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If you’re looking to redecorate or update a room (or even your whole home) and are trying to fix on a style you like, going in the retro or vintage direction might be on your radar.
Retro and “vintage” obviously cover a huge range of different themes, eras, and styles, so there’s lots of options to explore; and if that is the route you go down (or if you already have a retro or vintage themed home or room) you will probably want to make sure you get window blinds that work with your theme.
So, can you get vintage and retro window blinds, what styles do they come in, and what type of blinds do you have to choose between? This blog post holds the answers.
Read on to find out more about retro and vintage window blinds and their applications.
What do we mean by the terms “vintage” and “retro?”
Before I start diving into talking about retro or vintage blinds per se, I want to just first of all define my use of the terms vintage and retro, and how they’re distinct from each other.
“Vintage” technically just refers to the time at which something was created or produced; so a wine can be a 2009 vintage, and your toddler a 2020 vintage. However, in design circles, we tend to use the term “vintage” to cover a whole range of styles, but with the uniting factor being that they’re all older than or originate from a time in the not-so-recent past, and definitely from within a different social era/generation to the current one.
How far back you have to go is the source of some argument; when we talk about vintage clothes, anything older than around 20 years old tends to be considered vintage, and younger than that, generally just “out of date!”
Interiors-wise, “vintage” tends to refer to eras, items, or styles, that hail from (or are designed to look like they’re from) anywhere from 20 years plus into the past, and we tend to think of them as being fairly good quality and/or elegant styles too. The further back you go age-wise, the closer you come to discovering the blurred boundary between “vintage” and “antique,” but there’s enough lack of definition here already without me dipping my toes into that pool as well!
The meaning of the terms retro and vintage are easy to confuse, not least because there’s a reasonable amount of debate as to whether or not they’re the same thing; but the term “retro” is somewhat easier to explain and somewhat narrower in remit than vintage, so I’ll start with that.
“Retro” in interiors terms essentially means a style or ethos intended to deliberately emulate or recreate a style that isn’t the current trend or the one before it, but that is distinctive as coming from the recent or modern past. In terms of a timeframe, I suggest that anything of 15 years or older in style terms fits the timescale for retro.
If I said “retro 1980s” or “retro 1960s” style, most folk would immediately be able to picture an example of what I meant; while if I said “vintage style,” that’s a lot more open to interpretation.
To further compound matters, something that one of my uni lecturers used to like to drum into us was that “vintage can be classed as retro, but retro can’t be classed as vintage,” and honestly I’m no clearer on what he meant by that now than I was at 25.
In order to simplify matters or at least, make clear what I personally mean when I talk about retro or vintage blinds, I’m going to make the case that retro blinds are those designed to emulate or bring to mind a specific style era, such as the 60s or 80s and the type of things that were popular in interiors then.
When it comes to vintage blinds, I think of these as being somewhat classically or traditionally styled, and potentially somewhat harder to pin down to a specific decade or era; things like farmhouse florals, or formal pinstripes.
I hope that helps, but I fully understand if it hasn’t… Perhaps a visual will be useful instead?
This is what I would call a vintage Roman blind.
It’s traditional and could possibly be considered to be a fairly formal design, but you’d be hard-pressed to assign it to a specific design era other than saying that it is not the sort of style that designers are coming out with today (unless labelled as vintage!)
This is what I would call a retro Roman blind.
Most people would think of this as being the sort of blind that folk might have had up in the 1970s.
What sort of blinds can be retro or vintage?
The one thing that vintage blinds and retro blinds definitely share is their age; and so more modern styles and designs of blinds can’t be classed as retro or vintage.
Any type of blind that can hold a print or a pattern can be found in retro or vintage patterns, which means you have vintage and retro roller blinds, and vintage and retro Roman blinds (as pictured above) first up.
Vertical blinds can also fit into a lot of retro styles for rooms themed to eras ranging from the 1960s onwards; they were first invented in the 1950s but didn’t start to get serious uptake until a bit later on. That said, the headrail style and general design of today’s vertical blinds have obviously been updated a few times since they first hit the shelves, to ensure that they’re not out of place or old fashioned-looking in modern homes; and the styles of vertical blinds you’ll be able to buy today will look somewhat different to their pre-millennium ancestors.
Verticals won’t really work in what most of us think of as vintage style, however, as they’re still somewhat “modern” in appearance!
Wooden blinds will work in many vintage styles, and some more subtle retro styles too. Faux-wood blinds don’t technically fulfil the letter or spirit of either retro or vintage blinds, being as they’re made of PVC; but they look almost identical to wooden blinds, so might well pass!
Venetian blinds are made of aluminium and these will work in a lot of retro styles from about 1960 onwards; they’re a fairly hard sell as vintage blinds though.
Blinds that I can safely say won’t work in either a vintage or retro style are day and night blinds and perfect fit blinds (also called pleated cellular blinds) as these are both very modern.
Are retro or vintage blinds in style?
If you read the English Blinds blog a lot, you’ll know that I find it almost impossible to resist making a sarcastic comment if the opportunity arises, so please excuse me in advance…
Are retro or vintage blinds in style? Retro blinds are “in retro styles, and vintage blinds are “in” vintage styles, but on a more micro level, this depends on what sort of vintage style or what retro era you’re approaching.
Some form of vintage and retro style respectively is always in fashion, but this tends to change regularly.
The 1990s are really hot in retro style for both clothes and interiors at the moment (which is giving me a bit of an Inception-style feeling, as I remember the 1990s well and its style, plus today’s remix of it, is basically itself an emulation of 1960s style…) and when it comes to vintage, this style paints with broad strokes but “modern farmhouse” and “cottage core” seem to be what’s on the up.
That said, it’s kind of ironic/oxymoronic to ask if a theme or design ethos that is literally out of date/not of the modern era by definition is “in style,” no!?
If you’re theming a room or your whole home in any sort of vintage or retro style, all I will tell you for sure is that there are window blinds to match retro and vintage styles respectively; I can’t tell you what your neighbours/relatives/anyone whose opinion matters to you will think of that.
What blinds suit retro or vintage room themes?
I could be here for pretty much the rest of my life trying to list every iteration of both retro and vintage themes that I can find or think of plus blinds suggestions to match and I do want to get home before it gets dark, so I’m just going to make a few match suggestions to point you in the right direction for some popular retro and vintage styles and eras.
These should give you an idea of the sort of blinds that would work as an example, but these are just a small sampling and many other choices are available too.
Vintage blinds for farmhouse style
Farmhouse-style vintage blinds often integrate floral elements in classical designs, like this wild poppy vintage roller blind.
Vintage blinds for modern farmhouse style
If you’re not sure on the difference between farmhouse style and modern farmhouse, this blog post will explain it all. For me, these delicate willow printed vintage roller blinds are a good example of a more modern farmhouse printed blind style, and white or cream wooden blinds would be an excellent choice too.
Cottage core patterned vintage blinds
If you’re looking for cottage core blinds to work in a vintage style, this bright yet cool-toned poppy printed vintage blind in yellows and greens might be the way to go.
Modern vintage blinds
For me, this vintage Roman blind print totally sums up the sort of style we think of when we say “modern vintage,” meaning vintage from the younger end of the age spectrum; hovering around the millennium, say, in design terms.
Rustic vintage blinds
A warm-toned floral blind is a great pick for rustic vintage style, like this honey vintage roller blind.
French country cottage vintage blinds
French country cottage style tends to be feminine, elegant, and understated, often integrating paler blues and greens into an overall cool-ish colour palate. These patterned blinds are for me a good example of French country cottage style vintage blinds.
1960s patterned blinds/1960s retro blinds
These 1960s patterned blinds are top quality retro roller blinds designed by Orla Kiely in a typical 1960s print and colour scheme!
1970s patterned blinds and retro blinds
Orla Kiely again here if you’re looking for 1970s patterned blinds, again with a bold and very evocative print on this themed 1970s flower Roman blind.
Going in a different direction for 1970s interiors styles, I really like this retro roller blind with a bold tropical pattern to go with your funky 1970s home cocktail trolley; and wooden blinds were quite hot in the 1970s too, so you have a few directions to go in, whether your 1970s style is bold or more subtle.
1980s patterned blinds and retro blinds
Choosing a red, grey, black, and white striped blind as my suggestion for a 1980s patterned blind seems a bit obvious, no? I reckon anyone who was around at the time can immediately envision the exact type of 1980s roller blinds I mean too, and I’m fairly sure they came from Argos (back when there was an actual Argos catalogue) which may explain why there are zero examples left extant today!
A more subtle suggestion for 1980s themed window blinds would be this printed example in a muted colour palate. Venetian blinds in dark/bold colours are also an option.
1990s patterned blinds and retro blinds
While these waterproof 1990s patterned roller blinds would definitely look somewhat out of place in any room bar the kitchen, this slogan-printed retro roller blind could definitely have been on the wall back when the Spice Girls were on their way up the charts!
This Paris cityscape printed blind is also very 1990s in style; is there anyone out there who didn’t have at least one cityscape print on the wall in the late 90s!?
Pop art retro blinds
Finally, we’ve got a few pop-art patterned blinds to suit that style of retro theme, which always go down well with people looking for Andy Warhol-style patterned blinds!
