This weekend I was with a group of friends and one of them mentioned that they would love to see a “Terrazzo flooring” post. This is a much bigger research project but for today I thought it would be fun to focus on vintage advertising for all types of “Flooring” from the 1930’s to the 1960’s.

1960 Flintkote Floors Vintage Ad featuring various early 1960s people posing with their floors.

1960s Flintkote fashion floors. Source: Etsy-Plentiful Pages

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy , eBay are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

NOTE: If you click on any of the items featured below and they are not available, don’t fret! Hit the search button and see what else is on the websites. There are 1000’s and 1000’s of items being listed daily.

Vintage Flooring Advertising 1930s-1960s

1940s vintage ad for Armstrong’s Linoleum Flooring, featuring cool flooring ideas for when you turn that “unused attic into a one-room apartment”.

How big is that attic?

Further Reading: One of my top blog posts is entitled, “The Beautiful World of 1940s Linoleum Flooring” and features a bevy of fantastic flooring ads. Please take a look after your done with this post.

1940s vintage ad for 'Armstrong's Linoleum Flooring' featuring cool flooring ideas for when you turn that "unused attic into a one-room apartment".

Source: Etsy-Plentiful Pages

1937 Armstrong’s Linoleum Floors ad featuring “Five Rooms In ONE!”.

“It’s a study, a den, a sewing room, a fitting room and a guest room”.

1930s vintage ad: 1937 Armstrong’s Linoleum Floors advertisement featuring "Five Rooms In ONE!". Super vintage home interior design ideas.

Source: American Century Shop

1951 Amtico Rubber Flooring, featuring a stylish early 1950s bedroom and hallway.

“Tommi Parzinger calls Amtico Rubber Flooring “Designer’s Delight!” (he was a designer).

1951 AMTICO RUBBER FLOORING Vintage ad featuring images of early 1950s bedroom and hallway flooring.

Source: Etsy-KristensVintagePaper

“Splash away, Betty! Congoleum Rugs like water”. This ad is from the March, 1933 McCall’s magazine.

1930s vintage ad: 1933 Congoleum Gold Seal Rugs Vintage Flooring Advertisement.

Source: Etsy-Plentiful Pages

I LOVE THIS MID-CENTURY ROOM in this 1961 Armstrong vinyl floors ad!

What a fun party area to spend time with friends in while listening to records or having a drink at the bar and then relaxing on the leopard print sofa. Special shoutout to the record player screen and the tiki themed decor.

1960s vintage floor ad for Armstrong Vinyl Floors from 1960. What a fun party area to spend time with friends in while listening to records or having a drink at the bar and then relaxing on the leopard print sofa. Special shoutout to the record player screen and the tiki themed decor.

Source: Etsy-KristensVintagePaper

‘Kentile Vinyl’ floor ad from Better Homes and Gardens magazine, Spring 1959. “Metallic Chip – adds the glitter of gold to luxurious solid vinyl”.

1950s Vintage Advertisement: 'Kentile Vinyl' floor ad from Better Homes and Gardens magazine, Spring 1959 featuring a fashionable 1950s couple

Source: Etsy-MidCenturyPrintAds

1947 Kentile Asphalt Tile advertisement featuring flooring ideas for your basement or a classroom (the basement party / game room looks fun!).

1940s vintage floor ad: 1947 Kentile Asphalt Tile Vintage Ad featuring flooring ideas for your basement or even a school classroom.

Source: Etsy-Plentiful Pages

Hello Mid-Century Family Room! If you watched Mad Men, this feels like some place Don Draper would of lived.

1968 Armstrong Vinyl Flooring ad.

1960s vintage floor ad from 1968 for Armstrong vinyl floor featuring a mid century family room / living room. Super vintage home decor & home design inspiration.

Source: Etsy-Plentiful Pages

“Thank your Stars Your Hair is Silver Gray”. 1941 Alexander Smith Rugs vintage ad.

“This is a room for a woman with silver-gray hair. She doesn’t just in it. She “wears” it-and it makes her radiant. For this is is a new idea in decoration-rooms created to flatter your hair and skin and eyes. It’s called Colorama…..”

Liz note: I am going white haired very quickly (have been since 16) and this 1940s vintage hairstyle on our model is fantastic inspiration for my next stage in life.

1940s Vintage Flooring Ad from 1941 for Alexander Smith Rugs featuring a woman with silver gray hair 1940s hairstyle posing in front of her livingroom with green carpet and yellow furniture.

Source: Etsy-Plentiful Pages

You can never have enough game room floor and interior design ideas. This is from a 1957 Armstrong Plastic Flooring ad and features not only a cool floor, but a pool table, bar, piano AND an indoor firepit (to the far left). How awesome is this room?!

1950s vintage floor ad: You can never have enough game room floor and interior design ideas. This is from a 1957 Armstrong Plastic Flooring ad and features not only a cool floor, but a pool table, bar, piano AND an indoor firepit (to the far left). How awesome is this room?!

Source: Etsy-KristensVintagePaper

Vintage ceramic flooring 1950s ad featuring the stunning modernist design of Harwell Hamilton Harris.

Further Reading: 1950s / 1960s Outdoor Patio Furniture Ideas

Source: Etsy-MidCenturyPrintAds

1941 SEALEX Linoleum Floors ad featuring a very posh dining room with a green linoleum floor. The ad also includes a wall covering interior design note.

Further Reading: Vintage Wallpaper Ideas from a 1940 Montgomery Ward Catalog & B e Inspired! Vintage Photos of Wallpaper Designs in Mid Century Homes

1940s Vintage Floor Ad: 1941 SEALEX Linoleum Floors ad featuring a very posh dining room with a green linoleum floor. The ad also includes a wall covering interior design note.

Source: Etsy-KristensVintagePaper

“A new floor in minutes!…just roll it out! Beautiful!…sanitary!…easy to clean!”.

Gold Seal Congoleum Rugs 1955 advertisement.

1950s vintage flooring advertisement for Gold Seal Congoleum Riugs 1955 featuring images of different rugs you could buy for your 1950s home.

Source: Etsy-Plentiful Pages

I loved doing this post, I just enjoy seeing how homes looked in all the different time periods (big fan of the 1950s and 1960’s mid-century interior designs).

What vintage ad did you enjoy? Or floor / design idea? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Further Reading: Vintage Home Decor / Interior Design archived blogs posts from the 1920s-1960s

Thanks for dropping by!

Liz

Attention all history buffs and design enthusiasts! Have you ever wondered what home designs were like in the mid-20th century?

From the classic Tudors of the 1930s to the sleek modernist homes of the 1960s, vintage house plans offer a glimpse into the past and the evolution of architecture. These blueprints not only provide a look into the styles of the time, but also reflect the cultural and societal influences of each era (like buying a house from a catalog).

In this post, we will dive into the world of of vintage home plans, thru their catalog covers from 1930s to 1960s. Just click on the images to be taken to the full catalog so you can browse at your leisure.

Let the house hunting begin!

1950s House Plans: The Book of Bungalows from 1952

Note: All images from archive.org

Further Reading:

Vintage Home Plans 1930s-1960s

1930s House Plans

Note: The 1930’s homes are very interesting to see as the United States was in the middle of the Great Depression. I do notice a lot more use of the words “affordable” & “modest” when describing the plans.

1939-Select Homes of Modest Cost by the National Plan Service. What a lovely home illustration on the cover.

1930s vintage house plans from a 1939-Select Homes featuring a lovely 1930s house illustration on the cover.

1935-“Garages, Log Cabins, Play Houses & Cottages” from Sears, Roebuck & Co Home Construction Division.

1936-“Gordon-Van Tine Economy Homes”

1938 “Choose Your Home”-American Lumberman Homes.

I like the three on the left. What about you?

1938-“Bungalows by J.W. Lindstrom, Architect Minnesota”. What a cool Art Deco house on the cover!

1930s vintage house plans from a 1938-"Bungalows by J.W. Lindstrom, Architect Minnesota" catalog. The cover features a very cool art deco house design.

1940s House Plans

1940-“Garlinghouse All American Homes”

1942-“Halliday Simplex System Homes: Hallidays, Canada’s Building Material Specialists” Hamilton, Ontario (45 mins from Toronto where I live) & Truro, Nova Scotia.

1940s House Plans: Halliday Simplex System Homes : Hallidays, Canada's building material specialists in Hamilton, Ontario, Truro, Nova Scotia.

1946-“Your own home book of plans by America’s leading architects.” 25 designs and plans in colour.

1940s vintage house plans: 1946-"Your own home book of plans by America's leading architects."

1949- “Warm Morning Small Homes Plan Book”. A choice selection of plans for 12 delightful low-cost small homes.

1947- “Homes of the Southland, personalized for today’s way of living“. Monett Lumber Company, Missouri.

1946-Calfornia Plan Book: “Builders gathered in Chicago, and on exhibit were some prize-winning “Homes of tomorrow”. What were they like, you ask? Why, bless you, here they are: right in this book. California had started to build them before the war. Modern, Monterey, ranch house, outdoor-indoor living, Solar house, they’re all here. “

1940s Vintage House Plans / Vintage Real Estate as seen in a 1946 California Home & Floor Plans.

1950s House Plans

1951-“Wisdom in Homes” by W.E. Lindman. “Designed for Mr. & Mrs. America, never too tired to dream and to build”.

1952-“Canadian Home of Masonry”. “Build your home for security & permanence”.

1954- As seen in “Today’s Woman” magazine, “Low Cost Homes”. “Building plans available for 23 distinctive homes”.

1950s House Plans as seen in "Today's Woman" magazine: Low Cost Homes from 1954.

1958-“Leisure-Time Homes of Fir Plywood”. “You’re really living…when you have TWO homes”.

I’m OBSESSSED with these Mid-Century cottage / homes!

1950s house plans for cottages -Leisure Time Home of Fir Plywood 1958. The cover illustration features a family enjoying fishing by their cabin.

“National Homes-1959”. The mid-century homes in this house catalog are really fantastic. I would take them all!

1950s vintage house plans from a "National Homes-1959" catalog. The mid-century homes in this house catalog are really fantastic.

1960s House Plans

1960-“6 and 7 Room Homes. Traditional, Contemporary, Modern”.

1961-“Home Designs For Luxurious Living”, 15th ed.

1960s Home Plans: Home designs for luxurious living, 15th ed.

1963-“All American Homes”. “Construction-Proven Designs for Contemporary American Living…”

1963-“Home Planners Designs For Convenient Living – 50 Suburban Homes Edition”.

Thank you for dropping by and taking a look at these cool vintage house plans. I love seeing what homes used to look like and I hope you did too.

Question: Please share your favourite covers in the comment section below. I love to hear from my readers!

Reminder to check out my other posts in this series below….

Liz

Category: Vintage Home

Vintage Flooring Advertising 1930s-1960s

Vintage Home Plans 1930s-1960s

1930s House Plans

1940s House Plans

1950s House Plans

1960s House Plans