1970s interior “design”
28 May
I am a huge fan of all things 60s and 70s, like many others. Even though I was born in 1985, I was brought up with music from the 60s/70s era. I could be forgiven for thinking it was another time. The house I grew up in was also very late 70s and there was a certain warmth about it.
In comparison of the two styles – early to mid 70s & mid to late 70s – there is an obvious difference. As much as the lovely 1960s interior design became way too over-enthusiastic in the 70s, by the late 70s things had toned down a lot to the point of laziness. It has evolved so much that you will see that evolution in the modern houses of today – with their very clean lines and minimalistic interior design.
As an avid reader of interior decoration magazines and websites, I have noticed a slight change in this into a post-modern era of design. Homes have orange feature walls, wooden furniture, funky flip clocks and statement furniture all replicating the wonderful era of the 60s and 70s.
This image is scanned from the practical encyclopedia of good decorating and home improvement, 1970 (thanks to SuperJunk). Being snapped in 1970, obviously this is a much more minimalist and influenced by the late 60s. The colour of the chairs, mural and light act as the features of the room with their lively red colour. The rest is toned down with a massive white bookshelf using books and bowls to inject just a teensy bit of colour. The shape of the chair and it’s footstool, lamp and the mural are all unique but compliment each other making for an interesting room, but not too cluttered.
Now HERE we have a room that has almost a little too much going on. There is a lot of red, orange and white happening which were very popular back in the day (if you’ve never had a chance to rummage through your parents’ photos…). The drawers and cabinets are all different colours and yet, it makes sense. Even though there is a lot to look at in this room, the clean lines really save it as well as the white walls. I also love the magazine rack – remember Dad saying magazines were huge at the time – and how the TV is so insignificant in the room even though it’s this funky green colour and stands out from the rest. The focal point of the room is reading, creating and chatting rather than being a zombie.
Tada! This is what 1970s interior design was all about. Puke? Maybe. But every little thing was perhaps, over-designed. Way too much attention to detail makes for a whole lot of clashing. There is some crazy wallpaper going on but there is also a picture hanging from the wall. There is nothing more 70s than that. A lot of people use wallpaper to create a focal point on a bare wall. The same reason people hang up pictures. It’s either one or the other. In the 70s – it was fair game. I like to call this room, the RGB Spew Room. Could you imagine getting high in here?
