Retro posters: 20 ideas for a vintage interior

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The main families of retro posters at Brunelia

Objects from another era, like a gramophone or a jukebox, car scenes featuring a 1950s convertible, portraits of women in the style of that decade, and posters with a sense of humor, like retro restroom signs.

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Combining several retro styles on one wall

A vintage object, a car scene and a period portrait can live side by side on the same wall if they share a similar color palette and the same type of frame.

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Where a retro poster belongs

An office or a hallway is a good fit for this type of poster day to day. In a living room, it works best if the rest of the room stays understated, so the poster can carry the retro character of the space. A3 suits most walls; for a gallery wall mixing several retro styles, A4 makes multi-poster compositions easier.

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Other objects than a gramophone or a jukebox

Beyond the objects mentioned above, the radio, the rotary phone, the typewriter and the wall clock make up another family of retro objects: the poster of the wooden radio with a couple dancing in front of it, the poster of the red rotary phone on an entryway table, the poster of the black typewriter under its desk lamp and the poster of the sunburst wall clock, 4 subjects that shift the mood without leaving the retro spirit.

Sports and action, a more physical register

Boxing and skateboarding add a more physical register, apart from the objects and portraits already mentioned: on one side, the boxer training at the punching bag and the champions’ fight in a red and black ring; on the other, the skater mid-jump over a bowl, under a palm tree.

Science fiction and heroic jobs, a more imaginative register

The poster of the comic book superhero on a red and yellow background and the one of the giant robot on a nighttime avenue lean toward the imaginary, while the poster of the red fire truck with an extension ladder remains rooted in a real profession: 3 subjects that repeat neither the objects, nor the cars, nor the portraits already covered.

Vary the registers rather than repeating one object

For a retro wall that doesn’t show the same family twice, combining an object (radio, phone, typewriter) with an action scene (boxing, skateboarding) or an imaginative subject (superhero, robot) varies the moods without leaving the style.

Choosing a register to suit the room

An office or a hallway is a good fit for vintage objects (radio, typewriter, clock), as noted above. Sports or science-fiction subjects, more graphic and more colorful, find their place better in a teenager’s bedroom or a play area than in an understated living room.