DIY Vintage Kitchen Decor

Scour flea markets, garage sales and secondhand shops for furniture from bygone decades. Formica-top kitchen tables, chrome and vinyl upholstered kitchen chairs, as well as retro refrigerators and ovens can be found with a patient search.

Paint your walls or cabinets in colors popular back in the day. Kelly green, red and white were popular choices in a '40s kitchen. Your 1950s retro kitchen will pop with pastel pink, aqua blue or yellow. Gold, burnt orange or avocado green are the colors for your 1960s flair.

Recreate the feel of retro flooring with a kitchen rug or mat in black and white checks, a braided, colorful rug or a design with an atomic look.

Hang a clock that takes you back in time. A Kit Kat clock with a swinging tail was found in kitchens beginning in the 1930s. Simple, round clocks in red or jade green were popular in the '40s. Atomic shapes, and rays shooting out from the center characterize the '50s style. A Coca-Cola clock suits vintage kitchens of any decade.

Set your table with cheery red, white and green glass bowls and dishes for a 1940s look, use pastel plastics for the 1950s, or find fiesta ware in bright colors for that 1960s flair.

Look for kitchen accessories you remember from childhood. Breadboxes, chrome toasters, retro teapots, coffee makers and ceramic canisters can all be found in secondhand shops, or you can purchase new items designed to look vintage.

Display a collection of novelty salt and pepper shakers, tablecloths, cookie jars, dish towels or aprons that you have inherited, or purchased on hunts through flea markets and garage sales.