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RAVING ABOUT RETRO
Sunday Star , StarMag, July 17, 2005
While window shopping, BRIGITTE ROZARIO comes across an interesting trend in interior décor that is just bursting with vibrant colours and intriguing shapes.
TAKE a walk around your favourite shopping complex in Kuala Lumpur and pay particular attention to furniture and house décor shops.
Notice the beaded curtains in window displays? How about circles and squares appearing all over fabrics, walls and curtains in eye-popping combinations of red and white, orange and yellow, apple green and blue, or even green and brown? See any brightly coloured plastic chairs in intriguing shapes?
Welcome to the world of retro interior design. Get to know it, because it’s the very latest, hip trend in interior design – and will probably appear in a home near you soon?
Retro décor tries to emulate the décor of the 1950s to 1970s in the United States and Europe. It was a time when steel first began to be incorporated into furniture (after the industrial age), a time of beanbags (to go with hippie flower power sentiments) and a time of abstract designs and shapes in chairs (the 1970s were influenced by Op Art – optical illusion art – and Pop Art, after all).
But why is retro back today?
Because, says Avin Yeo Hock Yam, managing director of Zen Design, the under-40s want it. It seems there are post-Baby Boomers who hanker after those supposedly halcyon days when life was simple, and everything seemed brand spanking new.
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Avin Yeo: 'Not many people can accept that kind of design unless you are very retro.'
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Yeo adds, however, that retro is not for everyone.
“It is quite drastic. (Retro) features very bold colours and at times it is shocking – not many people can accept that kind of design unless you are very retro. A retro home makes your heart beat faster. If you are not very energetic and you are not used to bright colours I don’t think you can live with it,” says Yeo.
Agreeing with him, Ronnie Choong, executive director of S.I. Design says: “Older people probably won’t really like retro design unless they are very nostalgic about the flower power days.”
Choong, who is also president of the Malaysian Society of Interior Designers, says that retro design actually started appearing in home décor and furnishings about three to four years ago.
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| Ronnie Choong: 'Once the man on the street says it is the 'in' thing that means it has hit its peak.' |
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“I feel retro is at its peak now. Once the man on the street says it is the ‘in’ thing that means it has hit its peak,” explains Choong.
“Indirectly we follow the United States,” says Yeo. “The influential part comes from what we see in the movies and what we read in magazines. Movies have a real impact because you see people living with that decor.”
This trend towards retro, for instance, is probably heavily influenced by the Austin Powers movies, International Man of Mystery (1997) and Goldmember (2002).
What’s in?
How does one recognise retro?
According to Yeo, red is one of the main retro colours because it is bold; it is usually balanced with white or black.
As for shapes, “It goes back to basics with very simple lines in furniture. One particular element is semi-rounded furniture. Besides that, retro also means having a simpler design because when you apply bold colours you can’t have fussy design, too – you’d have too much of everything. You have simple things that are very basic in shape,” he says.
However, Yeo points out that to be truly retro in décor, one has to use furniture or furnishings that are generally recognised as retro, instead of contemporary designs with some retro elements.
Italian designer Eero Aarnio’s Ball Chair, for instance, is a true example of retro design.
Aarnio came up with this futuristic-looking chair in 1966, a time when people were caught up with space exploration. And that, says Aaron George, an interior designer with the Ryzull Group, explains why retro is not just limited to bright colours and geometric shapes. It also captures the Space Age with futuristic-looking furniture.
This era also saw much emphasis on white as a basic colour, as this was the colour of the space suits worn by Neil Armstrong and his fellow astronauts.
The Space Age influence is also seen in George Nelson’s Ball Clock (1947) and the chrome Sputnik chandelier.
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| Aaron George: Tulip legs are back in now. |
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George emphasises that “tulip legs” from those times are back in now. This design sees cone-shaped furniture legs that taper off towards the base.
Colours and shapes
How does one go about turning a home intro retro heaven? Yeo says home owners should think of converting just one room – typically, the living room – instead of redesigning the whole house.
“One way is through colour. You may not have to paint a wall, just add vibrant coloured curtains – orange, green and white striped curtains. Those would be the retro colours for that room.
“Get a black and white retro painting that is big. Try not to use wooden furniture in that room. Get plastic furniture.
“You have to have one object with a very strong retro feel in the room – probably a piece or two of plastic furniture and some small colourful throw cushions.
“If you have a little bit more to spend you could get a single-coloured couch – black or white – and put a lot of various coloured pillows on it. And get a rug. I think that would pretty much complete it.”
Lighting, adds Yeo, is very important as it can make a world of difference. He suggests using warm lighting instead of fluorescent.
Ryzull’s George suggests taking a mix and match approach. He recommends adding some retro elements to the current style of your space.
One item that is retro but seems to be a hot product today is the Artichoke lamp originally designed by Poul Henningsen in 1957.
George adds that people who want to adopt a retro interior design should have a slightly higher budget.
“No doubt you have very few pieces here and there but I would rather play with all the (designer items). That’s how the entire room can stand out. If you were to use something that is common, it will not stand out. But you have to be really good at mixing and matching.”
Watch those curves
Ikea Malaysia’s communications interior manager Harriet Holmberg highlights the importance of colour within retro-inspired rooms. According to her, the orange-red combination as well as green are “in”.
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| Harriet Holmberg: 'Textiles are graphical with strong contrasts in colour.' |
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Furniture, says Holmberg, should be glossy, plastic, and shaped in curves.
“Retro is also about combining old and new – old meaning the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, nothing older and no antiques.
“Glass accessories like vases are coloured, often big and with strong curved forms. Textiles are graphical and with strong contrasts in colour,” she says.
S.I. Design’s Choong says it is relatively easy these days to go for a retro interior because the furniture is readily available.
“But somehow it looks a bit funny because the exterior is so visible from the interior; unless you go into the house and make it a point not to look at the exterior. It fits better in condominiums because the moment you go into a condo, it’s different already and you don’t really view your exterior together with the interior. The condominium layout works a lot better with retro design,” he says.
Comfort vs trend
Choong has the best advice for homeowners when he says they shouldn’t just follow trends blindly.
“You have to be comfortable with the style. You live there and you entertain people in the spaces that you have. If you don’t feel comfortable then you won’t have a home. You don’t design it just to impress your friends because your friends don’t come to see you every day. You have to live in that space so it has to be something you feel comfortable in,” he says.
It all depends on the person, the lifestyle, the budget, the age group and how comfortable the individual feels in that interior.
After all, a man’s home is where he retreats to at the end of each working day to rest and relax.
Yeah, baby!
Copyright Star Publications (M) Bhd
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