'60s Mod Styles Influence 21st Century Home Decor

Checked out the latest looks in home decorating? We are doing the time warp again, with everything "retro" very much in vogue from Pop Art colors to shag rugs.

The color trends for 2010 have exploded with vivid colors that recall the height of '60s chic: bright tomato red, lemony yellow, tangerine, and lime green. European designers have favor Op Art checkerboard patterns in home furnishings, with patterns and prints back in a big way.

Incorporating this latest swing to retro style in home decor is best accomplished by using color accessories against a neutral or monochrome background. Here's how it works:

Start with a room that has solid-color walls and sparsely patterned fabrics in draperies and upholsteries. Most people would opt for white walls and beige furniture, but don't be limited to this easy-but-boring choice. Any range of whites, creams, tans or beiges can serve as neutral background, as can muted shades of nearly any color you prefer. The idea is simply to create a canvas that will let you "paint" a room with bold color.

The fun begins as soon as you've chosen your color palette. Select one or two pieces of wall art that combine vivid color with geometric shapes. The color combinations in the artwork will determine the dominant and subordinate colors for the rest of the room. Among the art prints available to accomplish this mood are artists such as Wassily Kadinsky, Mark Rothko, David Bailey and others. Prints of their most famous paintings, framed and unframed can be found on many web sites.

Once you've selected a painting, select area rugs that complement the artwork on the walls. These can be any style – modern rugs, contemporary area rugs, geometric rugs and more, as long as the colors and design harmonize with the artwork.

It isn't necessary to break the bank to accomplish this spirited update of a tired old room, either. For example, a David Bailey art print in a 36-inch-by-24-inch size retails for less than $35 online. Accompany this print with a hand-tufted rug, which resembles the look and touch of an area rug that's hand knotted, but for far less money. Finish off this look with some pillows and a throw, and a new room is complete at small expense.

Shag rugs also have come a long way since their 1960s and '70s heyday. Today shags come in varying pile lengths; some even combine different lengths in a single rug to resemble the craftsmanship in Tibetan rugs. What's more, Day-Glo orange and avocado green rugs are far from the only options in today's shags. Rainbows have nothing on the variety of shades available to complement retro decor these days.

Paint, the perennial tool of interior designers, also can help achieve a retro look in a short time for minimal cost. Bold colors on the walls, or a single bold color on an accent wall, can be tied with accessories such as striped pillows or Abstract expressionism rugs recalling the 1950s. When using this technique, be sure to keep other furniture and accessories simple to avoid distracting from your bold retro focal point.