"Everyone says to me: why the 70s? And I say: why not?"

January 15, 2021 9:24 AM

Homes that are portals to the past - talking to people who have the interior decor of their homes based on what was popular in the good old days.
posted by Stark (39 comments total)

ROCK AND ROLL'S BEEN GOING DOWN HILL EVER SINCE BUDDY HOLLY DIED
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:31 AM on January 15, 2021 [5 favorites]

70's house doesn't even have a "conversation pit"? MEDIOCRE.
posted by thelonius at 9:40 AM on January 15, 2021 [9 favorites]

i want all of those as options for my VR living room.
posted by th3ph17 at 9:41 AM on January 15, 2021 [2 favorites]

Outrageous that Wandavision viral marketing has infected The Guardian 😬😉
posted by adrianhon at 9:42 AM on January 15, 2021

I like how many of the people are basically saying, no no I wouldn't want to LIVE back then, they had values I don't share, I just love the style.
posted by JanetLand at 9:53 AM on January 15, 2021 [20 favorites]

I would never be able to pick an era like that. Which is why my house is a giant mish-mash of stuff from the last 150 years.
posted by fimbulvetr at 10:00 AM on January 15, 2021 [5 favorites]

I really enjoyed the '50's house at the Shelburne Museum in VT.
posted by MtDewd at 10:00 AM on January 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

I can so relate to this. In my former house, I had two bathrooms one with light blue tile and one with yellow tile - that what was all the rage in 1963. And I would not redo those bathrooms for love or money. I loved both bathrooms!
posted by bluesky43 at 10:06 AM on January 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

I love how different all the houses look. I’m also amused by the different ways to do it - as collectors, as trashpickers, commissioning stuff - what, no DIY genius?

fimbulvetr, do you have another organizing principle for stuff to bring home, or is it maximally mixed?
posted by clew at 10:18 AM on January 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

Thanks you for posting, Stark! I like the photos, and the vintage vacuum vs. modern vacuum fight slinking about the margins. More interiors at Living in the past: lifestyles from bygone eras (The Guardian, May 31, 2020), featuring a diversified crowd of nostalgia enthusiasts/'living historians." The earlier article has another picture of Estelle Bilson's home decor (though her "prized" Marcel Breuer long chair isn't shown there, either), and this quote: When asked about the motivations that led to her retro immersion, Bilson’s answer is straight out of [psychology professor Tim] Wildschut’s personal nostalgia playbook. “My earliest memory is from 1980, when my family was flooded out of our bungalow and re-homed in a council house without our Bauhaus long chair and lovely cabinets,” she explains. “It was pretty traumatic. I think I’m just trying to recreate that lost home.”
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:22 AM on January 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

We do not appear to have crafted many design classics, unless slab-like corner sofas in mud-grey velvet are Eames chairs in the making.

I actually think slab-like corner sofas in velvet are going to be a pretty distinctive marker of this era. Dark teal ones especially. (And I like them! They're comfy!)
posted by showbiz_liz at 10:25 AM on January 15, 2021

do you have another organizing principle for stuff to bring home, or is it maximally mixed

Oh, definitely the latter.
posted by fimbulvetr at 10:26 AM on January 15, 2021

Decorating your house to a specific decade's aesthetic is a really fun idea/project as well as being environmentally responsible (i.e., you're buying used stuff and making it last as long as you can) and even cost efficient, and I really enjoyed seeing all these people's houses. They've decorated them with such style and wit.

I like how many of the people are basically saying, no no I wouldn't want to LIVE back then, they had values I don't share, I just love the style.

They definitely really get the distinction between loving a period's aesthetic and loving the actual era. Some people don't -- they don't know much about history, and/or idealize it -- and it's aggravatingly clueless or delusional. Remember that post about the woman who says she loves the Victorian era so much, she "decided to live there"? But that post, and the resulting thread, really clarified something for me. I'd always felt a bit out of step with my own time because I liked old things so much, but it made me realize that being able to pick and choose styles and conveniences from different eras -- to say nothing of having access to eBay, Craig's List, Etsy, or even being able to shop secondhand without shame -- is totally modern.

My house was built in 1912, and I love Art Nouveau, but even if I could afford an entire houseful of genuine Art Nouveau antiques, I don't think I would want to do that. It would be too impractical, would mix poorly with modern appliances and other conveniences, and I'd feel like I was living in a museum. What I've done instead is just try to evoke the Art Nouveau aesthetic in my choice of colour and line and pattern and theme, and then I have a house that feels somewhat Art Nouveau, and is a good setting for the few Art Nouveau/Edwardian era things I do have, and yet has a modern level of practicality, comfort, and lightness to it (see for example my hallways and guest room). My house is a mix of thrift shop/curb side finds, things that I made/renovated myself, and things my woodworker Dad made for me, with very few new things, and I'm pretty happy with that.
posted by orange swan at 10:43 AM on January 15, 2021 [19 favorites]

Oooh, pretty. I could never be one of those people into vintage clothing as a lifestyle, I am FAR too fond of soft stretchy things, but I love looking at these photos. We bought a 1952 house that was in pretty mediocre condition in late 2019. We can't afford to change how the house is shaped, but we figured we might as well respect the original aesthetic of the house as we start undoing the terrible decisions made by at least the last decade or so of owners (flat beige walls throughout, ill-advised and poorly-installed crown molding, contractor-grade bland renovations of the bathroom and kitchen that were clearly done by someone who would never have to use those rooms, boarded-up windows in our living room), and since we dig mid-century modern aesthetics anyway, it's been fun to occasionally make something loudly colored the way it probably was by its first residents.

I'm not very rigid about it, and I think the general vibe is a mix of late-50s/early-60s rather than 1952 precisely, but it's fun. We recently put up a knockoff Hang-it-all (I am not paying $300 for a coat rack, jeebus), and our big expensive dream is to someday paint the outside of our house a very loud sherbet color. We have rooms so far that are pink, teal, purple, and orange, and we have plans for a mint green room too. We have neighbors with houses in shades of pink, canary yellow, pistachio, bright blue and periwinkle, and I look forward to joining their ranks! More short-term, I can't wait until it's safe to have someone come over and measure for custom window coverings, because right now most of our windows have been covered by temporary sticky paper shades for over a year, between being broke and the pandemic. I am looking forward to being less cold in the winter and to having more colors!
posted by bowtiesarecool at 10:45 AM on January 15, 2021 [2 favorites]

I don't want to live in the 60s and don't want to go back to the 2000s but I kinda wouldn't mind living in the 60s vision of the 2000s.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 10:52 AM on January 15, 2021 [4 favorites]

Living in the 60s vision of the 2000s (Good Parts version) would also allow for soft stretchy knitwear all day!
posted by clew at 11:16 AM on January 15, 2021 [3 favorites]

I would have liked to have seen more kitchens. Every time I see a mid century house that still has its original kitchen, I get all drooly... but I know I could never cook in one, so my covetousness gets stopped in it’s tracks every time.

Was there ever an FPP about the Ebony Test Kitchen ?
posted by Mchelly at 11:26 AM on January 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

I’ve been in at least one really usable mid century kitchen - friends with two full time jobs and two kids and a bunch of allergies cooked all their meals there. The only problem was that it had been wildly cutting-edge in its day and mechanicals that wore out were hard to replace. Fortunately they were taking a long time to wear out. The range elements slid out over a countertop when you needed them, kind of thing. (All steel and still smooth as anything, and enameled ballet pink.)
posted by clew at 11:49 AM on January 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

I kinda wouldn't mind living in the 60s vision of the 2000s.

I wouldn't even mind living in the 2000s vision of the 60s.
posted by a Rrose by any other name at 11:57 AM on January 15, 2021 [3 favorites]

Orange swan, I love your guest room and hallway renos! Your house is gorgeous and looks like a cozy, comfortable home.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:54 PM on January 15, 2021 [2 favorites]

We have he original mid century kitchen (not the fridge and not replaced with a smegg though that is the right vibe) from our 1956 two flat. I had to find someone who specialized in the oven and stove top to convert some part if the gas line but it works well. We bought the house from the original owner and he was an engineer of some kind. But only one person can work in it. The kitchen matches the bathrooms (pink and brown). It has been fun to match it with other knick knacks and colors. We went early 50s yellow and green and upstairs they went 60s turquoise. People who visited pre-covid either love it or hate it.
posted by mutt.cyberspace at 1:35 PM on January 15, 2021 [3 favorites]

Has anyone seen 1980s as retro yet? Is it not quite old enough? I guess the wacky Milan furniture has made some little chirps, but surely someone is ready for unironic florals and a slightly different set of comfy couches.

(It’s the most obvious intellectual weakness of McMansion Hell that she’s so eager to mock purely decorative choices that are no more or less energy-consuming or intrinsically worthy than anything currently fashionable.)
posted by clew at 1:37 PM on January 15, 2021

Orange swan I love seeing your renos! there are so many details in your house that are very similar to mine, they must have been built at around the same time. Mine's been reno'd in a bunch of weird ways too, it's going to be years before I really get it re-done in the way I want it. Though, I'm also on the fimbulvetr decor plan, and decorating with a mishmash of attractive stuff from whenever is a lot easier than trying to be period-appropriate.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 2:50 PM on January 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

I can almost relate to this as someone who has a Pinterest board I call Ahab's House that basically is colonial Shaker austerity. I fantasize about having a coastal New England vacation seaside shack with that aesthetic (and regularly check Airbnb to see if anyone actually has a place like this I can rent), but I require too many soft surfaces to live in Ahab's House full time. In real life I live in a 1930s cottage and the closest I come to decorating it with period stuff is buying a lot of weird WPA tour guides.
posted by mostly vowels at 3:20 PM on January 15, 2021 [2 favorites]

Just leaving this real estate listing here.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 3:32 PM on January 15, 2021 [12 favorites]

Oh man. That listing is quite something. But I don’t know if I could ever set foot in a place with 45 year old shag rug in the kitchen, dining area, bathroom, and laundry room.

The ad copy is EPIC...

You're traveling through another dimension, into a home of design, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous home whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Sherbondy Zone.
posted by fimbulvetr at 3:49 PM on January 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

I loved his article and all of the links in the post. Orange Swan, your love for your house shines so brightly! You are the best gift your house has ever had.

And I literally gasped at the rainbow shag carpeting in that listing, 1970s Antihero. I had been amazed by the rainbow of colors represented in each room, but that basement multi-color design incorporated all the colors in one room! My parents still have brown and orange speckled shag in a couple upstairs bedrooms of their 1979 home, and it has looked like sad, squished carpet since I was a kid. Nothing like that spectrum of color in Indiana.

My 1953 rambler has had almost all of its historical detail stripped out via various renovations over the decade, so it’s probably fitting that the furnishings are about 50% IKEA, 40% Craigslist, 10% Room & Board outlet.
posted by Maarika at 6:01 PM on January 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

I really like all of those styles, except for the 50s one. That aesthetic really rubs me the wrong way, somehow. Too loud, too sharp, too...something.

That 70s house is fabulous.
posted by zardoz at 6:47 PM on January 15, 2021

I am nearly 50 and just this year bought actual matching end tables for my bed rather than repurposing a little random tabkr+a wooden tv tray.

My aesthetic is "random shit I bought out of necessity or whim."

But I salute those who have this kind of dedication.
posted by emjaybee at 7:30 PM on January 15, 2021 [3 favorites]

Of all the people in the Guardian article, the only one who doesn’t seem to me like she’s wearing a costume and living in a museum is the 70s woman. I wonder if that’s because I was born in 1967.
posted by scratch at 7:54 PM on January 15, 2021

Why stop at the 70s? All it takes is a torchiere floor lamp, stripped hardwood, a coat of flat white wall paint, a big Patrick Nagel print and you're living in the 80s (or at least the Toronto version thereof).
posted by bonobothegreat at 8:40 PM on January 15, 2021

Oh man. That listing is quite something. But I don’t know if I could ever set foot in a place with 45 year old shag rug in the kitchen, dining area, bathroom, and laundry room.

In the early 90s I lived in an apartment in San Francisco with a ditzy artist couple who decided one day that it would be a good idea to put a carpet in the kitchen.

I don't even have a rug in my dining room, in case somebody spills something...
posted by Philofacts at 10:17 PM on January 15, 2021

I kind of like the 60s house. I really want that parrot mug on the top shelf in his Tiki bar.
posted by Avalow at 10:59 PM on January 15, 2021

Was there ever an FPP about the Ebony Test Kitchen ?

Yes. The Black Media Mogul Who Understood the Power of Design
posted by quoththeraven at 11:50 PM on January 15, 2021 [1 favorite]

The carpeted 1970s house is so determined to be novel in every way and so flimsy looking in material. Although, if it’s still standing, it must be more stable and less leaky than the similar houses I remember in the 1980s. (The front stairs - the fancy lack of stringers, but it sure looks like they aren’t all the same size, and is there an overhang only on the top step? Do not want.)
posted by clew at 1:03 PM on January 16, 2021

Here's where I'm going to put in a word for The Museum of the Home (formerly the Geffrye Museum) in London. They have beautiful recreated period rooms from medieval times to today, and the latest room was the 70s, but then I had visited in the early 2000s. They may have changed some of those rooms up since. They're closed right now, of course, and they're taking this time to refresh the rooms for when they re-open (hopefully later on this year).
posted by droplet at 1:55 PM on January 16, 2021 [3 favorites]

What a fantastic article!

I chortled out loud at this quote from the owner of the 1940s-style house:

My kids are always complaining about the toaster. They go: “Mum, why is the toaster in the cupboard?” I say: “Because that’s the way I like it!” But they don’t mind, really, because they know it makes me happy.

Julie, they’re being polite. Get your kids a real toaster.

Also, orange swan, your house renovation is amazing! TWENTY-NINE THOUSAND STITCHES in that cross-stitch is definitely worth acknowledging daily. I join Trilby in wholeheartedly saluting your tremendous renovation efforts.
posted by cheapskatebay at 4:11 PM on January 16, 2021 [1 favorite]

(The front stairs - the fancy lack of stringers, but it sure looks like they aren’t all the same size, and is there an overhang only on the top step? Do not want.)

They aren't. The top one is only 3 wide, the first 7. What psycho designed that?
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:31 AM on January 18, 2021

The houses I remember failing in the 1980s were built either by architects with no construction experience, or builders with no architectural training. The former tended to these triangle things, the latter to domes.
posted by clew at 1:16 PM on January 18, 2021