Retro style is one of the friendliest options for independent interior experiments. And it’s best to start such experiments with a bathroom - there is less risk of making a mistake with the choice of fittings. Speaking of mistakes: in retro style it is almost impossible to miss, because everything that looks old-fashioned already fits here.
The second bonus of working with retro style: often its creation does not require significant costs. Of course, antique plumbing can cost a pretty penny, and truly majestic vintage interiors from design studio catalogs involve the use of expensive antiques... Nevertheless, suitable accessories can be purchased at online flea markets or made yourself.
Sink on a narrow leg
Now, in the era of wall-hung sanitary ware with futuristic shapes, a deep round sink on a narrow pedestal looks very vintage. Together with simple curtains, a massive mirror in a slightly worn wooden frame, a wrought-iron chandelier and wicker baskets, it creates the retro style that many people strive for in their bathroom.
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Decorating a bathroom in vintage style
Whatever one may say, the main element in the bathroom is the bathtub. If the size of the room allows, the bath can be placed in the center. As a rule, preference is given to an oval-shaped bathtub with beautiful curved handles, mounted on high legs. On the outside you can apply a beautiful vintage style design.
You can complement the interior with beautiful mirrors in varnished wooden frames, glass doors, use chests of drawers made in vintage style instead of cabinets, and a large glass chandelier will look harmonious on the ceiling. Lighting fixtures, bathtub faucets, and switches can be purchased at flea markets.
Flowers placed on wooden shelves decorated using decoupage technique and wall sconces hung around the perimeter of the room will emphasize the cozy atmosphere in the bathroom. Candles in beautiful gilded candlesticks will create a romantic mood and remind you of a time when there was no trace of electricity.
If you are inspired by vintage style design, our designers will help you choose the right furniture and accessories for your bathroom interior. We are ready to produce any decorative products and custom-made furniture according to individual sizes and taking into account all the client’s wishes.
Textile dissonance
Bathroom interiors of past decades were often united by such details as textile eclecticism. It seems that everything in the interior in the photo is mixed: terry towels, a striped curtain with frills, a window curtain with an abstract black and white pattern, a voluminous rug.
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Rethinking
Worn-out items like a homemade garden ladder or an antique table with rusty legs feel great in a retro-style bathroom interior. The main thing is to come up with a use for them. In this interior, for example, the staircase is used as a towel rack.
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Retro in the interior
There are retro phenomena in the interior as well. This direction, like others, is characterized by the following categories:
- A general spirit of keeping with times gone by.
- The use of precise signs and symbols of antiquity - material objects.
- Use of old technologies with visible non-standard results.
Getting the overall retro condition is the hardest part. You can create a retro feeling with just curved furniture legs, but it is unsuccessful and pointless to spoil the room by filling it to the top with real antiques. Like any other direction, retro requires skill from the author.
Retro is not only a bathtub from previous years, but even open pipework.
It’s a little easier to introduce clear signs of old times into the interior - textiles, furniture, decor. A sense of proportion is one of the main tools of such technology, which should not repel by forced immersion into the atmosphere of the past.
Many old technologies are not inferior in expressiveness to modern ones. Finishing and painting walls and ceilings, floor coverings, and textiles in the interior give the most interesting, often forgotten effects. Particularly interesting are the combinations of modern technologies with old ones.
Vintage tiles
You can give your bathroom a retro effect using time-tested ceramic tile combinations. If you decorate the bathroom walls with classic hog tiles and decorate the floor with small ceramic hexagons, you can create a retro style. Pay attention to the flower patterns laid out with black tiles - this used to be one of the main trends!
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Which bath should you choose?
The bath is the largest and central object in the room, to which all other interior items are subordinate. An antique bathtub is an ideal option to embody the spirit of antiquity. But this pleasure is quite expensive, and there may be problems with connecting it to communications. Therefore, it is advisable to opt for a modern bathtub, stylized as retro. At the same time, it can be equipped with a Jacuzzi or hydromassage function, but externally it will meet all the style requirements.
A classic retro bathtub - elongated, with rounded edges, mounted on heavy legs. It is usually painted white or has a special coating that imitates bronze, brass or gold plated. The bathtub will look most appropriate in the center of the room or near the window, if there is one.
Retro style with a modern twist
It is not necessary to use aged elements in the interior: create a retro style with a modern interpretation. In our case, this was achieved with the help of classic accents in the form of decorative columns by the window, a pedestal bathtub, a vintage chair and stucco moldings on the walls.
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Retro and archaic
Whether an architectural or interior solution belongs to the “retro” direction is determined by borrowing components from the arsenal of achievements of past years. It is interesting that art criticism and architectural theory very rarely uses such a term, more often operating with the concept of stylization. In relation to the interior, retro is completely analogous to the same concept in fashion, technology, and in all other areas.
The concept of retro in the interior is not comprehensive; it does not apply to the achievements of the entire history. The use of motifs, for example, from the Greek or Roman tradition, finds from the Middle Ages and partly the achievements of empires of the 17th-19th centuries is not considered real “retro”, but is classified as archaic, antique, and similar phenomena.
In the generally accepted understanding, the “retro” style includes manifestations of art and culture starting from the end of the 19th century, that is, from the era of the start of modern mass production and the culture of mass consumption.
Vivid details
Here the retro effect was achieved only through accessories: green curtains with a floral pattern, an antique wall lamp, soft yellow towels, a shelf with an antique edge and worn bamboo roller blinds did the trick.
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Vintage chic
The key accent of this bathroom lies in the color scheme: the combination of pale turquoise and white looks very vintage. A matching washbasin cabinet in a classic style only enhances the effect.
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What is retro style?
It is difficult to explain what retro style is in a couple of phrases, because it has a very wide interpretation and variety. This definition covers everything that was fashionable more than 20-30 years ago. That is, we can say that Soviet interiors are already becoming retro, but more often designers take the vintage fashion of the 50-70s of the last century with its playfulness, elegance, and some naivety as a role model. Retro interiors are often confused with classic ones, but they differ significantly in less strict symmetry and severity.
The retro theme is akin to nostalgia for the old days, more romantic, soulful and beautiful; it is devoid of the magnificent severity and excessive ostentation inherent in the classical style. Furniture of this era is already acquiring the features of modernism and constructivism, so it looks original and fresh, but is not devoid of convenience. What we now call retro was created by the founders of modern design.
Interestingly, designers now have enormous opportunities to bring retro style to life, as they can combine its elegant, sophisticated forms with the practicality and durability of modern finishing materials.
Tile with dramatic patterns
Another bathroom in which the desired retro effect was achieved through black and white tiles. This time it's not about geometry, but about patterns. The patterns on the rug, walls, floor and even the textile chair cover look excessive, although they work well together, and the green accents soften the effect.
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Vintage - the art of noticing details
In the vintage business, the main thing is not to overdo it.
If you find old intact tiles, an antique chandelier and all the plumbing fixtures, great, you're very lucky! But it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to assemble a perfectly vintage bathroom from ceiling to floor, and it’s not necessary. The beauty of the vintage style is that you can safely play imitation, wishful thinking. Today, in any china shop, plumbing and furniture stores, you will probably notice antique-style items. What to look for when choosing?
Vintage style color scheme
You can't go wrong if you decorate a vintage bathroom in black and white. If you really want color, then only pastel combinations are suitable: gray with lilac, olive with white, bleached lemon with barbie pink.
Vintage bathroom decoration
There are no strict rules here. Textbook examples of vintage walls are white brick-like tiles and wallpaper with small flowers. All this can be combined with wooden or stylized panels from the floor to the middle of the wall. At worst, you can just paint the walls.
Large cast iron bath
Definitely on massive, noticeable legs. It is advisable to place it in the middle of the room, but this is not always easy to achieve, so the most important thing is to find a good bathtub and make it visible and not hidden behind a decorative screen.
Vintage faucets
Laconic chrome taps are unlikely to make friends with an atmospheric antique bathroom. Faucets in the Provence style in a copper or bronze shade will suit you; it is possible to add ceramic parts on the switches.
Shelving
Create the right coziness with shelving - forged metal or wood with light scuffs - on which tin boxes, ceramic figurines, wicker baskets with all kinds of hygiene products will be nicely arranged.
Vintage textiles
It's great if your bathroom has a window.
It must be decorated with light tulle on a thin metal cornice. You can’t do without towels here: place them in stacks on open shelves, buy vintage holders for them. Buy towels to match the given color scheme, maintain a unified style: they can be either plain or with a floral print.
Don't forget about a fluffy or knitted rug near the bathtub or shower.
Vintage decor
Metal signs with humorous inscriptions, posters and small bouquets of dried flowers will go well with vintage. Here, cute fuss and a little disorder from different jars, cases and other little things are allowed and even welcomed.
Plumbing comes to the fore again
A prime example of how to create a retro-style interior using an antique claw-foot sink and taps with a vintage silhouette. Notice the color of the wall - again pale turquoise.
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Implementation methods
The retro style is not created for fans of strict symmetry, minimalism and laconicism; it is an ode to coziness, homeliness, and comfort. Bringing it to life is quite simple if you find several original authentic pieces of furniture, match them with artificially aged plumbing fixtures, and use old-fashioned ceramic tiles. There are several simple techniques on how to make a retro interior:
- Cover those sections of the wall that are in contact with water with small square single-sided tiles, paint the rest of the surface, cover it with wallpaper or make an imitation of clinker masonry.
- Install an oval, streamlined clawfoot bathtub that will become the focal point of the room. Complete it with a large shower with a stationary watering can in copper, brass or black paint.
Oval clawfoot bathtub - Hang a large ceiling chandelier with a frosted glass shade, which will create soft, diffused light.
Ceiling chandelier - Find real vintage furniture or artificially create modern models that resemble it.
Remember that the interior is completed by properly selected textiles and cute accessories that will add antique charm to the bathroom. Therefore, you can sew curtains, chair upholstery, napkins or towels from the same fabric, bringing the whole look together.
Old metal table
Look how this table transformed the bathroom: in places where the orange paint has peeled off, you can see that it has clearly survived more than one painting. A wooden box under the tabletop continues the theme of aged elements in the interior.
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Stained glass
If you're planning a retro-style bathroom in a private home, consider stained glass windows with floral patterns and vintage geometries instead of regular glass.
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Lighting
The light in a retro bathroom should be diffused and dim to give the interior an atmosphere of comfort and tranquility. The ideal option is hanging sconces, lamps, vintage chandeliers and floor lamps. Zoned lighting will be effective, giving the room mystery.
You can play with light in the bathroom using mirrors, which will make the room more illuminated and visually enlarge the space. But it is worth remembering that the mirror must be designed in a certain way so as not to violate the integrity of the style.
So, now you know some of the intricacies of creating a retro-style bathroom, but the fun is yet to come. After all, designing the interior of your own home is a fascinating process that allows you to feel like an artist, historian and designer. The most important thing is that the result of this work brings you a feeling of joy and harmony every day.
