Get The Look: Bringing Retro Vibes to the Bedroom

The retro vibe is back with aplomb and taking interior décor by storm up and down the country, mixing classic and contemporary styles. 

Now a burgeoning style across fashion, interior design, and accessories, it seems like vintage style is here to stay. If you want to get in on the act, it may be tricky to know where to start and how to maintain a cohesiveness. Fortunately, we’re here to help with how you can stay up to date with furnishings that go back in time.

Decide on Your Time Period

It’s all well and good saying you want vintage décor, but ‘vintage’ covers an awfully long period of time and some of the design styles are simply not going to match. Make sure you know which period you want to emulate, otherwise you’ll end up with a mishmash of styles that may or may not work together. 

Of course, you can find different pieces from different periods that will complement each other fantastically but you need to do your research first. Make sure they match up beforehand so you aren’t bringing a load of items that will look out of place in the home, but don’t be afraid to experiment and do whatever works for you.

It Doesn’t Have to Be Retro to Look Retro

Period pieces can be lovely and all but to get genuine items from a certain point in history can be hard going. Depending on what you’re looking for, they can be hard to come by, prohibitively expensive, and often have time related wear and tear. But if a style is timeless enough, you can find more contemporary versions at a fraction of the cost especially when it comes to furniture.

Georgian and Edwardian

If you want the vintage bedroom look without having to track down and invest in antique bedroom furniture a great place to start is Chiltern Oak’s Florence ranges. With clean lines and then delicate yet ornate detailing that are complemented by bracket feet, you get the air of Georgian or Edwardian furniture but with contemporary quality. The Florence White Painted collection is particularly good as it offers a neutral base to work with. With Florence Midnight Grey and Florence Grey painted collections also adding a different hue to the range, you can easily discover what works best for you.

The Winchester Oak collection also has a natural wood effect with a brass effect knocker handle that is evocative of pieces from the 1800s. These items have a sturdy and substantial air to them.

1950s

If you wanted vintage aesthetic bedroom décor that was a touch more modern than the Georgian or Edwardian period it may well be worth looking into Scandinavian design. Although there is a sense of contemporary style about it, it has been around since the early part of the 20th century, and was particularly popular in the 1950s, so can still complement other retro pieces very well. 

The Oslo Oak Collection is particularly good at giving off that Mad Men motif with its clean and natural finish, with rounded corners and insert handles harking back to an age where craftsmanship and care were more highly prized.

Include Accessories That Suggest a Different Time

Another way to incorporate vintage bedroom ideas into your decor without picking up vintage bedroom furniture is to incorporate items that evoke the period without actually coming from them. For example, vanity mirrors and makeup tables are not so often seen in modern homes but are a great way of creating the vibe of a more sophisticated era. Likewise, leaning ornate mirrors can create an auspicious effect more akin to a time of glitz and glamour than one of working from home in your pyjamas.

Blanket boxes are another example of items that have a brilliant practical use and yet still give off the air of a bygone time.

To see all of Chiltern Oak’s furniture collections click here.