How to Channel Your Favorite Throwback Aesthetic Without Going Overboard
A brisk scroll through home design social media will surface era-obsessed creators styling their lives around a favorite decade or historical aesthetic. They will often show it off in a kitchen or a bathroom because those are the most frequently renovated rooms in a home, and as such, they’re the places where the styles of a particular moment tend to find a foothold. Even if committing to the bit and going, say, full-on 1970s sex den or ’90s Tuscan kitchen is too much dip for your chip, you can still find a distinct style for your kitchen or bathroom by mining the past. We talked to designers about how to get a throwback look without going overboard—and also got some words of wisdom from a few of those era aficionados whose love for their particular decade is so strong that they’ve chosen to live just like it.
Clockwise from left: Corvo White and Black Patterned salad plate by Ackerman from CB2; PH 5 pendant by Louis Poulsen, and Classic Ring Handle 10 1/4 OZ mug by Fiesta Factory.
Not Your Grandfather’s ’50s
Nostalgia for the 1950s doesn’t have to express a yen for conservatism but, rather, can be about wanting the creature comforts of early suburbia—your grandparents’ Levittown Cape Cod starter home’s cozy rec room or the sunny dinette off the tidy and efficient kitchen. For some of the same vibes in your more contemporary space, Cristina Poelk, an art director at Hem who also runs @soft_servings, an Instagram account dedicated to beautiful kitchens, advises: "Use solid lacquered wood and pair it with stainless-steel countertops." Nick Battaglia, an Atlanta set decorator with an affinity for midcentury styles, says that in his bathroom, little tweaks went a long way. "I changed out the light fixture for a double swag light, like a Hollywood Regency [one]." To channel the era yourself, try swapping out your barstools for a set of Cescas upholstered in a claret red, or liven up your bathroom with a mat that’s straight out of the Jet Age.
Nick Battaglia lives in an Atlanta apartment where everything is vintage except his underwear. "If it’s not from the forties to the seventies, it does not come into my house unless it’s an emergency," he says. "I love how extravagant things could be, but at the same time, it goes back to those clean lines and simple designs. Ninety-nine percent of my stuff is true vintage." He even gave his modern electronics retro touches. "My flat-screen TV is hidden in a 1950s tube television. I pulled out the tube and put the flat-screen inside."
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Clockwise from left: HV1 faucet by Vola, Magritte pipe by Amitha, Nesso table lamp by Artemide.
Out of the Woods
As the 1960s tipped into the ’70s, some lingering psychedelia blended with an obsession with all things organic—avocado walls, wood paneling, maybe a mushroom figurine, macramé. A few prints with geometric patterns in the same earthy colors hanging on your wall complete the look. Call it enchanted forest chic. Poelk suggests colorful contact paper in a floral pattern to line drawers and shelves in the kitchen and bathroom, or evoke the era with graphic tiling and pops of color in the cabinetry. And if you’d like your bathroom to feel a little blissed-out, consider this advice from Trenton Chase Pardue, who runs @spacesofmydreams, a popular Instagram account dedicated to gorgeous vintage interiors: "If you’re going to do the color, you have to color drench the whole space.… It’s either all or nothing or just one thing," he says. "You can’t have a soap dish and a toilet in color and then everything else that’s not." Let Vola’s orange faucet lead the way for a monochromatic moment, or replace the kitchen door with a beaded curtain. Why not?
Sarah Arnold’s home is full of groovy prints, houseplants, and comfy textiles: "Vintage has worked its way into most facets of our life, and it’s only made everything more enjoyable. To see nothing but bright colors and flashy patterns throughout the home is a great boost of dopamine in a typically gray decade. Add color in bold ways that your mom won’t like, and don’t be afraid to buy the seventeenth houseplant." And for the floor? "I’m a huge fan of high-pile shag throughout the home, but the bathroom is a step too far for me."
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Clockwise from left: Venezia faucet and handles by Venini from Fantini, Lenox 3 Globe chandelier by Astraeus Clarke, Judd 10" storage box by Amitha.
Domesticated Disco
Anyone can hang a mirror ball in a sunny corner of their home and fancy themselves a Bee Gee, but there was more to the louche sleaziness of the ’70s—think Super Fly, key parties, and quaaludes, and you’ll get the idea. "What I think is so interesting about the seventies is that it’s a little bit transgressive with taste," says Jerry Gomez, whose Instagram account @objet_la_ny highlights luxurious dream interiors. "Good taste needs a little bit of bad taste to push the envelope a little bit." And if you really want to get nasty with it, turn your attention to the restroom. "Do a big mirror, and buy a cool kind of seventies pendant light that gives you that little bit of cocaine bathroom without being totally overboard," Gomez says. Take a similar approach in the kitchen, says Pardue: "Chrome finishes, whether on a dishwasher or silver appliance, kind of pull in that disco vibe." And lean into an open concept moment, but make it sexy. "Picture a seamless flow from a quartz-topped kitchen island into a cozy, sunken lounge outfitted with plush, jewel-toned sectional seating and shag rugs," adds Pardue. For a touch of glam in the kitchen, try Louis Poulsen’s iconic Panthella table lamp in a shiny chrome finish, or tile your shower with Porcelanosa’s dramatic glass mosaic.
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Clockwise from left: 36" Classic induction range by Fisher & Paykel, Veil smart toilet by Kohler, Millennium bathtub: Metro by Hydro Systems.
A Little Excess
If you’re looking to relive the ’80s, forget about the squiggly wiggles of Memphis Milano and make way for the untrammeled opulence and excess of the decade of decadence. "I think the eighties had such a defining strong design aesthetic and point of view," says designer Sasha Bikoff. "It was completely fabulous because it was so expensive and so over-the-top." To bring some of the era’s glitz into a more contemporary space, pick just one or two elements and use them strategically. "You may want to design a super-minimal and clean kitchen—but your faucets, you may want to have them be swans," Bikoff says. Fisher and Paykel’s Classic induction range, in shiny black and chrome, looks slick and of the era without feeling dated. For a bathroom fit for Alexis Carrington, let the spirit of the decade move you in a softer direction. "Use a freestanding tub in a fun, saturated hue," Pardue says. Picture Hydro Systems’ Millennium bathtub in a fetching violet, kitted out with a Falcon Crest–adjacent faucet you found in an eBay wormhole—flashy in the best way.
Annie Penta’s apartment is in a vintage building that used to be called the Studio 54 of Miami. Her space, with a round, pink living room, lives up to the title. "I always grew up around just very bright colors," she says—so in her own home, doing exactly what she wants comes naturally. "Anything that’s considered vaporwave, Scarface, or Miami Vice mixed with Barbie and The Golden Girls is what I would call my personal style. I cringe when I see new people move into the building and then see glass blocks down in the dumpster. I’m just an old soul stuck in a modern new world."
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Clockwise from left: Liaison tile by Kelly Wearstler from Ann Sacks, Lilies Lore sink by Kohler, Rooster ceramic pitcher by Hudson Grace.
My So-Called House
The Tuscan Revival aesthetic is recognizable: warm wood cabinets, faux stucco walls, and at least one ceramic rooster. It was all over kitchens in the ’90s, and if you’re wondering why anyone would want to bring it back, Janine DeMichele Baggett, a content creator whose videos celebrate kitchens of the time, has some ideas. Now, "everything’s so sterile, and I think people really are sort of yearning for some whimsy and charm and coziness factor," she says. To channel the cozy side of the ’90s, she advises looking for warmth: "Anything that gives a golden, plush richness—that’s sort of the color palette." Poelk of @soft_servings agrees. "There were so many oak cabinets in kitchens," she says. And while that honey blonde wood is the sort of thing people tear out of a space now, there are ways to bring the feel of the Tuscan Revival into your home without it seeming like an Olive Garden. "An easy way to mimic the style of a nineties kitchen is to go full out on one material," says Poelk. "That could be doing everything in solid oak, with details such as raised panel doors, and pairing it with a shiny granite countertop." If the timeworn feel of an agriturismo’s kitchen floor is pinned to your vision board, In Common With’s Mesa tiles fit the bill. Bring that look into the bathroom with Kohler’s ornate and vaguely European bronze sink.
Janine DeMichele Baggett’s secret to nailing the ’90s kitchen look? "Everyone had this pepper jar with peppers you couldn’t eat. It was the forbidden peppers." Her sense of decor humor runs in the family: "Growing up, my mom had a chicken-themed kitchen. We lived in Georgia, and she’s actually German—not even a farmer. It was just a thing that was funny. It was just random." Little did Baggett know that the Tuscan rooster would become an icon of the times. "It was really fascinating to me how widespread it truly was, because I also thought maybe it was a Southern thing. No, it was everywhere."
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