One other thought is that we still were a nation with a lot of farmers and apartment dwellers – the spaces were small, money was tight, and as a result, interiors and their decorative appointments were simpler. There was so much to be grateful for, that we did not necessarily need “more stuff” to be happier. In fact, there was A LOT of wallpaper in 1940s interior design - it’s an essential! I see a lot of ads like this one, that celebrate the simple pleasures in life. It had been five years of tremendous sacrifice. When the war ended, the nation was immensely grateful to have their men and women all back home. Thanks to Kohler for this 1949 image from their archives, which, with its soft hand-painted illustration gets at the warmth and sentimentality of the period. We still were a nation in which the masses did not have a lot of material affluence. When I look at some 1940s interior design and decor, I see a real sweetness. A good example: After the war, when Heywood Wakefield retooled its factories to again produce furniture, its Riviera line was really just the same, but with new handles, as the Rio line produced earlier.īecause of the shortage and ramping up from 1946 until 1953, these years are generally viewed at more “40s style” than “50s style.” (In his terrific book Populuxe, Thomas Hine looks at the 1953-1963 years, which were more exuberant.) So what did the 1946-1953 interior design look like? Here is additional explanation of the eight characteristics: There had also been material shortages during the war, so manufacturers had put all their new-design work on hold. I also swear I’ve read somewhere that there were prohibitions on building more than one indoor bathroom at some point… I need to find the source.Īlso, in terms of design, in this immediate postwar period, the “look” still tended to be similar to that of the late 1930s and wartime period. Usually: Very small houses by today’s standards, no more than 1,000 s.f. And I’ve even seen references indicating that the government was concerned that if we didn’t deal with the housing (and jobs) situation quickly enough, America’s young men would become restless and political – in a bad way. I’ve read that we needed to get 6 million homes built as quickly as possible. In the immediate wake of the war’s end, there was a tremendous housing shortage. It also showcases one of their 1940s reproduction wallpapers.ĭisclaimer up front: I don’t have a degree in this – I’m a passionate observer, who is still “putting all the pieces into place.” Recovering and rebuilding after World War II dramatically affected 1940s interior design and the size of 1940s homes Special thanks to: Bradbury & Bradbury, which made this slide for me. I write about each one of these design ideas in more detail below. Eight styles of 1940s home interior design:
What are the key elements of 1940s interior design and decorating style? What colors, shapes, patterns and “feel” did we generally see in 1940s homes? And why? Based on the advertising illustrations and magazine articles that I’ve seen from the period, starting around 1946 to about 1953, what we typically call 1940s interior design had eight general characteristics.
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