Vintage and retro wall art: how to style the past in a modern home

Vintage or retro: what is the difference?

Vintage is the real past. Prints, photographs and illustrations from another time: a Belle Époque music-hall bill, a fashion magazine cover, a snapshot of a film star by a pool. They carry their era in every line, right down to the lettering.

Retro is new, made in an old spirit. Today’s illustrators borrowing the rainbows of the seventies, the flat colours of the old travel prints or the clean geometry of the Bauhaus. Brand new, yet instantly familiar.

On the wall, both do the same job. They add character, a sense of time and a little humour to a room that might otherwise look straight out of a catalogue. The trick is to choose a mood rather than a decade, and to let one or two pieces lead.

Four looks to borrow from

Belle Époque and art nouveau. Dancers, cafés and books, drawn in flowing lines with lettering painted by hand. Theatrical and colourful, so one print is often enough to carry a wall.

Magazine covers and fashion. Elegant women, sharp tailoring and mastheads that work like typography. From art deco softness to sixties pastels, they bring a little glamour and a wink.

Seventies colour. Rainbows, daisies and groovy lettering in mustard, orange, pink and brown. The most playful era, and the easiest one to make look modern.

Black-and-white snapshots. Film stars, crowded swimming pools, an old twin-lens camera. Archive-style photography brings nostalgia and calm at the same time.

The most romantic branch of retro, the vintage travel print, has an article of its own: travel prints for the places you love.

Classic cars: retro for every room

A beautiful old car is retro at its most universal. Even people who never think about engines tend to love a green Porsche on a London street or a little Fiat in the rain. Our vintage car prints run to more than 60 motifs, from sports cars and camper vans to motorbikes and petrol pumps.

Colour or black and white? Colour photographs feel sunny and cinematic, and suit a living room or a bright hallway. Black and white is calmer and more graphic, and works almost anywhere, not least in a home office or a hallway.

Let the car stretch out. Almost half of our car prints are landscape. Hang one above a sideboard or a desk, where its width can follow the furniture.

The retro palette

Every era has its colours, and borrowing them is the easiest way to make a room feel retro without a single old object in it.

Warm earth and sunshine. Mustard, burnt orange, brown and olive are pure seventies. They glow against white walls and pale wood, and look even better with a little chrome or rattan nearby.

Soft pastels. Pale blue, pink and mint belong to the fifties and sixties: magazine covers, sun loungers, ice cream. Lovely in a bedroom or a bright kitchen.

Ink and paper. Faded cream, deep green and inky blue are the colours of old botanical plates and Belle Époque prints. They make a room feel collected and calm.

Black and white. Timeless, and the best bridge between old and new. There is more in our guide to black and white wall art.

Typographic prints like Stay Groovy sit somewhere between art and slogan. If you like words on the wall, our guide to quote prints has more ideas.

Botanical plates and the retro kitchen

Natural history, framed. Birds, insects and plants drawn by hand, in the muted colours of old books. Cockatoos among lemons, a heron in flight or a page of butterflies bring the calm of an old library to a living room or a hallway. Our guide to botanical wall art goes deeper into flowers, leaves and William Morris.

The retro kitchen. Old packaging and tableware make witty kitchen art: a sardine tin label, a blue china plate, a page of seafood cans. Hang one above the dining table or lean it on the worktop, and see our kitchen guide for more.

Frames that flatter an old motif

The frame decides whether a vintage print looks like a precious find or a quick souvenir. For retro, these are the rules of thumb.

Dark oak adds patina. A deep wood tone makes a print look older and richer, and suits warm colours, old photographs and anything with a painted feel.

Oak keeps it light. In a Scandinavian home, a pale oak frame lets even a 1920s magazine cover feel fresh.

Black for graphics and photographs, white for pastels. Black is crisp and modern, the natural partner for snapshots and bold lettering. White lets soft fifties colours float on the wall.

Colour for the seventies. A red, yellow or green frame picked from the motif turns a retro print into a statement.

An ornate frame for the grand gesture. Ornate mouldings in gold, silver, black or white give a Belle Époque print the gallery treatment.

Old and new, room by room

Retro looks its best when it has something modern to play against: a clean sofa, a simple lamp, plenty of wall around it. Think of the print as the one old thing in a new room.

Living room. One large Belle Époque print or two magazine covers above the sofa, with modern furniture and soft textiles around them. More ideas in our living room guide.

Kitchen and dining. Food labels, china and old drinks adverts, mixed with something contemporary so the room doesn’t look like a film set.

Hallway and home office. Classic cars and black-and-white snapshots, framed in black or oak. They make a strong first impression without asking much of the space.

Bedroom. Softer fashion illustrations and pastel covers: calm colours and a little romance. See our bedroom guide for sizes above the bed.

Gallery wall. Mix one or two old pieces with modern abstracts and a photograph. The contrast is what makes it interesting, and our gallery wall ideas show five layouts that work.