Author: Justine Harvey

A 1960s home or a new VW Beetle are huge aspirational purchases, and not something that everyone can buy. At the other end of the scale, for anyone looking for a weekly retro fix, are Clare Nicolson’s retro tea towels!

There are two different styles encompassing eight different designs to chose from so you should be able to find something that co-ordinates with your kitchen. There are digitally printed retro designs, measuring 12 x 20 inches or new designs mearuing 17 x 20 inches featuring a printed appliqué details from one of Clare’s collages. Pictured here is the print from the “Time for Tea” teatowel.

They all cost £10 each and can be bought online from the designer’s website.

Karim Rashid’s Butterfly Chairs aren’t a particularly old design but they are being marketed as “pop art” style. This is mainly because of the bright colours options, which includes orange, lime green, pink and sky blue, which it is being claimed is reminiscent of Warhol and Litchenstein’s favoured colours.

The chairs probably look best as shown here in a group of different colours. To achieve this look, you would need to pay £150 per chair from Design Conscious. A cheaper option is to buy a set of four of the same colour, which brings the cost down to £140 per chair.

Visit the Design Conscious website to purchase.

Etsy seller, Nena Von, does a nice line in retro print cushions, but more unusual are their Retro Fabric Memo Boards.

At the time of writing, they have five available; the Alexander Henry mid century modern print (pictured here), a brown op pattern and three vintage floral patterns. Each board measures 22” by 24”, is lightly padded, banded with ribbon and tufted with vintage buttons. They are suitable for displaying photographs or any other momentoes, although it would be a shame to hide the fabric completely.

They cost $28 (approximately £15) and can be ordered from Nena Von’s Etsy shop.