1950s The 1950s were the age of the consumer. The post-war boom brought massive changes in the home; it was out with the old and in with the new. Open-plan living was introduced, and the fitted kitchen with its brand new appliances was the housewife's domain.

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Influences The names At the time

Get the look What to invest in

Where to see it Further reading

Houses were smaller than pre-war ones so furniture had to stack or be light enough to move about; trolleys, sofa beds and ironing boards are all 1950s inventions. There are several looks to choose from: the American diner look with bubblegum colours, neon and kitsch, or the designer look with furniture and textiles, which have both become design classics.

Style

• open plan
• fitted kitchens
• primary colours
• stacking furniture
• new materials - PVC, Formica, fibreglass, rubber, melamine, aluminium, vinyl, plastics
• abstract, geometric patterns
• animal prints

• America - diners, jukeboxes, huge fridges
• the 1930s and modernism
• surrealism - for example, the famous Salvador Dali 'lips' sofa
• scientific research - the structure of DNA was discovered in 1953.

• Charles and Ray Eames - husband and wife team producing sleek, leather, plywood and plastic furniture
• Robin Day - furniture
• Lucienne Day - fabrics that were originally sold in Heal's
• Arne Jacobsen - furniture such as Egg, Swan and Ant chairs

• 1951 Festival of Britain
• 1952 the first hydrogen bomb is tested by the United States
• 1953 Queen Elizabeth II's coronation
• 1955 Ruth Ellis last woman to be hanged in Britain
• 1956 Marilyn Monroe marries Arthur Miller

• Open plan - make your house as open plan as possible. If you can, knock through walls but always consult a structural engineer first to check if it's a supporting or load-bearing wall. Mezzanine levels are also typically 1950s.
• Floor - lay a chequerboard vinyl floor in black and white, red and white, or yellow and white. Use floor tiles rather than one continuous sheet because, if a section of floor gets irreparably damaged, they're far easier to replace.
• Fitted kitchen - in your fitted kitchen, choose Formica tabletops. Spray paint the doors and fittings. Some companies sell original reconditioned kitchens or sell new ones in a similar style and you can sometimes pick up cabinets in junk shops.
• Chairs - go for the diner look in the kitchen with chairs in chrome and vinyl in day-glo colours. Give a table a new lease of life with a Formica or Fablon top. Other typical 1950s furniture are basketweave chairs in a primary colour and white or 'Butterfly' chairs (a canvas sling on a metal frame).
• Fridge - a gigantic fridge is essential, especially in a bright colour. They're all over the high street or you can get original reconditioned ones.
• Appliances - fill the kitchen with big chrome appliances: blenders, toasters, and swing bins in chrome or plastic.
• Shades - choose between bright colours such as red, lime green, yellow, black, and delicious ice cream shades such as pistachio green, bubblegum pink and pale blue.
• Fireplaces - rooms generally don't have fireplaces. Abandon the dado rail, paper and cornice division of walls.
• Fabrics - are bright with abstract patterns, often with science-inspired imagery such as calyxes, starbursts, atoms etc. Or go for pretty, sprigged florals set against polka dots or stripes in sugary pinks, reds, blues and yellows. Use animal prints, especially zebra stripes and leopard spots for cushions, rugs and throws in fake fur.
• Accessories - look for accessories in black, white and red plastic coated wire, which usually have ball feet. Typical items include coat and plant stands, and magazine racks.
• Kitsch - fill the rooms with kitsch; nodding dogs, pineapple ice buckets, and flying ducks on the wall.
• Crockery - mix and match; traditional dinner sets are replaced by china in collectable individual pieces with a linked theme or colour. Tupperware is a 1950s invention.
• Pick up details - with ashtrays in the shape of artists palettes, toy Cadillacs, Roberts Radios, cocktail glasses, pictures of poodles.

• anything by Charles and Ray Eames, Robin and Lucienne Day
• Harlequin and Fiesta tableware
• ceramics by Poole pottery, Midwinter, Wade, Homemaker
• atom wall clocks
• Murano glass - especially stylised ducks with elongated necks

• Ed's Easy Diner, Kings Rd, London and branches
• The Design Museum, London
• Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture, Middlesex

• Fifties Source Book - A Visual Guide to the Style of A Decade by Christopher Pearce
• Miller's Collecting the Fifties by Madeleine Marsh (Reed International Ltd)
• Retro Home by Suzanne Trocme (Octopus)
• Retro Style by Marion Haslam (Cassell & Co)
• Modern Retro by Neil Bingham and Andrew Weaving (Rylands, Peters & Small)
• Fifties Homestyle by Mark Burns and Louis Di Bonis (Thames & Hudson)
• Fiftiestyle (Middlesex University Press)

Further reading

Where to see it

What to invest in

Get the look

At the time

The names

Influences

modernism(1918 to 1950)

Modernism (c.1918 to 1950) Modernism is more a way of thinking than a style. Modernists believed that the design of an object should be based purely on its purpose - that 'form follows function'.

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History Style Influences

The names At the time Get the look

What to invest in Where to see it Further reading

It was perhaps difficult to imagine how radical the idea of having no extra ornamentation in a room was at the beginning of the 20th century. It was a total departure from the obsession with historical revivals from neo-rococo to neo-Gothic that had not only dominated the Victorian years but for centuries before.
Modernism really took hold in Europe - where it became known as the international style - and particularly in Germany, with the Bauhaus movement, and Italy. At a comparable time, England was caught up in the fashions of art deco, art nouveau and Edwardian style. It was not until after World War I that the influence of modernism really began to be felt.

Style

• under-furnished, austere spaces
• use of tubular steel, plastic, laminated plywood, fibreglass
• abstract motifs
• bold primary colours

• industrial revolution
• growth of consumerism after World War I
• arts and crafts movement - shared its dislike of ornamentation
• engineering - methods such as the cantilever principle which was used for furniture construction

• Frank Lloyd Wright - architect
• Mies van der Rohe - designer and director of the Bauhaus art school
• Le Corbusier - Swiss architect and designer

• 1927 Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer - the first talking picture
• 1936 Edward VIII abdicates to marry Wallis Simpson
• 1936 Spanish Civil war
• 1939 The Wizard of Oz
• 1939 Hitler invades Poland - war breaks out in Europe

• Walls - leave your walls bare concrete or painted white.
• Mouldings - there should be no obvious decorative plasterwork or mouldings, but if you live in a period house paint them white to make them disappear rather than ripping them out.
• Wallpaper - wallpaper is generally out. You could fit mirror glass to one wall.
• Floors - flooring should blend seamlessly from one room to another. Choose wall-to-wall fitted carpet in a neutral shade or, if that's too impractical, lino or quarry tiles. It can be broken up with kelim rugs.
• Skirting - skirting boards should be very slim. Paint them the same colour as walls so that the eye doesn't notice them.
• Light - is very important. Long banks of picture windows are typically modernist. If you don't have those, then porthole windows are another typical feature.
• Windows - should be as plain as possible to let maximum light in. Hang simple curtains in natural fibres such as linen or a slub cotton from plain wooden poles or tracks. Otherwise hang plain white venetian blinds.
• Glass wall - install a glass block wall, either as a feature or as a dividing wall. They now come in a myriad of colours but it's best to stick to plain or opaque glass for this look.
• Furniture - should be made from a combination of tubular steel, bent wood, and leather. Don't allow any loose covers or comfortable upholstery. Modular seating of the type you see in office waiting rooms is perfect.
• Built-in furniture - buy or make built-in furniture such as cabinets and bookcases, but only at a low-level and not stretching up to the ceiling.
• Glass and chrome - choose other furniture such as coffee tables in glass and chrome with simple lines.
• Fireplace - the fireplace should still be the focal point of the room. Choose as simple a surround as possible. MDF is good painted white or just wood. You can leave brickwork round the fireplace exposed or add some white tiles.
• Lighting - by the 1920s everyone finally had electric light. Lighting designers borrowed techniques from industry so anything industrial looking is suitable. The angle poise is used for the first time.
• Heating - radiators are often exposed and made a feature of. There are some striking designs around from coils and springs which look like pieces of modern art.
• Plants - choose architectural plants such as cacti and succulents but only one or two.
• Accessories - ornaments are out but one or two pieces of modern art or sculpture are permissible. Go round the end of year degree shows at art colleges to pick up the names of the future.

• Charles and Ray Eames
• Marcel Breuer
• Mies van der Rohe
• Le Corbusier

• Guggenheim Museum, New York designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
• De La Warr Pavillion, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex
• 2 Willow Road, Hampstead London NW3 - former home of Erno Goldfinger. Tel: 01494 755570
• Trellick Tower, London - built by Erno Goldfinger
• Villa Savoye, Poissy near Paris - Le Corbusier

• Fifties Source Book - A Visual Guide to the Style of A Decade by Christopher Pearce
• Miller's Collecting the Fifties by Madeleine Marsh (Reed International Ltd)
• Retro Home by Suzanne Trocme (Octopus)
• Retro Style by Marion Haslam (Cassell & Co)
• Modern Retro by Neil Bingham & Andrew Weaving (Rylands, Peters & Small)
• Fifties Homestyle by Mark Burns & Louis Di Bonis (Thames & Hudson)

Further reading

Where to see it

What to invest in

Get the look

At the time

The names

Influences

History

history if interior styles check out the 1920s

1920s This glamorous decade was the heyday of interior designers, a new profession who were employed to create fantasy rooms for lavish cocktail parties and royal patrons. In this article Style Influences The names At the time Get the look What to invest in Where to see it Further reading In the home, modernism was taking off in Europe with the setting up of the Bauhaus, and shocking the world with its pared-down austere look. Architects began designing objects for the home, such as coffee sets and radios, as well as buildings. In the middle of the decade, art deco was showcased in Paris and became the major new style. The decade known for its decadence ended with the Wall Street Crash, which plunged America and consequently much of Europe into economic depression. Style glamorous and sophisticated geometric and angular shapes chrome, glass, shiny fabrics, mirrors and mirror tiles stylised images of aeroplanes, cars, cruise liners and skyscrapers nature motifs exotic touches from the Orient, Africa and Egypt Influences art deco and modernism. early Hollywood - the glamorous world of the silver screen filtered through to design. Cocktail cabinets and smoking paraphernalia became highly fashionable. travel - African safaris were all the rage, especially animal skins, ivory, mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell. The names Eileen Gray - Irish-born furniture maker who lived and worked in Paris Raymond Templier - jewellery designer Le Corbusier - architect and furniture designer Syrie Maugham - most famous for her all-white interior in 1929; also designed for Noel Coward and Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson Sybil Colefax and John Fowler - later Colefax & Fowler At the time 1921 The Kid by Charlie Chaplin 1926 Television first demonstrated 1926 Rudolph Valentino dies 1927 Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer, the first talking picture 1929 Wall Street Crash Get the look Furniture - choose strong streamlined shapes for furniture and in single pieces rather than suites. Look for modern classics by Le Corbusier and Eileen Gray. Reproductions and re-issues can be found. Floor - plain polished parquet is perfect for floors. Linoleum in abstract designs or black and white chequerboard vinyl tiles are also typical. Rug - floors would have been overlaid with a large rug in geometric patterns. Go for a huge circular one as the centrepiece to the room. Fireplaces - fireplaces should be rectangular and bold with a stepped profile. Colour schemes - halls suit bold colours such as silver, black, chrome, and black and white. For real dramatic impact, why not silver-leaf your entire ceiling or black-gloss your floor. Lighting - lights featuring female figures holding the ball of the lamp are typical and good reproductions abound. Also look for chrome, a brand new material at the time, and glass. Glass would have been etched, sandblasted or enamelled rather than coloured. Walls - keep walls plain and free from decorative plasterwork. Use a coat of varnish on top for a really glossy sheen. Fabrics - choose shiny light-reflective fabrics or plain fabrics with metallic threads. Accessories - add a striking painting or one statue rather than a clutter of objects. For real authenticity, look for light switches etc in Bakelite, a plastic resin. Add touches of opulence with items such as tortoiseshell and enamel cigarette boxes and mother-of-pearl letter openers. Display - ostrich feathers make a suitably decadent display. What to invest in modern classics by Eileen Gary and Le Corbusier art deco artefacts and posters Where to see it Interior of Brixton Academy, London Claridges, London Further reading 20s and 30s Style by Michael Horsham (Grange Books) Interior Design of the 20th Century by Anne Massey (Thames & Hudson)

some of my ART

cherry and strawbs doodling

chalk pastels art work............i did do this picture on a summers day outside im thinking the weather influenced my picture because it does look like a foreign country

randomness mixed media

this is a mask i made at college to be sold at a sale our class were having..................its still in my cuboard at college 

my chalppastel cupcake ..yum yum

more cupcakes and strawbs........ive just noticed i may be a cupcake fanatic lol..this pic is done with pens

abstract pic from college

this picture i done over 10 years ago lol............this is not the original because my friendd bought the original of me to put in there cafe ......so i took a print before i sold them it

my very first oil painting i was in my 20s when i done this it was my first and my last oil painting lol