Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Vintage Wallpaper

Did you know that there are 52 PAGES of vintage wallpaper on Etsy?

True story.

I often lust after the papers at secondhand rose, but right now I'm working with a client with a couple of DIYs in mind, including sprucing up a seen-better-days Danish credenza with a little wallpaper, so I need fun, inexpensive paper in small quantities.  Etsy is not letting me down.

In browsing, I was struck by how modern some of these look today, in that old "everything old is new again way."  Observe:

Vintage:
Vintage 1960s Wallpaper-Whimsical Pink Poppies-by the yard
here

Contemporary:


here

Vintage:

vintage wallpaper - sunny floral with dots - per half yard
here

Contemporary:


Orla Kiely, here

Vintage:

1970's Vintage Wallpaper Retro Solid Vinyl swirls
here

Contemporary:
Jewel Of Spring
Suzy Hoodless for Osborne and Little

Vintage:


here

Contemporary:

Rosabella
Suzy Hoodless for Osborne and Little

Vintage:
Vintage 1970s Wallpaper- LIttle Flowers in Yellow by Schumacher- sold by the yard
It's Shumacher!  Here.

Contemporary:


Here.

Maybe those last two should be switched, come to think of it.

This one feels fairly "now":

1970's Vintage Wallpaper vinyl pink brown black geometric fabric backed wallpaper
here.

I though Cole and Sons was making something similar, but if they are I can't find it.

And I really, really love this.  It's not current (most of the above are vintage 60s or 70s; this one hails from the 40s), but it is so very sweet.

1930's Vintage Wallpaper mint green and candy pink bubbles
here


Now, certainly none of these are exact.  But there is a certain spirit carrying forward, wouldn't you say?

Would you ever hang a vintage paper?  Does it feel fresh to you, or do you think these patterns are showing their age?

Now if only I could find the paper from the nursery in our house in the 70s.  Two walls read "rainbow" over and over in rainbow colored bubble letters, running in stripes on the diagonal.  (I'll give you a minute to picture that.)  The other two walls had little houses with silhouetted trees around them, and a rainbow over each and every one.

So, last question: any spectacularly dated wallpapers in your youth?

3 comments:

  1. YES!! I think that second one, with the orange and yellow flowers, was in our kitchen!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wouldn't wallpaper my house with it, but I would love to use some of those vintage patterns for an art piece. :D

    My grandparents bought their home in the 40s and wallpapered the dining room several times. My grandma just put the new paper over the old. Sometime in the 90s my mom helped her strip it, and it was fascinating seeing the layers of retro paper. I think she had 5 different wallpapers!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The vintage wallpaper is beautiful. Know all about it

    ReplyDelete

Let me know what you think. I love hearing from you!

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