Retro Kitchens

Fashion comes and goes but style always endures. We are sure you have heard this before, but it is true? Well it would seem if you stick with a style long enough it will eventually come back into vogue.

Take the 1960s and 1970s, they have in more recent years become extremely popular again. Kitchens in particular are enjoying a return to the colours of yesteryear. We have seen the popularity of kitchen appliances with retro styling for the last 15 years, but now we are seeing the whole kitchen design being transported back to the sexy 60’s and the colourful 70’s.

It is interesting how we revisit old design styling after a period of time, we have witnessed this with car design with the Chrysler brand starting with the Cruiser and slowly filtering through their range. Ford revisited their Mustang design back in 2005 with huge success. The design borrowed from the 1960’s designs and added some much needed muscle car aggression. Fiat, Camaro and many other car brands have followed suit.

So why does a design start out as cutting edge, become dated and forgotten only to return 30 or 40 years later as “classic” styling?

Firstly lets start by outlining what “retro” style actually is. Retro style is style that is consciously derivative or imitative of trends, modes, fashions, or attitudes of the recent past. The word “retro” derives from the Latin prefix retro, meaning “backwards, or in past times”.

The concept of nostalgia is also linked to retro, but the bittersweet desire for things, persons and situations of the past has an ironic stance in retro style. Retro shows nostalgia with a dose of cynicism and detachment. It is said that the desire to capture something from the past and evoke nostalgia is fuelled by dissatisfaction with the present. Perhaps the saying “they don’t make them like they used to”, which is commonly used when describing the dissatisfaction of the way the current day product is made. Is this saying used more to describe the strength of product? What we do know is nostalgia does play a huge part of desires of the heart. Humans can pine for memories of yesteryear which are shrouded by reflections which have become more fond as the years go past.

Kitchen appliances, like toasters, milkshake makers, fridges, ovens and many others are available in retro designs and have been very appealing to consumers for decades. The bright colours adding some spark to an otherwise neutral kitchen colour palette.

While retro is not everyones cup of tea, there is no arguing with the playful styling which become a strong talking point. We wonder how long it will be before it becomes old again? We also wonder if the styling of the 80s will be making a come back in the near future, what a sight that would be.

goCabinets has assembled a collection of these retro kitchens, with all of the images collected from www.houzz.com.au. Please note goCabinets does not own the copyright to any of these images, we are just happy to spread the great variety of creativity we see with kitchen design.