“Mad Men” is Back with More Retro Goodness

I guess by now you’re onto me and have figured out I’m not one of those intellectual “I only watch educational programs on PBS” types. I love me some good TV. If there are fabulous sets involved with the show, all the better, which is why “Mad Men” is one of my favorites. Season 2 premieres tonight (Sunday) on AMC, and my DVR and I can hardly wait.

“Mad Men” takes place in the early ’60s–the so-called “good old days” when men were men and women knew their place (which was either at home or in the secretarial pool). I wouldn’t want to go back and live like that, but it sure is fun to watch.

Take a look at Don and Betty Draper’s retro kitchen:

Here’s Betty (on the left) chatting with her friend Francine in the kitchen. When I first saw the kitchen last season, it seemed wrong to me somehow. It just didn’t feel like a ’60s kitchen. I expected it to look cleaner and sleeker. Instead, it has lots of dark wood and an almost rustic look to it. All that dark wallpaper looked more ’70s than early ’60s to me.

But then I came across a photo of a kitchen in one of my old Better Homes & Gardens Decorating books from the late 1950s that was strikingly similar:

The kitchen’s floor plan is almost identical to the Drapers’. They enter from a back door to the right and the breakfast nook is separated by a similar peninsula with overhead cabinets and open shelves. They also have the same white appliances. The wallpaper is brown and plaid instead of blue like the BHG one, but they have the same overall vibe.

(Trivia alert! Betty’s friend Francine is played by Anne Dudek. Recognize her? She plays Alby’s creepy polygamist wife on Big Love.)

Here’s the Drapers’ bedroom. Look at the headboard on this bed (anyone who saw the premiere of Season 1 may remember they originally had Colonial furniture in here instead):

Now contrast it with the bedroom of Don’s mistress Midge, who’s a bohemian artist:

Oh, those wacky Bohemians, always doing the Bunny Hop around the bedroom.

Are there any other “Mad Men” fans out there? Be sure to tune in to the premiere tonight. Season 2 will jump 18 months into the future, so I’ll be paying close attention to see if any of the rooms have been redecorated since Season 1.

If you love retro rooms, you’ll be happy watching the show if for no other reason than the sets. It’s like an hour full of eye candy (Don Draper, played by Jon Hamm, included!). And the clothes are pretty fabulous, too.

Most photos shown here belong to AMC. Cast photo by Jeff Riedel for Entertainment Weekly. Read EW’s article about Season 2 here. For more information about Mad Men, go to the AMC website. You can read more about how the sets are designed and furniture for them is painstakingly chosen for each room in an interesting article here.

P.S. I’m recapping tonight’s “Design Star” AND announcing a giveaway tomorrow, so be sure to come back for those!

If You’re Hooked on Retro Rooms:

• Retro ’50s Kitchens
• Then & Now: Retro Kitchens Today
• A 1950s Housewife in Her Yellow Kitchen
• The 1950s Vision of a Waterproof Future
• A 1950s Kitchen with a Portable Stereo Cart
• Retro Living Rooms from 1956
• I Can’t Get Enough of 1950s Kitchens

Tagged as: 1960s decorating, 1960s fashions, AMC, Decorating, entertainment, Jon Hamm, Mad Men, Retro Rooms, television