Remember your parents' taste in home furnishings? How it all seemed so uncool at the time?
Well, retro is now one of the most copied looks around - so dig back in your memory and get searching for low slung sofas, plastic furniture and shag pile carpets.
When trying to achieve the retro look, it's important to bear a few key influences in mind.
In fact, why not do what the professionals do, and create a scrapbook featuring magazine cuttings, fabrics, colour combinations, old photos and key trends that you like.
 design museum latest Get down to the Design Museum in London for the latest exhibition on Archigram and the following illuminating design talks: VITTORIO RADICE, Apr 19
Vittorio Radice emerged as one of the world's most influential retailers in his six years at Selfridges, which he transformed from 'Are You Being Served?' into London's hottest department store. He now aims to reinvent home retailing with the new M&S Lifestore (see page 33). WILL ALSOP, May 20
Despite hating planners, accountants, bureaucrats and fellow architects, whom he describes as "terrible people", Will Alsop is one of the UK's most influential architects. Hear how he has designed exuberant buildings like Peckham Library and Liverpool's Four Graces. Oversized footstools, luxurious cushioned sofas, and impeccably styled dining furniture are the signature pieces of the Lambert range, available from House of Fraser.
 Candles (in fireplace) £29 each, monochrome print mugs £6 each, red bottle vase £20, white 'cut-out' bowl £28, white 'cut-out' platter £20. www.houseoffraser.co.uk
 Urban Village stocks a range of reconditioned classic design telephones. www.urban-village.co.uk DKR-Wire chair by Ray & Charles Eames, £295. Available from Fusion, Church Street. Tel: 0121 236 1020
 Ceramic bowls, £3.99-£7.99. From Woolworths
 White enamel colander, £5.99. White clip storage jars, £3.99 medium, £4.99 large. From Woolworths. Stockists: 017706 862 789
 Lamp, one of a range at Urban Village Polo Chair by Robin Day, £69. From Fusion
 think... Open plan
Geometric patterns
Bold colour combinations
plastic
Pvc
Disposable
Low level
Fun
 top ten retro websites www.urban-village.co.uk
www.retrofunk.com
www.designaddict.com
www.mumhadthat.com
www.planetbazaar.com
www.designfordelight.nl
www.fearsandkahn.co.uk
www.designmuseum.org
www.vernerpanton.com
www.conran.co.uk
 Twinkle lights, £100 to £120. Available at Domus Optima at The Mailbox. Tel: 0121 632 1446
 Space tufted and loop pile rug, £195. From Table Works at The Mailbox. Tel: 0121 632 1277
 Neon mirrors from suck uk, £800-£1200. Available at Domus Optima at The Mailbox. Tel: 0121 632 1446 Vases, £5.99-£7.99 from Woolworths
 Black faux suede cushion with embroidered circles, £8.99 from Woolworths how to do it...
 When going retro, think colour first and foremost.
Bright patterns and funky furniture will help you achieve an authentic look.
For colour inspiration turn to 50s ceramics, 60s pop art and 70s album covers.
Each decade is marked out by different moods - pastels and browns for the 50s, bold and vibrant clashing colours in the 60s, and psychedelic yellows, blues and purples during the 70s.
Buy your furniture carefully. There's a huge difference between vintage and tat.
House clearances and jumble sales may yield some stars of yesteryear, but for guidance seek out the professionals at a store like Urban Village at the Custard Factory.
What the staff here don't know about vintage clothing, records, furniture, toys, glassware, posters and paintings ain't worth knowing.
They're so good at it that film and TV companies regularly use them for authentic set design. And they've just opened a second store in Leamington Spa.
Here's their Top Ten Most Wanted from customers seeking that retro look for their homes:
1. Super 8 cameras, projectors
2. Radios - the bigger the better
3. Lamps (table, ceiling)
4. Clocks
5. Chopper bikes
6. Lounge chairs - 60s and 70s
7. Bars - 50s, 60s, 70s
8. Toys
9. Records
10. Autographs
 Panton Chair by Verner Panton, designed 1960, £145. From Fusion, details as before
 Marimekko 'Kaivo' fabric by Maija Isola, designed 1965, £26 per metre. From Fusion Press Magazine Rack, £59. From The Chair Company at The Mailbox. Tel: 0121 643 6333
 | 
