House Interiors – 70s Style

To hear people tell it, the home décor popular in the 1970s was situated somewhere between ‘neon nightmare’ and ‘art major’s wet dream.’ When you have a book released titled Interior Desecrations: Hideous Homes from the Horrible '70s, some would feel that pretty much says it all. So just what was popular then that people seem to scorn now?

First thing to know: nothing ever matched. Young people in the ‘70s making their own homes turned away from what they saw as the stuffiness and order of the homes of their parents. There seemed to be a deliberate attempt to make everything into as much of an eyesore as possible.

Bright colours were all the rage in the 1970s, a small holdover from the 1960s. However, while the ‘60s had these colours arranged in psychedelic patterns, the 70s were all about the bright colours themselves, without use of patterns. Metallic wallpapers in incandescent and muted colours were also popular. And who can forget the particular shade of avocado green which could be seen particular everywhere in the ‘70s? Moreover, colour clashing (remember, nothing matched) was common: only I n the ‘70s would you see bright orange, pale pink, and beige in the same room.

Who can forget shag carpeting? While shag today is merely slightly fluffy and comfortable, the shag of the ‘70s was so shaggy and deep you could probably lose sight of your ankles when you stepped in it. The most popular colours of shag carpeting at the time were various shades of white.

If you didn’t have shag carpeting in the 70s, you probably had parquet hardwood floors. Basically, your floorboards were arranged in a sort of geometric mosaic in a decorative effect. Some cynics would say the parquetry was used to distract from the colour clashing.

Our last subject should probably be the lighting that was popular in the ‘70s. Dimmer switches and low wattage lighting were extremely popular, thanks to low key lighting being seen as “mood lighting.” Fibre optics also burst into popularity. It was incredibly common to see lamps shaped like street lamps in someone’s home. Another popular lamp was the Panthella lamp, which had a mushroom-shaped shade and a base like a stem.

1970s décor is not looked back on fondly. Colours clashed, the décor was oddly shaped, and nothing matched. Very fun to look at, and maybe cringe a little, yes?