How to Re-Create A 1940's Kitchen Look With The Right Shades of Blue Color

Singing The Blues in A 1940s Kitchen

You can bring a 1940's look to your kitchen by choosing just the right colors of blue. When I am poking through old home magazines, I know exactly the age of the magazine by studying the hairstyles and clothing of the "housewives" showing off the products. But I also can guess the correct age of the old kitchen advertisements by the color palettes used, often a grayed blue, red/crimson and yellow.

Not All Blues Are The Right Blue For A Retro Look

It's hard to describe colors with a word. Often paint chips and fabric samples in the earlier years might just be labeled "blue". Unlike today when you can visit your local paint store and see an entire wall of "blue" paint chip samples, in the earlier decades you had just a few "blues' to select.

Navy Blue, Air Force blue, Midnight Blue, Slate Blue

But if I had I describe the 1940s blue(s), I would use terms like "Navy blue'", "Air Force blue", "Slate blue', "Midnight blue" and even "Royal blue". Many of these blues had a lot of gray or black in them. The "blues" were more muted and influenced by the war years.

As you move into the end of the forties and into the fifties, colors became brighter. Families were returning to normal life after the war and kitchens and homes were more cheerful. Before long, pastels would be more popular than the primary colors of the previous decade.

C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of Iantiqueonline.com an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café.

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