This weekend while scrolling thru Pinterest, I started down the rabbit hole of fun vintage photos showcasing people in their homes with the most AMAZING, WILD & FUN wallpaper that I have ever seen. So that got me to thinking…I need to do a Vintage Photo Tuesday post on these images! I mean who does not love going “ohhh what were they thinking?” or “Ohhhh I want that for my home!”? Everyone is a couch interior designer (or least I am)! Ha!
PLUS I’m currently redoing my tiny bathroom with a tropical wallpaper and so I have been in wallpaper mode for a few weeks now.
Now without further adieau, let’s take a look at the pictures!
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Vintage Photos of Wallpaper Designs in Mid Century Homes
I’m going to start this post with a very busy image from the Mid-Century. Be prepared readers, it’s a lot.
A Children’s birthday party in the 1950s maybe 1960s featuring…floral wallpaper, 100% different floral curtains and let us not forget the patterned floor. Oh my! HA!
Further Reading: Vintage Flooring Advertising 1930s-1960s
Source: eBay
1955 photo of a young woman in her bed with a stuffed panda and dog. The wallpaper is floral and I envision it to be pink & light blue for some reason.
Source: Etsy
1950s vintage snapshot of a couple in their bedroom getting their photo taken. The wallpaper in the background looks like a repeat pattern of berries of some sort (maybe?). Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Source: Etsy
This is one busy room! Fancy wallpaper in this maybe 1950s vintage photo, it is just a bit much but I do like it! What do you think?
Source: Etsy
Seeing a photo in colour is just the best, especially when your trying to get a good idea of what the wallpaper colour is. LOVE this 1960s Christmas photo of a family hanging out in their living room.
I’m also enjoying the MCM side table beside the older gentleman.
Source: eBay
Smoking in the kitchen! A group of 1950s men washing dishes with a very busy wallpaper design in the background. Yooza!
Source: eBay
Pick 1 pattern or 10! In the case of this photo, we have 1 patterned wallpaper, and then different patterned shirts on our young boys and grandpa. Oh and don’t forget that floral couch! So many patterns (Circa 1950s).
Source: Etsy
Here we go with more patterns! In this 1960s photo, our lovely lady is seated in front of a fireplace in a pretty patterned housedress with a tropical looking wallpaper in the background.
Love all the family photos on the mantel!
Source: eBay
A elegant 1950s woman seated in a fancy chair with small sections of wallpaper behind her.
Source: eBay
Another fantastic colour photo of a family in their 1950s living room! Love the wallpaper! Reminds me a bit of what I’m going to add to my bathroom.
Source: Pinterest
Vintage photo 1950s teenage girl in bobby sox with an unusual deer doll toy, just hanging out in her families living room. Another interesting wallpaper design.
Source: Etsy
Since Halloween is next month, I thought this cute 1950s photo of a couple dressed in costume in front of their kitchen “coffee & flowers” wallpaper, would be fun to share!
Source: eBay
Like wallpaper? Make sure you check out my 2020 post on ‘Vintage Wallpaper Ideas from a 1940 Montgomery Ward Catalog‘
QUESTION: Are you a fan of wallpaper? Would you add a vintage wallpaper to your interiors? Share any of your thoughts in the comment section below!
Thanks for stopping by!
FURTHER READING: Check out my archive of ‘Vintage Home Decor’ Posts HERE
Liz
Great post – and yes, I am a fan of vintage wallpaper but only to look at in photos or sample books. I’m not brave enough to put it on a wall 🙂
I’m coming into an inheritance soon, and I’m scouring various parts of the country for homes built before 1965, because I don’t trust homes built after that to stand the test of time. This means that I’m still looking at a ton of houses, and I’ve realized something from the experience:
I don’t know that I’m a fan of wallpaper, necessarily, but what I do NOT care for? The endless parade of rooms painted in some awful solid color like mustard or aubergine or sage with white or light ivory trim and wood floors everywhere. At this point, i’d take a crazy wallpaper–ANYTIME! Just look at how fun and unique each of these rooms look. Do I agree with all of them? No, but at least they’re DIFFERENT. They say something about the people. For a decade trashed for its supposed obsession with conformity, their homes had far more individuality than we have now! They just scream unique and personality!
Every fricking house these days seems to have the exact same combination of design elements, and it’s B-O-R-I-N-G. You know they destroyed some crazy original kitchens, bathrooms, and living rooms to make an otherwise cute house that fricking ugly inside.
I nearly wept for joy when I finally found a house with an authentic 1962 bathroom replete with the original sky blue tile everywhere, a floor of beige and different shades of blue in tiny odd-shaped tiles, and the original sky blue toilet! Yeah, they stupidly put (yawn) some kind of rock counter on the sinktop, and I’d bet my last penny coming that they replaced the original sky blue sink, too. But i can live with the updates when the rest of the room is dead-on and so quirky and unique!
You know what else I hate? All of these sleek modern kitchens with brushed steel and black/white everywhere, or, worse, one of the boring solid muted color walls with the white/ivory trim. I’m a child of the 60s and 70s who was poor and thus lived n older ranch homes from the 40s and 50s. I miss pink sinks and turquoise cabinets or counters, mint green appliances and exposed brick everywhere. I especially miss fricking solid color toilet paper and paper towels! You used to be able to match your paper products with your kitchen or bathroom. Now all you can get is (yawn) white. Maybe–MAYBE–you can get some paper towels with some funky design, but that’s as far as it goes.
Once upon a time, we used to do C-O-L-O-R, and lots of it, everywhere, and it was fun and eye-pleasing. But now it’s all gone.
It is to weep.
So much truth! It makes me so sad to see a beautiful mid century home and all it’s fun details destroyed. Why do people all want to look the same in their home?
Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting? Good luck with your hunt!
Liz