For some of us, retro is just another term. But for those who recall Grandma’s aqua-blue fridge, it brings to mind a simpler way of life, even if it meant that some poor soul had to run out for blocks of ice. The bright color brought the space alive and made you happy to be in the kitchen.

Now, as a trip to some of the larger home stores will attest, appliances are going back to the ’50s, and it’s one of the hottest trends around.

It may have started with Big Chill, a Colorado company that got off the ground when a man named Thom Vernon wanted a retro-style fridge for a vintage house he was building. Vernon approached his nephew, Orion Creamer, a recent graduate of product design school with a passion for old-school style. Orion and his uncle built a prototype on the front porch of Creamer’s home. The rest, as they say, is history—or perhaps history repeating itself.

In any case, the company today produces a wide variety of ranges, hoods, refrigerators and more that bring back yesterday’s eye-opening color with all of the modern conveniences. Available in as many as nine hues—from buttercup yellow to pink to candy red—along with the well-remembered aqua, the company’s products bring their vintage cousins back to life. See them online at bigchill.com.

Another company with a similar passion and product line is Elmira Stove Works, a Canadian company that adds textured black, bisque and quicksilver to its line of vintage favorites. American homeowners can find them online at elmirastoveworks.com.

You can even find a red, white and blue fridges, made by a European company called Smeg, available at smeg.com or ajmadison.com.

While you’re at it, check out the unbelievably colorful Dolce & Gabbana line of mixers, toasters and other small appliances at Williams-Sonoma and other retailers.

It seems like everything old is new again—but sometimes, new is better.

The modern world has many advantages, but one issue that many of us are facing, particularly those who spend their days working in front of a computer, is the feeling of being disconnected from the natural world. The good news is that a growing movement known as biophilic design might be just the answer and is being utilized by designers and architects around the world. Cities, in particular, are embracing this trend, and if you’re looking for a living space that will help you reconnect with Mother Nature, here’s what you should know about biophilic design.

The Basics
At its core, this design movement is all about creating a living space that feels like it’s a part of nature. That means much more than just incorporating green spaces. Equal emphasis is placed on using natural materials, such as wood and stone, to capture natural light throughout the day, and simply being able to observe things happening outside, like the sunset or a snowstorm.

Design Solutions
Breaking down the barrier between indoor and outdoor spaces is a big part of biophilic design. A retractable glass wall, for example, can capture sunlight in the winter and in the warmer months be opened up to allow fresh air to flow through the home. Additionally, you can bring the outdoors inside with indoor gardens or living walls. Even feeling connected to animals can play a role in biophilic design, like a koi pond, where you can relax while watching fish or attracting birds and butterflies with specific types of plants.

The Benefits
The main argument, of course, is that when we feel closer to nature we’re more relaxed and in tune with our surroundings. Additionally, biophilic design is considered to be an environmentally friendly solution because it typically requires using clean, natural materials to build homes that use less energy. For instance, if you can design a home to capture a natural breeze, then you may not need air conditioning in the summer. Or, by capturing adequate sunlight through performance glass windows you can reduce the heat required to keep your home warm in the winter. If that’s not enough, it’s an added bonus that this also means lowering your bills.

Air hockey is a game that is easy to understand and caters to everyone in the family, from ages 5 to 99. Kids love the action in the game and parents love a game that gets the kids away from video games. It also helps that the kids burn a little energy playing air hockey.

That’s why air hockey is becoming popular again and many homes are investing in tables.

For a few years, the air hockey table trend was leaning toward furniture style tables, but in 2019, the trend has been leaning toward the commercial, arcade-style tables. These aren’t too expensive, and they are easy to bring into the home.

While the basic game of air hockey hasn’t changed much since its inception in the ’70s, today’s manufacturers have dressed up the game to appeal to the kids and the families that buy them.  That means automatic scoring with music and crowd noise has become the norm, and colorful playfields with cool graphics have added lots of appeal.

Air flow on an air hockey table is measured in cubic feet per minute (CFM), and today’s tables operate more as an air tunnel effect, meaning rather than blowing the air directly up from the bottom, tables are now blowing the air from the side into a chamber and then circulating the air so it’s not pushing straight back. That angles the air and creates a bit of a vortex, creating consistent pressure, which allows the table to breathe more evenly.

Other innovations in air hockey tables of late include enhancements in lighting effects, such as lights flashing on and off when goals are scored and LED pucks and pushers that light up. Sound effects have been improved as well, with the sounds of crowds cheering and mimicking of the announcer being added to many tables. Then there’s game music paired together with cascading light effects bringing additional excitement to the game.

Larger, heavier pucks and ergonomic pushers are both staples with air hockey today. The former keeps the puck from flying off the table so much, while the latter prevents or reduces the risk of hand and wrist strain while allowing harder hits to the puck.

Whether you’re moving into a new home or just want to add some excitement to your house, adding an air hockey table can bring in loads of fun.