Brian Anderson has spent 20 years amassing his collection of 1950s and 1960s furniture and decor. (Liz Martin/SourceMedia Group News)

CEDAR RAPIDS — When it comes to style and decorating, Brian Anderson was born about 30 years too late. But that doesn’t stop the Cedar Rapids man from living out his favorite era in his Cedar Rapids home.

 Anderson, 45, has had an affinity for the 1950s for as long as he can remember. His collection of 1950s memorabilia is immense, ranging from flatware and stemware to furniture, draperies and clothing. The collection started when he was just 16 and purchased a green ceramic Buddha for $2 at a garage sale.

 Over the years, his collection has grown large enough to fill a home, but for a long time he couldn’t quite get it to work in his own residence.

Brian Anderson took the television out of this Zenith console and put his own small television inside. (Liz Martin/SourceMedia Group News)

“I always tried to decorate in this style but it never really worked in a condo,” Anderson said.

 Then in 2008, a Realtor friend contacted him about a house he needed to see. A well-kept ranch, built in 1958, had become available. For many prospective buyers, the dated decor would have meant a costly, time-consuming overhaul.

For Anderson, it was perfect.

“Welcome to 1958,” he says as he greets guests into his home for the first time.

The unassuming exterior — simple white siding with black shutters and a scalloped landscaped that softens the hard edges of brick — may look like 2010. Step inside, though, and step back in time. An antique secretary sits beside the front door, atop it are two photos — one of Anderson as a small child and the other of former First Lady Jackie Kennedy-Onassis.

Brian Anderson owns two retro Kroehler sofas, including this pink one he purchased at an Illinois flea market. (Liz Martin/SourceMedia Group News)

The living room and what was once a dining room are open. Anderson separates the two rooms with two S-curve sofas facing opposite directions. In the living room is a floral print sofa; the dining room is home to a pink textured Mohair Jacquard Friese sofa facing a brick fireplace.

Scattered throughout the rooms are vintage accessories: a 1954 Zenith television console cabinet, which Anderson gutted so he could place a modern television inside; pillbox hat boxes, lamps with fiberglass shades. A photograph of Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke, as Rob and Laura Petrie, with a faux autograph scrawled along the top, sits atop the TV cabinet.

A Federal Glass set that Anderson’s parents received as a wedding gift serves as a centerpiece for a dining nook on the side of the living room.

The guest bedroom is vintage “I Love Lucy,” Anderson said, with a pair of twin beds topped with chenille bedspreads and separated by an end table and lamp. A restored medical cabinet sits in one corner as an armoire or shelving unit.

Brian Anderson's parents received this Federal Glass set, along with a matching pitcher, for their wedding in 1955. (Liz Martin/SourceMedia Group News)

Walk into Anderson’s kitchen and one almost expects to see June Cleaver standing at the counter stirring cookie batter in one of Anderson’s Pyrex bowls or cooking them in the wall-mounted oven. The oven and stovetop are original to the home.

The decor says as much about Anderson as it does about his home.

“I am a firm believer that you can’t buy class, but you can afford style,” he said. “Everything I have came from secondhand stores, Goodwill, flea markets, garage sales and thrift stores.”

Though Anderson has most everything he wants in his collection — most of which is pink or turquoise or accented with one or both of those colors — there are two pieces that have eluded him: a 1959 Princess telephone in turquoise and a pull-down light fixture.

“Those are the things I’m really looking for,” he said.