yadda. Remodeling of ANY sort is bound to be stressful.
My parents had the exact same experience when they remodeled their bathroom. The tile guy really tried to talk them out of the pink and white 4 x 4 tile with a black liner strip. He kept saying “but it looks so dated”. He did a beautiful job, but I don’t think he ever did ‘get it’.
I love Bradberry and Bradberry wallpapers. These are especially cute, but I really wish they had a better selection of colors. they seem to have a lot of stuff in green. Their turquoise is somehow still more that arts and craft green, which they do so well.
I’m still waiting to find something atomic (vs grandma) to go with pink kitchen.
Atomic Doodle in pink? https://www.bradbury.com/5w_atd_115.html
Or Googieland in Ivory? https://www.bradbury.com/5w_goo_700.html
IMO it’s because they make much more profit on the widely available mass produced cookie cutter products and can then quickly rush on to another job.
I partially grew up in extended-family farmhouses in the sticks of Kentucky, in the fifties, and my grandmother, and great-grandmothers (who were both still living and decorating…) were in love with wallpaper in every room, and re-papered often using homemade wheat paste. (And the countless layers of paper, one atop the several underneath, provided all the insulation there was…on walls that were just 2 boards between the warm hearth inside and the winter outside.)
Their esthetics hadn’t progressed past their homemaking zenith in the 30’s, and those designs were still available to buy, likely cheaper than the newer, trendy ones…so these patterns are the background of my childhood……and bring back a flood of warm feeling.
Sitting here diggin’ waves of comfort, safety, caring, homey-ness, and love (and piping hot buttered biscuits).
Neil
There is more wallpaper on TV and in movies than in real life, because the camera, set designers, directors of photography, and production designers love the way it keeps the walls from looking flat (on a flat screen), in addition to adding character to a set.
No reason we can’t do the same at home!
So I am not alone in fussing about the prevalence of four shades of grey when you go to choose a new car color ?
WHY oh Why do so many people want a grey / gray World ?
Even the ” happy ” colors in the stores have a touch of grey added .
Let’s go back to the days of a ” Pink Cadillac”
( I tried to paint my old truck pink and the closest Macco could come was Fuschia
I wish I could afford to buy their wallpaper, it’s just too expensive for me. Sigh…..