Style Your Modern Vintage Home: A Guide to Buying, Restoring and Styling from the 1920s to 1990s

1920s–1930s

The 1920s were a time of hope, with a desire to live for the moment. World War I ended with 16 million deaths worldwide, making it one of the worst wars in history. As a result young people decided to throw caution to the wind and enjoy every second of their lives. They partied, drank cocktails and danced the night away earning their title ‘bright, young things’. Even prohibition in America didn’t hold them back – driving dance halls and alcohol underground made it even more fashionable to have a good time.

The 1920s and 1930s were highly innovative times, with the invention of the radio in 1920 and the television in 1925, as well as further developments in new materials, such as Bakelite. Commercially, the western world was booming, with couples going to far-flung holiday destinations on trains, cruise liners and airships. They brought back souvenirs from African safaris, such as ivory and tortoiseshell, to adorn their living rooms. The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 reinforced that there was a big, wide world out there ready to be explored.

This was also the golden age of film, with Hollywood producing silent movies oozing with high fashion and glamour. This influenced our homes with mirrored surfaces, cocktail cabinets and glassware for the opulent parties that ensued.

Interior design became fashionable with the birth of modernism. In Paris in 1925 the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes showcased a new minimal style exhibiting streamlined, geometric art and stylized furniture in new materials, which complemented a new, simple architecture. Le Corbusier’s work received mixed reviews; his minimalist designs of tower blocks, roof-top terraces and walls of windows was seen as revolutionary, heralding him as a true pioneer of modern architecture. However, it took until the 1930s for it to become mainstream and the 1960s before the phrase ‘art deco’ was coined.

In Germany the Bauhaus school was developing its own style of modernism that would influence the rest of the world for decades to come. After Germany’s defeat in World War I, freedom of expression was finally encouraged after years of censorship. The Bauhaus school brought together art, crafts and architecture, which focused on simplicity, functionality and the ability to be commercial yet still beautiful.

The role of women in society was evolving fast. The flapper girl burst onto the dance floor with her new androgynous style, short boxy dresses and even shorter hair. She danced the Charleston, smoked in public and did things her way. In the UK in 1928, women finally gained voting equality with men and were released from restrictive Edwardian propriety.

All of this was against a backdrop of high unemployment and strikes. The world was heading for bust and in 1929 the American stock market in Wall Street crashed. This was to be the start of the worst global recession of the 20th century. The depression of the 1930s had a devastating effect on America with 25 per cent unemployment – it took ten long years to recover.

In the UK interest rates were cut, signalling the push towards home ownership. The falling costs of building materials and cheap price of land meant that the construction industry boomed, especially in the south. Three million new homes were built and by 1938, 35 per cent of homes were privately owned. Marriage rates began to rise with a real desire for security, contrasting with previous generations. Prices dropped, credit became available and with 600,000 people attending the 1938 Ideal Home Exhibition the long-term future looked promising. However, the world was about to change. On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland; Britain and France declared war and the next six years altered our homes, our relationships and our lives forever.

The Kitchen

The 1920s/30s kitchen was small and functional, positioned at the back of the house. It consisted of free-standing units made from natural pine, often painted white. These would have pull-out worktops coated in enamel for practicality. Sometimes they would have an in-built shopping list so the housewife or maid could write down what was needed for the day ahead. New homes were designed with simple, fitted cupboards in white.

As the majority of people couldn’t afford a fridge, food was bought daily from the local grocer, baker and butcher. Many homes had a larder, usually a cold storage room behind the kitchen, whilst poorer families stored their milk in a hole in the ground covered with a patch of grass to keep it cool.

The colour schemes were white and black with either lemon yellow or mint green accents. This matched many of the pieces of kitchenware of the time, which would be displayed on a dresser in more affluent homes.

The sink was an enamel Belfast or butler sink, large enough for all the washing up. Plates were stored in racks attached to the wall. Floors would be covered in linoleum. During the Depression of the 1930s most households lost their hired help so the lady of the house had to cook for her family and guests. New homes had a hatch between the kitchen and dining room so that she could be the perfect hostess as well as the cook.

Time-saving gadgets were invented, including the toaster in 1925 and the electric iron in 1926. These were chrome-plated and industrial compared to our modern versions. Even though many homes now had electricity, most chose gas ovens as the more affordable and practical solution.

This 1920s/30s look is very popular now with many retailers reproducing the enamelware and ceramics to go alongside modern, pale green-fronted cabinets and rectangle brick-effect tiles. A 1920s/30s look filled with original vintage pieces is totally achievable and can be styled alongside modern appliances. Choose silver gadgets, tiled flooring and a ceramic sink to complete the look.

Must-have Items

Storage

The blue and white stripes of T.G. Green’s Cornishware not only are a must-have for any 1920s/30s modern vintage kitchen, but have come to represent true Britishness for any kitchen, new or old. The range was first designed in 1926 in Derbyshire, UK and was applauded for the way it was manufactured. When made, stripes of blue glaze are removed to reveal the white pottery beneath. This makes the shiny blue stripe simply pop off the jar as it is raised. The name allegedly derived from someone’s vision of the blue Cornish sea with its white waves. It was so successful that it was produced until recently with only a slight design change in the 1960s. The storage jars are probably the most collected, but they also produced rolling pins, plates, bowls and jugs. A yellow version appeared later, aimed at the American market, who preferred the sunshine hue rather than the cold blue.

For a real Art Deco look choose the Streamline range by T.G. Green. Produced in the 1930s it also has raised bands of colour, but this time they are a fine line. The ceramic is a cream colour with a slightly rounded shape and the lines are the traditional deco kitchen shade of green, coordinating perfectly with other pieces from this era. It didn’t prove as popular as the Cornishware and so production stopped early.

British pottery manufacturer, Sadler, produced a similar range – Kleen Ware with green stripes – popular into the 1940s/50s. The colour is reminiscent of the utility china that would be in everyone’s home only ten years later.

Enamel

Enamel kitchenware has been around since the 1700s, but it wasn’t until the 1930s that it actually became fashionable. The inter-war housewife loved it for its easy to clean, non-porous finish, as well as its chic new look. As it came in a variety of bright colours, such as terracotta, green, blue and white and always with an alternative coloured edging, she could really start to coordinate her kitchen for the first time. However, its popularity declined in the 1950s when the easier-to-clean melamine was introduced.

Bread bins in light green enamel with black handles and BREAD written across the front adorned every kitchen worktop. To coordinate with this, families had flour jars and smaller matching tea, coffee and sugar canisters. Cookware also matched, with casserole tins and baking trays in cream and green. Colanders, ladles, milk jugs, deep saucepots, measuring jugs, kettles, buckets… the list is endless. The white versions became the norm in the 1940s, but this period definitely favoured green.

These items can still be used in the way they were intended even though they now will all have enamel loss and slight rusting. Remember, they have survived a world war and have bags of character so they deserve to be proudly displayed on your worktop.

Tins

Advertising tins were made as early as 1810 and with the consumer boom of the 1920s they became hugely popular and are still collectable. Families bought new, exciting food products that often came in a tin, which was reused or displayed in the kitchen. Oxo, Lyon’s tea and McVitie’s & Price’s biscuits were just some of the brands enjoyed.

Biscuit tins were made with glamorous images on the lid of ladies wearing the new fashions of the time. Cigarette tins also had women on, highlighting the shift in perception that even ladies could have a good time.

It wasn’t just tins that had great images on; soap also had packaging with fashionable subjects as well as comical cartoonlike images, such as the Lifebuoy boxes. Soap flakes, such as Chipso and Ipso, were produced in bright coloured boxes with written captions almost popping out from the design.

Restoration Tip

The odd bit of rust on your bread bin is okay,