Monday, December 6, 2010

Why the Retro Coffee Table is So Popular Today



The retro coffee table is the table in which the design comes from the era of the 50s to the 70s. Yes a retro coffee table may look like furniture of the past but it is still popular today because many tables from this era have designs that go well with modern interior design themes.

The word 'retro' comes from the word 'restrospect' where we essentially look back to the past to get a glimpse of how the people of the past lived, their lifestyle, fashion, down to their taste in home design and furnishings. In furniture 'retrospect' we try to apply their furniture designs to add a focal point to our traditional or contemporary home design theme.

It may be a 'blast from the past' of sorts but don't make the mistake of thinking that when you buy retro furniture you're buying antique furniture because not every retro coffee table that is sold these days is a true 60s or 70s table but is truly wonderful reproduction faithful to the original retro concepts. If you're aiming to buy a retro coffee table pay attention to the details for you to truly get the best furniture that is truly retro.

    * Buy furniture that comes from the period and an example of that are chairs with vinyl seating, or a retro coffee table.
    * Bear in mind that retro coffee or cocktail tables had legs that were either wood or chrome that were tapered. Popular furniture of this period was the Noguchi coffee table exclusively manufactured by the Herman Miller Furniture Company and the G-Plan Furniture collection.
    * The popular furniture colors in the 50s were the combination of pink and gray and then in the 60s the color theme became psychedelic thanks to the flower power, love, peace-sign generation. In the 70s the popular shape for cocktail tables was round or oval.
    * Coffee tables in the 60s were low long teak tables that had Scandinavian influence however there were also retro tables that had Formica or wood-and-glass tops.

Since retro is the in-thing these days, many people dream of achieving this in their home décor but this is a somewhat tricky task. Many designers caution against overdoing your retro theme by putting as many retro furniture pieces you can collect from thrift stores, vintage shops, used furniture stores, garage sales, and online shops.

The tendency with doing such is that you risk making your house look old-fashioned but when you use retro furniture pieces sparingly on existing modern, traditional, or contemporary interior design theme, the pieces will balance out your existing design. Hence you end up with a truly original room that has class and elegance not cliché or boring and this is one of the reasons why a retro cocktail table is still popular these days.

Another reason why retro furniture is still popular today is the fact that they are defined by clean lines as opposed to the ornate designs of Victorian period furniture with functionality infused into the piece. Therefore when it comes to this type of table, you will be able to buy pieces that will easily match all the other furniture as well as have a product that you can use for other purposes than as a table as in the case of buying a retro coffee table with compartments to hold vintage magazines to complete the desired retro-style.

Elizabeth have been writing articles for nearly 2 years. Come visit his blogs more often for tips and advice that helps people with the interest for cheap modern furniture and great passion and knowledge for retro modern furniture and all the different options & providers available in the market today. Find out for more info also here rexkelly.com

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