What Is This Retro Trend And Where Did It Originate?

retro lampThe other day my husband and I were shopping for a new couch.

I saw many couches I wanted that were the typical kind of couch you would see at a furniture store; one was taupe with olive accents and was shallow but classic looking and the other was a light brown and deep enough for two to lie down and just looked so comfortable and perfect for a living room.

My husband however noticed something in the corner of his eye and shot across the furniture store. I found him standing in front of what I thought had come straight out of my grandparents’ house.

Needless to say this retro styled couch is now in our living room and I absolutely love it but I had to find out where this retro trend originated and what exactly it entails.

The term retro means outdated and aged. Everything can be retro from furniture to fashion to hair and makeup. Retro has become increasingly popular as of lately because it has been welcomed by post-modern art and advertising and been made a present-day trend through that.

The word retro actually means ‘backwards’ in Latin so it is quite appropriate to describe things like furniture and fashion trends that we grab from our parents and grandparents 30 and 40 and 50 years ago.

Most people think of the little kitchen table and chairs when they think retro. The red chairs with the shiny plastic backs and the little eating table that is shaped so ‘cool’ and like nothing we have seen in our time.

Ironically this little table and cute chairs with red plastic backs were at one time in when our grandparents were eating breakfast and having their morning cup of coffee.

While retro furniture can mean anything from ‘backwards’ and years ago it more specifically is used to define furniture from the 1940s and 1950s.

Think George Jetson and family. The Jetsons thought they had it right when they were shooting for futuristic furniture only to allow us decades later to consider that furniture to be retro.

You can decorate a whole room in retro trends or you can just add a splash or a touch of retro to a room or rooms in your home.

If you aren’t sure what to think of the trend and aren’t sure if the trend is for you or your home, start with a retro lamp in your living room. Then think about a retro table for your kitchen or breakfast nook.

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