I remember that a lot of the “convo pit” sunken living area was driven by the Beatles movie, “Help!” which featured the Fab Four in their groovy London digs which featured a pit for each of the lads. A lot of our Southern California neighbors had their houses remodeled with these silly spaces.
My mom sponge painted our entire living room and front hallway and every year she swears that she’s going to paint over it but it’s been over 20 years and that paint is still there
Please don’t forget the 1990’s rooster kitchen. I think everyone has an aunt or grandma that had a rooster kitchen. The cookie jar, decorative plates, artwork - everything roosters. 🐓
I had rooster pajamas. My husband bought them for me! We laughed every time I wore them, especially running through a hotel hall for ice in my rooster pajamas. They stay in the draw with the ducky pajamas 🤣
I stand by the idea that people who want barn doors don’t actually want barn doors, they want pocket doors. Anywhere you might put a barn door, a pocket door would be far superior. The only problem being pocket doors are not easy to install nor are is there always space inside the wall where you need it. Hell, a roll top desk style door might even make more sense than a barn door.
All a barn door can do for me is point me towards a real door or a pocket door. I came to hate barn doors after a week in a beach vacation rental fighting a barn/bathroom door. Light seeps around the side, smells and sounds escape, it’s noisy at night sliding along the track IF it stays on the track. That cured me of my HGTV “barn doors are so cool looking” ideation for good.
I would sooner have no door 🚪 than barn doors…pocket sliding doors are so much more cohesive, and lets be real a lot can be in a name…barn door for barns only people. Pocket doors maximise space and functionality on both sides of a the separate spaces - eg bathroom and hallway - no swinging in or out required.
Or a noren. Japanese restaurant staple, a rod with a semi-sheer to opaque curtain that goes down 1/3-1/2 of the doorway (depends on the use case and ergonomics). Blocks line of sight, allows light and sound to pass through, and passage is hands-free. You don't have to use Japanese motifs, you can try it out with a spring-loaded curtain rod, and you can swap out the curtain if your needs change.
One of my best friends had a "conversation pit" in her living room, it ended up becoming our de facto play area, and we rarely ventured out of it except to go eat. I'm sure her parents appreciated that the mess was confined in that area, yet they could still easily supervise us :)
Early 80s: waterbeds with bookshelf headboards, ferns, and brass. Late 80s: country kitsch, ducks with ribbons around their neck everywhere, even on wallpaper borders.
For most of the kitchen-in-the-house history, no woman wanted all of her guests watching the creative mess in the kitchen. As we moved toward more convenient-prepared food, the "mess" of scratch cooking subsided, and we turned our attention to wanting to be part of the party while we were preparing the meal. Also, the "breakfast bar" became where the kids ate, versus a family meal around a dining room table. Interesting take, critterkarma, about the pandemic teaching us that we really thrive better with areas in our houses where we can have a modicum of privacy.
I'm so glad this is disapearing! This was just a trick to sell smaller homes for the same amount of money, because seperate rooms are more expensive in land and construction. Honestly, who wants to listen to the kitchen aid while watching TV? The kitchen with its appliances need their own room.
I love open plan concepts. My husband and I bought a home and loved the open concept downstairs. I grew up in a house that was squared off downstairs and it felt so tight and small because the den/kitchen/living room were all separate rooms and it ruined the flow and everyone always had to cram into one room or would eventually separate into 2. I love hosting and I love the flow of an open concept.
Thank god I didn't buy an open plan house back in the day. That whole....keep an eye on the kids while you prepare dinner thing is hardly a valid reason to design a house around.
Color-wise, for me, the 80s was all about bright neons for the cool kids, pastels for the rich and fancy, black lacquer/brass/mirrors for the rich adjacent, and the ubiquitous burgandy and grey for all things business. Patterns were exclusively geometric or tiny, tiny florals. Then the 90s was all about huge floral prints and jewel tones. Everything in business was about Hunter Green.
@LiveLaughLove1232 Ugh. Yes. Our carpet in the living room, foyer, dining room, stairs, AND upstairs hallway was entirely that God-awful dusty rose. The bedrooms were dusty blue, navy, I forget what in my parents' room, and the "family room" was off-white. I love carpet but omg that was such an atrocious color.
Another thought - the style of your home can dictate the style of your decorating. I lived in a very traditional colonial style home, although I prefer a modern slant as my style, going with traditional furniture and decor was the right way to go. I didn’t want to fight my house style, I’ve seen it turn out disastrously in other homes. Now I live a coastal home and my softened modern look is just perfect and to my liking!
I totally agree. You shouldn’t try to turn your home into something it’s not. I feel like it’s important to honour the architecture of your home, instead of fighting it.
I couldn't agree with you more I like mid century modern queen and Edwardian you've got to go with the side of the house and key pieces of friend because otherwise it's one thing laughing at the other
Agreed AND I find that not everything has to be exactly matching the house (these poor Florida style houses could use a lot more Italian, French, Spanish influence than all the "coastal" beige and blue furniture IMO). I don't want to live in a reproduction of a time period or something that feels like a museum. I have some pieces of furniture and all of my art that moves wherever I move. I think that makes your home interesting, personal, and "yours".
I just bought a house so this falls in with my thinking. I have a 70s house with standard sized ceilings. The palace of Versailles stuff you see where people do the ceiling paneling wouldn't look good. A conversation pit would look dumb. Fairly traditional or modern looking decor would be great though
I feel bad for anyone in newer housing, or builder basic styles. There IS no particular style. It’s just a short, small, box for bedrooms and a large, boring, open concept living room/kitchen area with one sliding glass door to the patio if you’re lucky! You literally have to just style your place from Home Goods or Target. Anything else would look out of place.
What I remember from the 90s (that I don’t see talked about a lot), is all the busy floral wall paper and textile patterns. Laura Ashley and Waverly patterns were everywhere around the middle of the decade, with the matching swooped window valences and straight pleated curtains. Besides the mauve, light teal, and peach walls was a lot of Hunter green and a weird burgundy/cranberry color, too (just darker cousins if maybe and teal, tbh). I remember going from a white, 80s canopy bed to a super-traditional and heavy cherry bedroom set (probably a precursor to the heavy wood details in Tuscan kitchens a decade later, tbh). My mom was really into sleigh beds, too, for some reason. All that heavy wood furniture had to come from the same set, and I don’t remember people choosing adventurous color palettes (it was very matchy-matchy without quite going full color blocking, imo, but that could’ve been just my house). I see a lot of this coming back in grand millennial and adjacent trends, but at least the floral wallpapers now are more William Morris than whatever the 90s had going on.
My mom. Loved all the big florals and “royal colors”. To this day when I see peony’s or pale pink roses in a fabric I remember my mom. She made the most beautiful drapes with all the jabots and swags.
@@dimplesd8931 as a tween, I thought those swag curtains were the most elegant thing. I had one in a dusty purple pattern (it looked like the pattern you would see on a Victorian carpet bag). At the time, I really wanted the creeping ivy and wisteria pattern though. Thanks for your comment! I was beginning to think I hallucinated the whole thing, because I remember it being everywhere, and a lot of youngs talk about 90s design as if it was all a vaporwave fever-dream (it wasn’t)
Yes! I feel like the first half of the 90's was the dusty rose/apricot/teal and the second half was the same colors but in more of a jewel-tone. (Heck, my mom remarried in 1996 and their colors were hunter green and burgundy.) We also had the sleigh beds and swag curtains. The dishes were white with green ivy borders and there was a lot of ivy themes in the kitchen during that second half of the 90's.
My grandparents were anti-fashion and pretty contrarian, but had good taste. In the 1950s everyone was getting rid of their wind up wooden wall clocks and buying electric, as you'd expect in the MCM trend. They bought up all kinds of beautiful antique calendar clocks and grandfather clocks from the 1800s for $5 or $10. I try to figure out what are those things that people are getting rid of that will be worth a fortune someday.
I live in New England and you really can’t go wrong with antiques. They’re everywhere, affordable, and rustic. I also thing this generation is more interested in recycling and not being so commercial and buying new decor all the time.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the traditional trend in the 60's of Colonial and Early American wood furniture. The upscale furniture stores carried these lines. I grew up with maple and the quality was impeccably constructed. I inherited it eventually from my parents and I love it.
90s had a lot of hunter green and burgundy. (On the tail of the rise of Polo). Tribal and southwestern prints. Kilim rugs were everywhere Also, missing that Art Nouveau is emerging. Seeing tons of swirls, animal theme furniture/decor, and William Morris wallpaper. SW Clary Sage and Alabaster seem to be the modern green/cream combo
I think the late 70s into the 80s really saw the split between “trendy” style and the everyday average home style. You hit on it a little bit with the reference to the stranger things house. In reality the 80s was a very hodgepodge time for most people, as the style trends were not really accessible to most people, and there hadn’t been the explosion of new homes yet , so really up until the mid 90s things looked really different than the “style” we look back on. We all remember items or toys from the 80s and 90s but i can almost guarantee that the majority lived in homes that looked very similar to the stranger things house the majority of the time . 😊
When I was growing up in England in the 60’s, we moved into a new house. My parents decorated our home in a Scandinavian style with Teak furniture. This was not a veneer but solid Teak, very mid century modern! My parents kept this Teak furnishing for years. I wish I had the furniture now! ❤🤗🇨🇦
Nick you pretty well covered my whole life. I have seen all these styles come and go, being born in the 50's, and have pieces of my parents Bauhaus and mid century modern furniture. 80's & 90's were horrible. I dearly hope the barn door goes back to the barn where it belongs.
Same here. You’re totally right-80s and 90s were bleak. I was an architecture student in the early eighties and it was really difficult because interior design seemed bereft of real direction and originality.
I get what you're saying about the barn door. I like the concept, probably for the texture, but it takes up too much wall space. Think sliding glass doors or some closet doors. We had dark wall paneling in my brother's room and in what we called the O.G. after my parents added on a two car garage. Living in New England, a huge design style was (and still is to a certain extent) Colonial/Americana. Navy, Turkey Red, Hunter or Goose s*** Green, Cream, field stone, dark wood, and some gold/brass accents. The wall paper in the house my parents bought in the mid 60s was navy with eagles and circles of stars and it was everywhere. They kept it in the family room but removed it and repainted the kitchen, the upstairs hallway and stairs, and heaven knows where else. I was four when they bought the house. They finally replaced the wallpaper in the 80s with another different pattern. Also, I know Nick has said he's not a big DIYer, but something you saw EVERYWHERE in the 90s and going into the 00s was faux finishes. I thought he'd mention it with the whole Tuscany thing but if Nick did, I missed it. Whitewashing, faux stone, faux marble, Trompe L'oeil, that was all right next to the decoupage. I know, whitewash is a real technique, along with milk paint and chalk paint.
@@Traci_Websinger There are also those Japanese sliding panels (which I think are a brilliant concept functionally) as an alternative. Yes about the New England esthetic! I mentioned in my separate comment.
Exactly me. But I'm actually over the MCM now because of all that. I mean I like a lot of it, but I don't want it in my home anymore. So now I'm attracted to Art Nouveau/Arts and Crafts and Art Deco.
I don't know. I was a teenager in the 80's and never missed an opportunity to be creative and original in my bedroom's decor and even in the house as I helped my mother decorate and cannot recall a dull decoration from that time and many of my friends also where very much into creative decor. Same in the 90's. When I went out I saw a lot of super cool, groovy post modern decor at public places, which I found rather novel and original.
The 90s was the heyday of the country blue kitchen with geese motif. Geese motif extended to the porch with an artificial goose that may or may not have had a wardrobe of outfits for different seasons and holidays. In other words it was a low point for design.
To the '70s, let's add the ubiquitous chrome and glass (and "smoked" glass!) furniture and accessories: tables, étagères, lamps, etc. and walls covered in "marbled" mirror tiles. Also worth mentioning were the massive redwood burl coffee tables, and cargo hatch tables.
Early 80's went from avocado, mustard and perhaps orange everything to chocolate brown, white and chrome. 2000's had Tuscany and everybody's decorated their kitchen counters with sealed oil bottles of every shape containing veggies. Colors were brick red, mustard and olive green.
The first stand mixer I learned to make cakes with as a kid was avocado colour. My mom said her mom had it, so I'm not sure if it was 70s or 80s. My 70s kitchen sink is mustard, and I'm not really a fan, but hey, the carpet is gone, and I'm happy (never carpet a bathroom, even just half of the floor...). I love pastels, and I'm really hoping that's where things go. My kitchen needs work, it's not cohesive, it's very small, and the cupboards don't fit right, so I'm not sure what to do there. I grew up with things being so warm toned or dark blue with warm tones over it. so I think I'm ready to try something else. Although the veggie thing gave me an idea. Maybe I can use my pickles as decor! I pickled some rainbow carrots I grew, and they're pretty, sticks of coloured carrot in a jar, but I have them in a cold room right now.
In Australia, the most influential colour of the late 90/00’s was LIME GREEN! Particularly in furniture/upholstery/homewares. And the ubiquitous “feature wall” which was a random colour and frequently every room had a different coloured feature wall in a different textured finish (sponge paint, suede, heavy brush strokes etc.)
In the 90's? Really? I remember lime green being very popular in the 70s, lots of lime green formica countertops, or for the less adventurous, lime green canisters lined up on more conventional countertops. Maybe we were a little backwards in the rural areas, but I can't think of any new builds or renos among my family and friends where they installed lime green, more likely pulling it out of their older homes.🤷♀️
I was born in 1970, so grew up with all that color. I wasn’t into the neon as a teen in the 80’s, but still enjoyed all the color. The Southwestern/dusty colors from the 90’s moving into the neutrals and grays of the present has been rough on my brain. The house I own still has its old avocado green countertops and they make me happy. They also match my Pyrex. lol
Two more important trends: 1. DIY home renovation inspired by the 1979 launch of "This Old House" on PBS 2. Southwest-themed decor inspired by the 1993 book "Santa Fe Style"
I was born in 1950 so I’ve lived through all of these. One memory: in 2001 we bought a house built in the 1970s. The day we closed on it I walked in and said “what have I done!” When walked in a week later my husband had ripped out all of the cheap wood laminate paneling and I breathed a sigh of relief.
My college had "The Purple Pit" in the main foyer in the early 80s. Iconic! Wood paneling became so popular bc it was inexpensive, and you could skip the drywall/fill/sand/fill/sand/paint stage. A finished basement in no time!
My elementary school had an orange kiva (pit) in the 70s, along with orange plastic chairs and bright yellow "tote trays" we used to carry our papers and stuff and that slid under the desk. The building was brutalist concrete with hardly any windows and an open floor plan. The whole thing was absolutely dreadful and depressing, especially since I'd come from a school full of smaller rooms and sunlight. 😥
We had olive colored wood paneling in our basement. My Dad wanted to make a tiki bar with fake palm trees and real sand, but unfortunately, my Mom was not having sand in the basement with 5 kids...
My dad was a builder in the U.K. and he always used to say “the 80s, where style and quality came to die.” He also said that the tv show ‘the house dr’ in the 90s removed all colour out of a home so people cared more about the neutralised saleability of their home than giving it personality.
I’m 49 so my first foray into designing for myself (without Bon Jovi posters) was in the mid-90s. My 90s designs were brass cherubs EVERYWHERE, navy blue, hunter green, and burgundy in plaids and houndstooths, and the sunflowers on everything in my kitchen. Wrought iron swirly sconces for ball candles. And every room had a tea light candle potpourri double boiler with spiced apple or peach potpourri warming in it. And Party-Lite candle holders! 😂
I remember growing up in the 70’s, we had bright red textured wall-to-wall carpet and wood paneled walls. Guests were often surprised by the carpet color. What I wish I still had was our round breakfast table with 3-legged chairs, curved on the back and fit flush into the table. The curve back of the chairs looked a lot like Nick’s dining table. Just imagine if only one chair leg was in front and the seat was a rounded triangle.
The biggest upside of living through all of those awful design trends was you could furnish your house with beautiful, high quality antiques on a pretty modest budget.
SO true. Most people were ignoring these beautifully made, classical pieces during all the trends, which was great for those of us who had always loved antiques. Score.
Was? They are still practically giving away beautiful, well made pieces and I have snapped up a few. Love it. Tragically, many people buy stunning pieces like mahogany dressers in great condition and paint them white, then artificially distress them. UUUUUUGGGGG!!! It is vandalism.
Thank you for introducing me to the concept of a “Tuscan Kitchen” as a child at the time, I distinctly remember for a while my mother would not shut up about a granite countertop 😂
Does anyone else remember on Trading Spaces that one designer who always, like, glued straw or feathers to the wall or some nonsense like that?? I’d watch a super cut of that trend 😅
That was Hildi. Her nickname on set was Sheetrock....which was a reference to the homeowners having to rip the walls out after she was done with the design.
hi Nick, topic suggestion: when adding color to walls, how do you figure out what walls to paint? you've mentioned before you don't like accent walls, and neither do i. but then do you paint ALL the walls the same color? what do you do in an open space concept? can you choose 2-3 colors (including ceiling) or just the whole box goes the same color? i have a hard time with this and haven't found anyone talking about it! help! love your videos 💕
Follow how your lighting hits the wall. You can pick one color and have the paint dept lighten or darken it with tint to give them a depth without adding a dramatic change.
YES! I struggle with this too! Nick has said several times grey is on it's way out but what I love about my whole house in SW Rock Candy is the color shifts through the day. it's really three in one, at some point you can look at my walls and see a white wall, a grey wall or a subtle light blue. That and fear are the only things that stopped me from a navy accent wall. I've been wondering if there are greens or browns that could do the same thing. (but also would a brown be too dingy? Would a green be too minty?)
Great question! My house is all Chantilly lace white, but I plan to do full color in a guest bedroom and a half bathroom, just to create fun little moments. We have colorful furniture and artwork that pop beautifully in the white main parts of the house.
I never thought I would see photos of McDonalds from the 80s. That must be the only great thing inspired by the Memphis Group. I loved swaying on those burger stools as a child and watching the takeaway orders move along a glass encased conveyor belt along the ceilings and I appreciated the McDonalds wall murals. It felt like a museum 😂.
You nailed the 70s, so bravo on that one. I grew up in the 1970s, and started "adulting" in the 80s, so that's kind of my decade. What I remember most about the 1980s was the reemergence of classic English traditional in both home and fashion. Laura Ashley and Ralph Lauren were ubiquitous in closets everywhere (thanks to films like Chariots of Fire and Maurice). And with respect to furnishings, it was all about Chippendale, Sheraton, and Hepplewhite. Throw in Chinese porcelains, oriental rugs, and a bunch of brass accessories, and boom!... the perfect 80s living room.
I am into FRENCH CHATEAU. Which is antique mixed with good modern for an eclectic vibe. Individual pieces from different Eras that all have a similar vibe. I watch a lot of the Chateau renovation videos on You Tube that are just fantastic. The style works for a New York apartment or a beach cottage.
I never understood conversation pits. I have a defined area for conversation, it’s called a ‘room’. Easy to rearrange if desired and no risk of falling into it.
Sounds cool in theory but in practicality, not so much. It gets old having to take a few steps up and down every time you spend time in the living room.
That was a reaction to the formal living rooms of the decades before. The idea was to create a space where people felt free to exchange ideas casually. Conversation pits spawned the modern “sectional” sofa. That being said, they were a terrible idea. Tripping and falling up or down the stairs was a real thing. Furniture placement was a nightmare if you didn’t want a gigantic sectional and because everyone was on a linear sofa, you couldn’t just pull up a chair and start or join a conversation. I’m a 60’s baby but “conversation pits” were in lots of homes in the 70’s-80’s when I was growing up.
Great retrospective Nick! I was a kid in the 70's with my Sears Louis the 14th bedroom set and remember avocado kitchen appliances and olive drab, orange and mustard color schemes. We bought our first house in 1992, traditional style cherry cabinets in the kitchen and lots of burgundy and hunter green! Bought another house in 1998, the advent of honey oak cabinetry. Let me tell you, those builders milked that honey oak for at least 10 years! We've been slowly eliminating every bit of honey oak in the house and am proud to say all that's left are 3 doors on the first floor that need to be replaced. As much as I like the look of my black-stained maple shaker-style cabinets, I probably wouldn't repurchase them because they show every bit of dust and every fingerprint. Loved the video!
I had the Haverty’s furniture, that may have been a SE US store, French provincial bedroom in yellow and white. Our house had all the harvest gold, rust, beige and browns, with matching shag carpet. Looking back at how terrible design was from the 60’s-90’s reminds me how much fun people use to have in their home style before HGTV made us all mid century modern/organic/traditional/whatever they say is next followers. 😂
I moved out and I’m decorating my own space for the first time and I’m definitely wanting to go with more of a traditional style. I have always loved the idea of studying in a space that looks like an ornate vintage library/study. I’m loving the idea of natural colors and materials in my space. I’ve used countless videos from Nick’s channel to figure out my preferred design style and how to decorate. Loving these videos and I’m really excited to incorporate some of his advice into my own home. 😁
Mauve was huge in the 80s. Hunter green and red were the trendy colors in the 90s. Hunter green bedrooms & the red dining room was all the rage and some people still haven't let it go.
Ew, ah, I love Art Deco. Thanks for the heads up re: the Wayfair show. I was born in the 1950s and what I remember as the big trend was “Early American,” I didn’t see much MCM back then and then the next thing I remember was British Invasion and any thing youth oriented or bohemian. The “bohemian” style of British trend setting store, BIBA, was actually the founder’s take on Art Deco. What goes around comes around… Then, as a young adult in the 80s-90s, METROPOLITAN HOME was my design Bible. I still long for that inspiring magazine when everything seemed new and a bit cheeky.
Very cool walk through the decades. In my Italian immigrant family, in Montreal, the 70s were filled with baroque and Louis XV style furniture, and Spanish revival! Lol! and let's not forget the huge wood console tv (with red crushed velvet covering the speakers). I remember the early nineties as having a lot of bleached wood kitchens, and lacquered furniture. What a time!!
Loved this video. I am a baby boomer so have seen many of these trends in furniture and decor. I have to say when I was a little girl my Aunt had a silver Christmas tree with a color wheel that would change colors. I thought it was the most glamorous thing ever. Wow so glad we don’t get stuck in some of the trends!!!!
Fantastic episode, Nick. Conversation pit = bone breaker for toddlers, children, small dogs, the elderly, the drunk....worst idea ever. lol Pine paneling was put in all the brick ranch houses of the late 50s, 60s and early 70s where I live, in the American South.
Was surprised at your characterization of the 80s. The Memphis style was of that decade but didn’t have a lot of effect on home styles. The 80s were the greed is good era. Glam was the aspiration - brass, glass, cream, opulence. Think Alexis Carrington’s home and office on Dynasty 😄
I wasn’t around for the 50s but I do remember my grandparents’ house being full of utility furniture. I really liked it as a child - that stuff was built to last.
I'm old enough to remember all these eras including the 1950s (not my favorite - way too much Danish Modern furniture) and the 60s (groovy). My "practice" husband and I had a wonderful love seat in bright orange and yellow tweed. Loved it. Also, lots of huge posters on walls and things that hung from hooks in the ceilings.
My house is from 1961 and the whole basement is paneled. Also one room upstairs (that one is actually pretty). I painted the paneling in one room in the basement and the texture with color is great!
I loved this episode Nick! I was born in 1966, in Australia… I remember vividly my Mums 1970s bright orange kitchen! Then in the 80s, everything turned peach or apricot! Yuck!! Then in the 1990s she decorated everything with beige and brown, not my fav! 😞 Then I moved out and the late 1990s and early 2000s for me was all about decorating my home with cute craft projects, farmhouse style and stained pine furniture everywhere! Skip to the 2020s and I’m fully into minimalism, simple streamlined furniture, whites, blacks, a bit of timber and a pop of colour with plants and fresh flowers… and that’s it! I hate visual clutter , and I really don’t think I could ever go back to living in a multi coloured home, but I love looking back over the 56 years I’ve been on this planet and all the different designs that have come and gone and come and gone and inspired what ever comes next! I believe Interior design should be individual and suit your personality and life style… go for whatever floats your boat and enjoy your space!
I remember the nineties color palette being burgany, hunter green, black, mauve, and maybe the eighties throwback of country blue. People also loved theme spaces. I've always liked fifties styles. Real MCM furniture is much better than newer MCM.
2:14 - 2:16 😍 I want that house! Btw I have always heard "Formica" pronounced for-MY-cah and didn't know there was another way to say it. I heard it was created as a substitute for the mineral mica, so literally "for mica." But the way Nick says it emphsizes "form" which is such an important concept, so that is very logical.
You are my number one favorite interior design channel Nick💥! I found you last year, just a few months before we moved into our (first) new build home. Which was great because you helped me articulate my vision to others (especially to my partner). We also opted for mixing styles. I’d say our home is mix between modern, industrial and Japandi. And we love it! Even though our style is quite locked in now I’ve grown very fond of you and interior design in general. Thank you for all the education and good laughs over the year. Know that all your hard work is seen and appreciated!! Cheers from the Netherlands🥂
I had one rooster piece in our (real working) farm. I don't know why, but everyone I know dumped their rooster/chicken designs on me. Ugh, I ended up selling them all on ebay! 😅
Simultaneous with mid century modern and atomic in the 50’s was “early American”, highlighted by a cobblers’ bench as a coffee table. Floral prints, plaids in browns and creams in tufted upholstery were dominant, ruffled lamp shades topped lamps. (Mom chose Danish modern instead!)
Damn, you're lucky. My mom was Early American all the way ,baby. Down to the wheat and the roosters and everything was "hard rock maple" mom said. I still have the hutch and a bedframe with nightstands. I spent many a childhood afternoon at Ethan Allen Carriage House as it was called back then.
@@rmonson5002 You're not alone. My mother loved Early American/Colonial. Everything was plaid and ruffled and busy. Our dinnerware was pewter, because she was convinced that's what the pioneers used. Antique butter churns, framed cowboy pictures, wooden cuckoo clocks. All the furniture had those wavy bottom edges with points (facing? Not sure what that's called) that would take the skin off your arm if you tried to reach something under the furniture. I learned to detest that style from a young age 🙂
@@JamieM470 Yes! Mom loved pewter too. She had some "Paul Revere" pewter something or other. And yes, everything was scalloped and ruffled. We even had a maple platform rocker. And a firkin! That's right! I think mom kept the firewood in the firkin. The firkin was actually pretty cool. I wonder what ever happened to that 🤔. Okay, word of the day, "firkin" as in the firkin roosters were everywhere! 😅
I was born in '79 and growing up we had that hideous, cheap wood paneling in all the main spaces of the house. Left me with a lifelong hatred of the look, lol!
I think an eclectic vibe works when u blend what u like from different styles while keeping it simple. I like MSD, art deco, modern farmhouse, boho and antique elements.
Dorney House in Hobart (Tasmania, Australia), built in 1978, is a brilliant example of a home designed around a conversational pit with a fireplace as its focus. It’s open to the public on occasion. Enjoyed the vid.
I feel you very much missed the 80's style sponge and rag painted walls with patterned borders at dado rail height. I remember being so proud of my dusty lilac walls with 10cm floral borders and dusty pink velvety sofa and armchairs. So terrible to think of now, but filled with fantastic memories of my children when they were little 🥰
A few things I remember from the fifties and sixties (I was born in '56): cloth couches being replaced by Naugahyde sofas; cork floors; "knotty pine" wall paneling that was thick, real wood, and far high quality than the thin, cheap, paneling; the introduction of built-in "sound systems", intercom systems, and television cabinets as part of living room and family room design; family heirlooms and real antiques intermixed with the new, modern materials; the use of glass blocks in both bathrooms (shower enclosures, windows) and in entry-ways (glass block privacy screens, or floor-to-ceiling glass block windows); a big jump in popularity of large-leaf houseplants, such as philodendrons and potted fig trees (as opposed to the lacy hanging ferns of the past); a lot of small-format, pastel, tiles in the bathroom, such as pink, mint green, baby blue, yellow, etc. as opposed to the black and white of earlier decades; and the introduction of diaphanous "sheers" as a second panel (let in the light!) rather than just the heavier, winter-weight, drapes of the past.
My mobile military family once had a house with an intercom system. Dad absolutely loved it - he woke us up at 6 by playing music we hated! Nothing like torturing your teenagers. ... Also, I've gone back to sheers, because I love the diffused light.
I was a kid in the 70’s, and our house had the avocado green appliances and with lots of heavy dark wood and velvet furniture. My own room was in grass green, orange, pink, and yellow with big 70’s flowers, frogs, and even an orange plastic mush room lamp. Totally groovy! As an adult I had the white and French blue period in the late ‘80’s and first green and burgundy in the ‘90’s. But I think having grown up then gave me an enduring love for earth tones and natural materials. Still love granite!
Excellent video Nick! I agree that now and in the years to come people will be trying to personalize their spaces more. As you say, due to the influence of social media, design trends have been intense and ubiquitous. I’m looking at you donut vase and pampas grass 😂.
I love that you're always honest.❤ I inherited my childhood home complete with all the furnishings. Since my parents lived there more than 50 years their furnishings reflect multiple styles. Mostly very traditional mahogany furniture mixed with mid century modern mixed with 50s Mamie Eisenhower pink tile 2nd bathroom mixed with 70s rattan in the Florida room. Almost none of it is my style. But I decided to just embrace it. Updated with decor and lighting and now I adore it. The mix imo keeps it interesting and never boring. I even kept the pink tile 2nd bathroom and I love it. Put martinique wallpaper up in it for a Beverly Hills hotel look. It's been fun, rewarding, and challenging to mix "my style" into all the others and make it work. Loved this video review of style through the decades delivered with your oh do appealing gentle snark. ❤
I inherited house and contents. Seriously seventies /eighties decor. But inherited beautiful walnut dining set. Reupholstered the chairs with apple green velveteen that matches my attached living room’s couch. Other beautiful solid wood furniture…simple lines, and a Jenny Lind bed. A lot of people don’t seem to value good furniture anymore. All plastic and chip wood, ending in landfills after a couple of years!
i think a portion of the 80’s, when you talk about pastels, was influenced by “country” style, at least in the US. it was differentiated from “colonial” a horrendous alternative to anything modern in the 60’s, but kind of developed out of it. many decor magazines focused on it. the teal was called celedon and it was greener than a teal. the furniture was golden oak, curtains had ruffles, natural materials and dried flowers were decor. i like your predictions, heading back toward traditional, but that seems a bit boring in shapes, but i do like the re-saturation of color. glam becoming real, i know you love your art deco.
The picture of the lady in front of her fridge & oven.... WOW!! Brings back childhood memories with that advocado green!! That way my mom's favorite color. This was a great video. 💚
What I remember from the '80s and continuing into the '90s was a popularity for antiques and antique knock-offs. I remember rows of antique shops and antique malls that are now long gone. Ladies had collections of Depressionware and antique china displayed in antique looking cabinets. There were folksy braided rugs, old rocking chairs, and a style called 'country' which was sort of like 'modern farmhouse'. The neighbor ladies were proud of their homestiched, framed 'samplers', which they hung above their couch, which also looked quant and old fashioned. Some people called it "Early American". Some of the furniture was called 'Primitive'. The neighbors had a primitive 'Pie Safe' cabinet in the kitchen. The trend may have begun with the American Bicentennial celebration in 1976, but I don't know. And it wasn't for everyone, of course, but the look was popular.
Great video Nick! I love to look at historical design. I wish that colour would come back, like in the 50's through 80's. We had to house shop recently and EVERYTHING is grey or beige, even the flooring is grey. I think colour can be done without having to be overwhelming, at least those decades were unique. Nothing unique has happened since the 80s. Keep up the great work! Love from Memphis!
I remember when my mom bought a lime green sofa to replace her old autumn floral print early American one! But the autumn floral chair stayed on and on. I bought a few antiques for my bedroom, still available in thrift stores. She started antique painting 🧐 in colors. It was a mish mash but comfortable to sit on. No wonder I went Japanese.
I remember French Provincial furniture in the late 50s. In the 60s Early American was popular. Antiques and Country came into vogue with folk art and that became ad nauseum. By the way, here in the States we pronounce formica as for-Mic-a.
We redid our kitchen in the early/mid 90s. We pulled out a 60s green kitchen with a floating glass drink cabinet over a small peninsula and replaced it with a peach kitchen with brown appliaces and fruit basket tiles behind the stove top. Very one trend both times. Our bathroom we kept. It was avocado with cute mosaics on the floor. We built a second story with a new bathroom and had a peachy cream vanity and bath and raspberry tilea!
Excellent video. It's always good to understand history and interior design is no exception! I cannot tell you how hard a flashback I had when those 80s McDonald's with burger stools and indoor faux trees popped up!! Oh, the memories. Those were so cool back then. (But don't think we need a reprise lol.)
Swedish style is so much more than the minimalistic Scandi. Earthy colours, and (Morris) wallpaper are also bery popular. Lots of green panelling and kitchens right now.
One thing you didn’t mention about the 70’s…I don’t know if this was just regional, but I remember there being a “gothic revival” thing going on where there was a lot of gothic arches and fleur de lis in decoration. Even my first house when I bought it in 2004 still had a fleur de lis pendant lantern in the foyer. If you look up “glenwood theater sign, Kansas” this is my favorite example.
I don't see any fleurs de lis on that sign, but a heraldry shield, but they all go together with the Gothic. It's interesting that there's also a space age/atomic star on there, too! 😄
That olive green kitchen with olive appliances gave me bad flashbacks to moving into our house in south Florida when I was in kindergarten. All the appliances were that green, the wallpaper had mustard and olive sawgrass patterning with a bit of shimmer, and we had a drop ceiling light - panels of fluorescents in this big square in the center of the kitchen. Lime and avocado green booth seat kitchen table that was like a McDonald's booth seat, and mustard-colored linoleum. I was six, and I remember this kitchen. It was the first room in the house my parents renovated, because they couldn't stand it. The olive-toned faux-wood paneling in the den lasted longer - until my dad found a way to paint it over in a country white, and my mom got her country-blue trim as well. It was a hideous holdover from the 70s. Trading Spaces was TLC's version of Britain's show Changing Rooms. We watched that on BBCAmerica before Trading Spaces was a thing, and wow, was it an experience. That whole weekend DIY remodel is very 2000s for me, even if we never did it ourselves.
I kind of want to go ultra utilitarian chic. Space efficiency rocks. Show me where tech meets design. Feels like I'm refreshed and ready for a new reno on this ancient home. We need a new Bauhaus that incorporates new tech.
The house I grew up in was ‘modern’ but I believe the influence was from Japanese design: simplicity, natural wood beams, large windows to connect the human with nature. Even now I need windows and views when I’m indoors to give my eye a rest and promote well being. Regarding the 2020’s I see houses for sale really defaulting to the all white everywhere-I guess it’s to make it a blank slate. But it seems to be deciding to choose no style. Another trend I would hope for incorporates reuse, vintage and even beautiful older antiques for a ‘green’ alternative.
I think all-white probably does make it easier to sell the house. Easier to paint. and it allows the buyer to impose their style on their new home. I agree on the reuse. Young people are more eco-conscious, I think, than old fogeys like me; plus, thrifting and shopping in your parents' house are great for the budget. If traditional styles and real wood are indeed making a comeback, then I hope some of the beautiful old furniture of yesteryear will find loving homes.
I'm in a 1920's 'Queenslander' - transoms above every door, fretwork arches separating kitchen from diningroom... i live coastal and remote rural so have an eclectic boho/scandi/coastal fusion.. 1920's white mahogany dining table, ornate seagrass woven high backed chairs with designer fabrics mixed as upholstery on the seats... apothecary 1020's curio cabinet, deep piled jute woven rigs on polished floors, pale walls to bounce light, harlequin glass casement windows- original to the house- an 80's off white laminate kitchen that strangely works... an original 1920's green cast iron bath and pedestal sink that works in the bathroom with a jungle of plants and the harlequin glass windows.. Function over form, and design styles that offer comfort, relaxed and easy living vibes. A place you can stretch your legs out and drift along in conversation.
I was born in 1951 and have lived through all those fashion trends, even had an avocado green kitchen in the '80s (I loved the rust-avocado-gold palette). Shag rugs were the worst - there was absolutely no way to keep them clean, seriously. My living room has evolved from blues to neutrals with color accents. Nowadays, I am soooo happy to see the Target insipid-gold/aqua/whatever color scheme go away. And dark granite kitchen counters - yuck. Not a fan of all the gray appliances - if you can't stick a magnet on your fridge, what is the point? Boho, now, was fun, and my bedroom today is a little boho - still love macrame and textured handcrafted accents like it. Currently painting my 1985 brown paneling in the family room an antique white, keeping the dark trim. The bottom line is, make your house beautiful to you and a place that makes you happy, trend or no trend!
A 70’s child here my parents allowed me to choose the paint colour for my bedroom. I chose bright orange wall paint with bright orange gloss paint, and it got painted that colour! I don’t know what my parents were thinking to allow me to do that especially when my mum used to work in a shop that sold paint and wallpaper before I was born.
All I remember of furniture design in the 80s was plaid furniture sets and a faux French county aesthetic. Lots and lots of rooster themed kitchen towels.
In the 90s my mom went for that ice blue and rose/mauve colors. She had the floral, pinstriped sofa... and lots of OAK. I hate oak to this day. The early 00s remind me of taupe walls with crisp white baseboards/trim... 2010s and I think "accent wall" everyone had one. These days my mom rides the line between farmhouse and mission, but they built on 5 acres in PNW, so it's at least appropriate with goats and chickens running around...😂
I was coming to mention the dusty blue variant of the desaturated trend! I too grew up with it and also cannot stand oak to this day. I see oak and am instantly take. Back to the 90s with the country style, chintz floral fabrics, frills, and “Victorian crafts” (aka dried flowers glued to straw hats, wreaths, & band boxes), all in the dusty rose, blue, peach, and SEAFOAM. Because of course what Nick was calling “dusty teal” was known as seafoam. 🤢 wretched palette. Bought our condo in 2010, moved in to dusty rose carpets and curtains in the bedroom. 😖
The 70’s style is really appealing to me, even though I’m an 80’s/90’s kid. I love all the earth tones and especially green. My current style could probably fall under the Boho umbrella but I add a lot of my interests into the mix.
I adore Nicks constant critiques of wayfair, and then wayfair sponsoring him. Even they know he’s right!
I love when brands don’t take it all too seriously!
He needs the funding to be a hater 😂
@@Nick_Lewis Just be sure to spell their name right!
Ha! I was thinking... "Wayfair????"
@@Nick_Lewismatches your personality! 😂
Love a convo pit. Like a boring indoor pool with no upkeep and less drowning.
Haha! Unless you're drowning in cocktails!
Imagine walking in the dark to get a glass of water, falling, breaking a leg, and being stranded in your conversation pit
I remember that a lot of the “convo pit” sunken living area was driven by the Beatles movie, “Help!” which featured the Fab Four in their groovy London digs which featured a pit for each of the lads. A lot of
our Southern California neighbors had their houses remodeled with these silly spaces.
@@rmonson5002 or drowning in boredom if the person you are conversing with is boring.
They were new when I was looking for my first home. All I could think about was having to vaccuum that orange shag carpet seating. Nope.
Can't talk about '80s and '90s design without talking about stencil borders ('80s) and rag/sponge painting (90s)!
My mom sponge painted our entire living room and front hallway and every year she swears that she’s going to paint over it but it’s been over 20 years and that paint is still there
And in fashion, puffy splatter painted sweatshirts. 😂
Please don’t forget the 1990’s rooster kitchen. I think everyone has an aunt or grandma that had a rooster kitchen. The cookie jar, decorative plates, artwork - everything roosters. 🐓
Hi Dear🌹
How are you doing?
This was 100% my grandma. My grandpa is now trying to give me the bajillion rooster items in his house 😭🐓
@@pokelover02 Hahaha! I needed a laugh...
Is this their golden pineapple
I had rooster pajamas. My husband bought them for me! We laughed every time I wore them, especially running through a hotel hall for ice in my rooster pajamas. They stay in the draw with the ducky pajamas 🤣
I stand by the idea that people who want barn doors don’t actually want barn doors, they want pocket doors. Anywhere you might put a barn door, a pocket door would be far superior. The only problem being pocket doors are not easy to install nor are is there always space inside the wall where you need it.
Hell, a roll top desk style door might even make more sense than a barn door.
Yes many had to settle for barn doors because of no other real choice.
Barn doors aren’t happy unless they’re constantly off their tracks. 😡
All a barn door can do for me is point me towards a real door or a pocket door. I came to hate barn doors after a week in a beach vacation rental fighting a barn/bathroom door. Light seeps around the side, smells and sounds escape, it’s noisy at night sliding along the track IF it stays on the track. That cured me of my HGTV “barn doors are so cool looking” ideation for good.
I would sooner have no door 🚪 than barn doors…pocket sliding doors are so much more cohesive, and lets be real a lot can be in a name…barn door for barns only people. Pocket doors maximise space and functionality on both sides of a the separate spaces - eg bathroom and hallway - no swinging in or out required.
Or a noren. Japanese restaurant staple, a rod with a semi-sheer to opaque curtain that goes down 1/3-1/2 of the doorway (depends on the use case and ergonomics). Blocks line of sight, allows light and sound to pass through, and passage is hands-free. You don't have to use Japanese motifs, you can try it out with a spring-loaded curtain rod, and you can swap out the curtain if your needs change.
One of my best friends had a "conversation pit" in her living room, it ended up becoming our de facto play area, and we rarely ventured out of it except to go eat. I'm sure her parents appreciated that the mess was confined in that area, yet they could still easily supervise us :)
That seems great for Fort making
@@allana1997 Or a ball pit!
@@dennischiapello3879 yesssss omg what an idea that would be so fun
We had one in high school (1970's). It was called 'sunken living room'
Interesting. Thanks for your lived experience observation!
Early 80s: waterbeds with bookshelf headboards, ferns, and brass. Late 80s: country kitsch, ducks with ribbons around their neck everywhere, even on wallpaper borders.
Dusty rose and a pale blue like washed-out denim.
even the wall stencils had ducks with ribbons
I always thought they were geese, but yeah, soooo cliche.
😂
I would add, the “open plan”, kitchen into dining, into family room of the 2000’s, and post pandemic moving back to more separated spaces.😊
For most of the kitchen-in-the-house history, no woman wanted all of her guests watching the creative mess in the kitchen. As we moved toward more convenient-prepared food, the "mess" of scratch cooking subsided, and we turned our attention to wanting to be part of the party while we were preparing the meal. Also, the "breakfast bar" became where the kids ate, versus a family meal around a dining room table. Interesting take, critterkarma, about the pandemic teaching us that we really thrive better with areas in our houses where we can have a modicum of privacy.
I'm so glad this is disapearing! This was just a trick to sell smaller homes for the same amount of money, because seperate rooms are more expensive in land and construction.
Honestly, who wants to listen to the kitchen aid while watching TV? The kitchen with its appliances need their own room.
@@evamg21honestly it puts me off cooking when I know there's going to be a mess that I can see from the living room
I love open plan concepts. My husband and I bought a home and loved the open concept downstairs. I grew up in a house that was squared off downstairs and it felt so tight and small because the den/kitchen/living room were all separate rooms and it ruined the flow and everyone always had to cram into one room or would eventually separate into 2. I love hosting and I love the flow of an open concept.
Thank god I didn't buy an open plan house back in the day. That whole....keep an eye on the kids while you prepare dinner thing is hardly a valid reason to design a house around.
Color-wise, for me, the 80s was all about bright neons for the cool kids, pastels for the rich and fancy, black lacquer/brass/mirrors for the rich adjacent, and the ubiquitous burgandy and grey for all things business. Patterns were exclusively geometric or tiny, tiny florals.
Then the 90s was all about huge floral prints and jewel tones. Everything in business was about Hunter Green.
I remember a lot of dusty pink and blue in the 90’s too.
@LiveLaughLove1232 Ugh. Yes. Our carpet in the living room, foyer, dining room, stairs, AND upstairs hallway was entirely that God-awful dusty rose. The bedrooms were dusty blue, navy, I forget what in my parents' room, and the "family room" was off-white.
I love carpet but omg that was such an atrocious color.
Another thought - the style of your home can dictate the style of your decorating. I lived in a very traditional colonial style home, although I prefer a modern slant as my style, going with traditional furniture and decor was the right way to go. I didn’t want to fight my house style, I’ve seen it turn out disastrously in other homes. Now I live a coastal home and my softened modern look is just perfect and to my liking!
I totally agree. You shouldn’t try to turn your home into something it’s not. I feel like it’s important to honour the architecture of your home, instead of fighting it.
I couldn't agree with you more I like mid century modern queen and Edwardian you've got to go with the side of the house and key pieces of friend because otherwise it's one thing laughing at the other
Agreed AND I find that not everything has to be exactly matching the house (these poor Florida style houses could use a lot more Italian, French, Spanish influence than all the "coastal" beige and blue furniture IMO). I don't want to live in a reproduction of a time period or something that feels like a museum. I have some pieces of furniture and all of my art that moves wherever I move. I think that makes your home interesting, personal, and "yours".
I just bought a house so this falls in with my thinking. I have a 70s house with standard sized ceilings. The palace of Versailles stuff you see where people do the ceiling paneling wouldn't look good. A conversation pit would look dumb.
Fairly traditional or modern looking decor would be great though
I feel bad for anyone in newer housing, or builder basic styles. There IS no particular style. It’s just a short, small, box for bedrooms and a large, boring, open concept living room/kitchen area with one sliding glass door to the patio if you’re lucky! You literally have to just style your place from Home Goods or Target. Anything else would look out of place.
We were looking for our first home in the 1980s. I recall a lot of “country” decor in the model homes. I was sick of seeing gingham and ducks!
😂😂😂
I loved gingham. Ducks, not so much.
And rabbits.
What I remember from the 90s (that I don’t see talked about a lot), is all the busy floral wall paper and textile patterns. Laura Ashley and Waverly patterns were everywhere around the middle of the decade, with the matching swooped window valences and straight pleated curtains. Besides the mauve, light teal, and peach walls was a lot of Hunter green and a weird burgundy/cranberry color, too (just darker cousins if maybe and teal, tbh). I remember going from a white, 80s canopy bed to a super-traditional and heavy cherry bedroom set (probably a precursor to the heavy wood details in Tuscan kitchens a decade later, tbh). My mom was really into sleigh beds, too, for some reason. All that heavy wood furniture had to come from the same set, and I don’t remember people choosing adventurous color palettes (it was very matchy-matchy without quite going full color blocking, imo, but that could’ve been just my house). I see a lot of this coming back in grand millennial and adjacent trends, but at least the floral wallpapers now are more William Morris than whatever the 90s had going on.
My mom. Loved all the big florals and “royal colors”. To this day when I see peony’s or pale pink roses in a fabric I remember my mom. She made the most beautiful drapes with all the jabots and swags.
@@dimplesd8931 as a tween, I thought those swag curtains were the most elegant thing. I had one in a dusty purple pattern (it looked like the pattern you would see on a Victorian carpet bag). At the time, I really wanted the creeping ivy and wisteria pattern though. Thanks for your comment! I was beginning to think I hallucinated the whole thing, because I remember it being everywhere, and a lot of youngs talk about 90s design as if it was all a vaporwave fever-dream (it wasn’t)
@@kalliejupiter7018 I remember craving balloon shades. I thought they were the most elegant thing ever.
Yes! I feel like the first half of the 90's was the dusty rose/apricot/teal and the second half was the same colors but in more of a jewel-tone. (Heck, my mom remarried in 1996 and their colors were hunter green and burgundy.) We also had the sleigh beds and swag curtains. The dishes were white with green ivy borders and there was a lot of ivy themes in the kitchen during that second half of the 90's.
Oh the valences!!!!
My grandparents were anti-fashion and pretty contrarian, but had good taste. In the 1950s everyone was getting rid of their wind up wooden wall clocks and buying electric, as you'd expect in the MCM trend. They bought up all kinds of beautiful antique calendar clocks and grandfather clocks from the 1800s for $5 or $10. I try to figure out what are those things that people are getting rid of that will be worth a fortune someday.
I live in New England and you really can’t go wrong with antiques. They’re everywhere, affordable, and rustic. I also thing this generation is more interested in recycling and not being so commercial and buying new decor all the time.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the traditional trend in the 60's of Colonial and Early American wood furniture. The upscale furniture stores carried these lines. I grew up with maple and the quality was impeccably constructed. I inherited it eventually from my parents and I love it.
I had a maple Early American bedroom set as a teenager and wish I still had it!
He’s too young. Design trends existed before 1950. Limited perspective imo.
But does his audience remember pre-1950?@@joswearingen3507
My 1989 bedroom was peach and sage. My younger sister’s was dusty rose and country blue. Thank you for the nostalgic flashback 😊
Those were pretty color combinations! They'll be back.
I also had a dusty rose and that blue color also😅😅😂
90s had a lot of hunter green and burgundy. (On the tail of the rise of Polo). Tribal and southwestern prints. Kilim rugs were everywhere
Also, missing that Art Nouveau is emerging. Seeing tons of swirls, animal theme furniture/decor, and William Morris wallpaper. SW Clary Sage and Alabaster seem to be the modern green/cream combo
I think the late 70s into the 80s really saw the split between “trendy” style and the everyday average home style. You hit on it a little bit with the reference to the stranger things house. In reality the 80s was a very hodgepodge time for most people, as the style trends were not really accessible to most people, and there hadn’t been the explosion of new homes yet , so really up until the mid 90s things looked really different than the “style” we look back on. We all remember items or toys from the 80s and 90s but i can almost guarantee that the majority lived in homes that looked very similar to the stranger things house the majority of the time . 😊
When I was growing up in England in the 60’s, we moved into a new house. My parents decorated our home in a Scandinavian style with Teak furniture. This was not a veneer but solid Teak, very mid century modern! My parents kept this Teak furnishing for years. I wish I had the furniture now! ❤🤗🇨🇦
I bet it was G-Plan furniture. 😊
@@marjoryross2754 it probably was!
Nick you pretty well covered my whole life. I have seen all these styles come and go, being born in the 50's, and have pieces of my parents Bauhaus and mid century modern furniture. 80's & 90's were horrible. I dearly hope the barn door goes back to the barn where it belongs.
Same here. You’re totally right-80s and 90s were bleak. I was an architecture student in the early eighties and it was really difficult because interior design seemed bereft of real direction and originality.
I get what you're saying about the barn door. I like the concept, probably for the texture, but it takes up too much wall space. Think sliding glass doors or some closet doors.
We had dark wall paneling in my brother's room and in what we called the O.G. after my parents added on a two car garage. Living in New England, a huge design style was (and still is to a certain extent) Colonial/Americana. Navy, Turkey Red, Hunter or Goose s*** Green, Cream, field stone, dark wood, and some gold/brass accents. The wall paper in the house my parents bought in the mid 60s was navy with eagles and circles of stars and it was everywhere. They kept it in the family room but removed it and repainted the kitchen, the upstairs hallway and stairs, and heaven knows where else. I was four when they bought the house. They finally replaced the wallpaper in the 80s with another different pattern.
Also, I know Nick has said he's not a big DIYer, but something you saw EVERYWHERE in the 90s and going into the 00s was faux finishes. I thought he'd mention it with the whole Tuscany thing but if Nick did, I missed it. Whitewashing, faux stone, faux marble, Trompe L'oeil, that was all right next to the decoupage. I know, whitewash is a real technique, along with milk paint and chalk paint.
@@Traci_Websinger There are also those Japanese sliding panels (which I think are a brilliant concept functionally) as an alternative.
Yes about the New England esthetic! I mentioned in my separate comment.
Exactly me. But I'm actually over the MCM now because of all that. I mean I like a lot of it, but I don't want it in my home anymore. So now I'm attracted to Art Nouveau/Arts and Crafts and Art Deco.
I don't know. I was a teenager in the 80's and never missed an opportunity to be creative and original in my bedroom's decor and even in the house as I helped my mother decorate and cannot recall a dull decoration from that time and many of my friends also where very much into creative decor. Same in the 90's.
When I went out I saw a lot of super cool, groovy post modern decor at public places, which I found rather novel and original.
The 90s was the heyday of the country blue kitchen with geese motif. Geese motif extended to the porch with an artificial goose that may or may not have had a wardrobe of outfits for different seasons and holidays.
In other words it was a low point for design.
My mom had a goose cookie jar, salt and pepper shakers and I think a paper towel holder. 😂
Slate blue and mauve was 1984-1989. I remember it distinctly from my high school years. Geese ... and pigs and lawn sheep.
Never saw a kitchen like that growing up myself.
You just described my next door neighbors house a la 1995 perfectly 🤣
😂
To the '70s, let's add the ubiquitous chrome and glass (and "smoked" glass!) furniture and accessories: tables, étagères, lamps, etc. and walls covered in "marbled" mirror tiles. Also worth mentioning were the massive redwood burl coffee tables, and cargo hatch tables.
Those coffee tables 😂
My mother's house still has a wall of gawd-awful smoked marble mirror squares. Only reason they're still up is fear of damaging the wall.
Early 80's went from avocado, mustard and perhaps orange everything to chocolate brown, white and chrome. 2000's had Tuscany and everybody's decorated their kitchen counters with sealed oil bottles of every shape containing veggies. Colors were brick red, mustard and olive green.
The first stand mixer I learned to make cakes with as a kid was avocado colour. My mom said her mom had it, so I'm not sure if it was 70s or 80s. My 70s kitchen sink is mustard, and I'm not really a fan, but hey, the carpet is gone, and I'm happy (never carpet a bathroom, even just half of the floor...). I love pastels, and I'm really hoping that's where things go. My kitchen needs work, it's not cohesive, it's very small, and the cupboards don't fit right, so I'm not sure what to do there. I grew up with things being so warm toned or dark blue with warm tones over it. so I think I'm ready to try something else. Although the veggie thing gave me an idea. Maybe I can use my pickles as decor! I pickled some rainbow carrots I grew, and they're pretty, sticks of coloured carrot in a jar, but I have them in a cold room right now.
I hated the 2000s Tuscany trend so much.. All that orange.
I grew up with those in the 70’s.
In Australia, the most influential colour of the late 90/00’s was LIME GREEN! Particularly in furniture/upholstery/homewares. And the ubiquitous “feature wall” which was a random colour and frequently every room had a different coloured feature wall in a different textured finish (sponge paint, suede, heavy brush strokes etc.)
That sounds hideous! You have my condolences!
In the 90's? Really? I remember lime green being very popular in the 70s, lots of lime green formica countertops, or for the less adventurous, lime green canisters lined up on more conventional countertops. Maybe we were a little backwards in the rural areas, but I can't think of any new builds or renos among my family and friends where they installed lime green, more likely pulling it out of their older homes.🤷♀️
I was born in 1970, so grew up with all that color. I wasn’t into the neon as a teen in the 80’s, but still enjoyed all the color. The Southwestern/dusty colors from the 90’s moving into the neutrals and grays of the present has been rough on my brain. The house I own still has its old avocado green countertops and they make me happy. They also match my Pyrex. lol
Hi fellow 1970-baby!!
@@memi4586 🙋♀️
The country blue geese with bows were SO unfortunate in the late 80’s and early 90’s. 😑
🤣
Yes, my number 1 most despised decor style if you even want to say it's decor. It screams barnyard tacky to me! 😂
My word! Glad I missed that!
Two more important trends:
1. DIY home renovation inspired by the 1979 launch of "This Old House" on PBS
2. Southwest-themed decor inspired by the 1993 book "Santa Fe Style"
7:08 Avocado and Harvest Gold! Those appliance colors were so popular, and then the trends moved on and they were so unpopular.
I don't have them anymore, but I did, and I liked them, and I am not ashamed!
Allow me to sum up the '70's for you:
Harvest Gold
Avocado Green
Flame Red/Orange
And dark brown!
I was born in 1950 so I’ve lived through all of these. One memory: in 2001 we bought a house built in the 1970s. The day we closed on it I walked in and said “what have I done!” When walked in a week later my husband had ripped out all of the cheap wood laminate paneling and I breathed a sigh of relief.
My college had "The Purple Pit" in the main foyer in the early 80s. Iconic! Wood paneling became so popular bc it was inexpensive, and you could skip the drywall/fill/sand/fill/sand/paint stage. A finished basement in no time!
My elementary school had an orange kiva (pit) in the 70s, along with orange plastic chairs and bright yellow "tote trays" we used to carry our papers and stuff and that slid under the desk. The building was brutalist concrete with hardly any windows and an open floor plan. The whole thing was absolutely dreadful and depressing, especially since I'd come from a school full of smaller rooms and sunlight. 😥
We had olive colored wood paneling in our basement. My Dad wanted to make a tiki bar with fake palm trees and real sand, but unfortunately, my Mom was not having sand in the basement with 5 kids...
I always wondered what was up with all the paneling.
@@kathiemihindukulasuriya1538 That is hilarious!
My dad was a builder in the U.K. and he always used to say “the 80s, where style and quality came to die.” He also said that the tv show ‘the house dr’ in the 90s removed all colour out of a home so people cared more about the neutralised saleability of their home than giving it personality.
I would say "Friends" influenced 90s decor and alot more colour. Also you didnt mention the half and half wallpaper with borders
“Oof, it was whole thing”
most accurate and concise description of the Tuscan kitchen I’ve heard 🤣
*chef’s kiss 🤌
I’m 49 so my first foray into designing for myself (without Bon Jovi posters) was in the mid-90s. My 90s designs were brass cherubs EVERYWHERE, navy blue, hunter green, and burgundy in plaids and houndstooths, and the sunflowers on everything in my kitchen. Wrought iron swirly sconces for ball candles. And every room had a tea light candle potpourri double boiler with spiced apple or peach potpourri warming in it. And Party-Lite candle holders! 😂
No one has ever told me potpourri is meant to be warmed. I just thought my grandparents had bowls of dried plants around.....
I remember growing up in the 70’s, we had bright red textured wall-to-wall carpet and wood paneled walls. Guests were often surprised by the carpet color. What I wish I still had was our round breakfast table with 3-legged chairs, curved on the back and fit flush into the table. The curve back of the chairs looked a lot like Nick’s dining table. Just imagine if only one chair leg was in front and the seat was a rounded triangle.
The biggest upside of living through all of those awful design trends was you could furnish your house with beautiful, high quality antiques on a pretty modest budget.
SO true. Most people were ignoring these beautifully made, classical pieces during all the trends, which was great for those of us who had always loved antiques. Score.
Was? They are still practically giving away beautiful, well made pieces and I have snapped up a few. Love it. Tragically, many people buy stunning pieces like mahogany dressers in great condition and paint them white, then artificially distress them. UUUUUUGGGGG!!! It is vandalism.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Thank you for introducing me to the concept of a “Tuscan Kitchen” as a child at the time, I distinctly remember for a while my mother would not shut up about a granite countertop 😂
Does anyone else remember on Trading Spaces that one designer who always, like, glued straw or feathers to the wall or some nonsense like that?? I’d watch a super cut of that trend 😅
That was Hildy(sp?).
@@pattiimburgia1882 oh my gosh YES. thank you!!!
That was Hildi. Her nickname on set was Sheetrock....which was a reference to the homeowners having to rip the walls out after she was done with the design.
@@jm7804 what a nickname!! Yikes 😅
hi Nick, topic suggestion: when adding color to walls, how do you figure out what walls to paint? you've mentioned before you don't like accent walls, and neither do i. but then do you paint ALL the walls the same color? what do you do in an open space concept? can you choose 2-3 colors (including ceiling) or just the whole box goes the same color? i have a hard time with this and haven't found anyone talking about it! help! love your videos 💕
I'm looking at painting a couple rooms and would love to hear about this
Follow how your lighting hits the wall. You can pick one color and have the paint dept lighten or darken it with tint to give them a depth without adding a dramatic change.
Those are great questions that I’ve been trying to decide too
YES! I struggle with this too! Nick has said several times grey is on it's way out but what I love about my whole house in SW Rock Candy is the color shifts through the day. it's really three in one, at some point you can look at my walls and see a white wall, a grey wall or a subtle light blue. That and fear are the only things that stopped me from a navy accent wall. I've been wondering if there are greens or browns that could do the same thing. (but also would a brown be too dingy? Would a green be too minty?)
Great question! My house is all Chantilly lace white, but I plan to do full color in a guest bedroom and a half bathroom, just to create fun little moments. We have colorful furniture and artwork that pop beautifully in the white main parts of the house.
I never thought I would see photos of McDonalds from the 80s. That must be the only great thing inspired by the Memphis Group.
I loved swaying on those burger stools as a child and watching the takeaway orders move along a glass encased conveyor belt along the ceilings and I appreciated the McDonalds wall murals. It felt like a museum 😂.
You nailed the 70s, so bravo on that one. I grew up in the 1970s, and started "adulting" in the 80s, so that's kind of my decade. What I remember most about the 1980s was the reemergence of classic English traditional in both home and fashion. Laura Ashley and Ralph Lauren were ubiquitous in closets everywhere (thanks to films like Chariots of Fire and Maurice). And with respect to furnishings, it was all about Chippendale, Sheraton, and Hepplewhite. Throw in Chinese porcelains, oriental rugs, and a bunch of brass accessories, and boom!... the perfect 80s living room.
Hepplewhite? You grew up with way more money than I did!
I remember Mario Buatta, also called the "Prince of Chintz" ungodly amounts of floral & ruffles as far as the eye could see! 😂
@@sherrinunya4079 Oh, wow. Exactly what I was thinking: the Prince of Chintz! hahaha
Very true! Definitely classic English traditional. Preppy, yuppie, polo playing... The Risky Business house...
I am into FRENCH CHATEAU. Which is antique mixed with good modern for an eclectic vibe. Individual pieces from different Eras that all have a similar vibe. I watch a lot of the Chateau renovation videos on You Tube that are just fantastic. The style works for a New York apartment or a beach cottage.
"Shabby chic was chic or not chic, but it was shabby, I'll give you that" omg dead 😂🤣🤣 Nick brings the shade on a silver platter YES 👏👏 😆😆😆
I never understood conversation pits. I have a defined area for conversation, it’s called a ‘room’. Easy to rearrange if desired and no risk of falling into it.
Sounds cool in theory but in practicality, not so much. It gets old having to take a few steps up and down every time you spend time in the living room.
That was a reaction to the formal living rooms of the decades before. The idea was to create a space where people felt free to exchange ideas casually. Conversation pits spawned the modern “sectional” sofa. That being said, they were a terrible idea. Tripping and falling up or down the stairs was a real thing. Furniture placement was a nightmare if you didn’t want a gigantic sectional and because everyone was on a linear sofa, you couldn’t just pull up a chair and start or join a conversation. I’m a 60’s baby but “conversation pits” were in lots of homes in the 70’s-80’s when I was growing up.
😂 💀 deceased
I'm with you!
Great retrospective Nick! I was a kid in the 70's with my Sears Louis the 14th bedroom set and remember avocado kitchen appliances and olive drab, orange and mustard color schemes. We bought our first house in 1992, traditional style cherry cabinets in the kitchen and lots of burgundy and hunter green! Bought another house in 1998, the advent of honey oak cabinetry. Let me tell you, those builders milked that honey oak for at least 10 years! We've been slowly eliminating every bit of honey oak in the house and am proud to say all that's left are 3 doors on the first floor that need to be replaced. As much as I like the look of my black-stained maple shaker-style cabinets, I probably wouldn't repurchase them because they show every bit of dust and every fingerprint. Loved the video!
I had the Haverty’s furniture, that may have been a SE US store, French provincial bedroom in yellow and white. Our house had all the harvest gold, rust, beige and browns, with matching shag carpet. Looking back at how terrible design was from the 60’s-90’s reminds me how much fun people use to have in their home style before HGTV made us all mid century modern/organic/traditional/whatever they say is next followers. 😂
I am hoping there will be a larger turn towards lasting styles, quality materials, and developing individual styles.
I remember the 80's and the décor influenced by Mario Buatta "The Prince of Chintz". I still luv the look today :)
I moved out and I’m decorating my own space for the first time and I’m definitely wanting to go with more of a traditional style. I have always loved the idea of studying in a space that looks like an ornate vintage library/study. I’m loving the idea of natural colors and materials in my space. I’ve used countless videos from Nick’s channel to figure out my preferred design style and how to decorate. Loving these videos and I’m really excited to incorporate some of his advice into my own home. 😁
I miss Bob Villa. Others showed you how to decorate then he came on to show you how to maintain, fix or renovate on your own!
Tiki style was also big in the 50s/60s. The 80s were all about Miami Vice: art deco style, pastel colors, big/bulbous furniture.
Mauve was huge in the 80s. Hunter green and red were the trendy colors in the 90s. Hunter green bedrooms & the red dining room was all the rage and some people still haven't let it go.
Ew, ah, I love Art Deco. Thanks for the heads up re: the Wayfair show. I was born in the 1950s and what I remember as the big trend was “Early American,” I didn’t see much MCM back then and then the next thing I remember was British Invasion and any thing youth oriented or bohemian. The “bohemian” style of British trend setting store, BIBA, was actually the founder’s take on Art Deco. What goes around comes around…
Then, as a young adult in the 80s-90s, METROPOLITAN HOME was my design Bible. I still long for that inspiring magazine when everything seemed new and a bit cheeky.
Very cool walk through the decades. In my Italian immigrant family, in Montreal, the 70s were filled with baroque and Louis XV style furniture, and Spanish revival! Lol! and let's not forget the huge wood console tv (with red crushed velvet covering the speakers).
I remember the early nineties as having a lot of bleached wood kitchens, and lacquered furniture. What a time!!
Loved this video. I am a baby boomer so have seen many of these trends in furniture and decor. I have to say when I was a little girl my Aunt had a silver Christmas tree with a color wheel that would change colors. I thought it was the most glamorous thing ever. Wow so glad we don’t get stuck in some of the trends!!!!
I remember the color wheel! As a small kid, it was mesmerizing!
Fantastic episode, Nick. Conversation pit = bone breaker for toddlers, children, small dogs, the elderly, the drunk....worst idea ever. lol Pine paneling was put in all the brick ranch houses of the late 50s, 60s and early 70s where I live, in the American South.
The 70s were back to nature-love of natural wood, earth tones, rustic or homemade things.
Was surprised at your characterization of the 80s. The Memphis style was of that decade but didn’t have a lot of effect on home styles. The 80s were the greed is good era. Glam was the aspiration - brass, glass, cream, opulence. Think Alexis Carrington’s home and office on Dynasty 😄
I remember black leather sofa, glass top tables, chrome, and Nagel lithographs.
Yeah I remember a lot of Miami Vice style furnishings.
I wasn’t around for the 50s but I do remember my grandparents’ house being full of utility furniture. I really liked it as a child - that stuff was built to last.
I really appreciate that you are actually a bit of a social historian as well as being a master of taste and design.
I'm old enough to remember all these eras including the 1950s (not my favorite - way too much Danish Modern furniture) and the 60s (groovy). My "practice" husband and I had a wonderful love seat in bright orange and yellow tweed. Loved it. Also, lots of huge posters on walls and things that hung from hooks in the ceilings.
My house is from 1961 and the whole basement is paneled. Also one room upstairs (that one is actually pretty). I painted the paneling in one room in the basement and the texture with color is great!
I am now painting my basement paneling, looking forward to the change!
I loved this episode Nick! I was born in 1966, in Australia… I remember vividly my Mums 1970s bright orange kitchen! Then in the 80s, everything turned peach or apricot! Yuck!! Then in the 1990s she decorated everything with beige and brown, not my fav! 😞 Then I moved out and the late 1990s and early 2000s for me was all about decorating my home with cute craft projects, farmhouse style and stained pine furniture everywhere! Skip to the 2020s and I’m fully into minimalism, simple streamlined furniture, whites, blacks, a bit of timber and a pop of colour with plants and fresh flowers… and that’s it! I hate visual clutter , and I really don’t think I could ever go back to living in a multi coloured home, but I love looking back over the 56 years I’ve been on this planet and all the different designs that have come and gone and come and gone and inspired what ever comes next! I believe Interior design should be individual and suit your personality and life style… go for whatever floats your boat and enjoy your space!
I remember the nineties color palette being burgany, hunter green, black, mauve, and maybe the eighties throwback of country blue. People also loved theme spaces. I've always liked fifties styles. Real MCM furniture is much better than newer MCM.
2:14 - 2:16 😍 I want that house!
Btw I have always heard "Formica" pronounced for-MY-cah and didn't know there was another way to say it. I heard it was created as a substitute for the mineral mica, so literally "for mica." But the way Nick says it emphsizes "form" which is such an important concept, so that is very logical.
You are my number one favorite interior design channel Nick💥! I found you last year, just a few months before we moved into our (first) new build home. Which was great because you helped me articulate my vision to others (especially to my partner). We also opted for mixing styles. I’d say our home is mix between modern, industrial and Japandi. And we love it! Even though our style is quite locked in now I’ve grown very fond of you and interior design in general. Thank you for all the education and good laughs over the year. Know that all your hard work is seen and appreciated!! Cheers from the Netherlands🥂
The amount of roosters and artificial grapes in my childhood 00’s kitchen are still an endearing and hilarious memory we laugh about to this day
I had one rooster piece in our (real working) farm. I don't know why, but everyone I know dumped their rooster/chicken designs on me. Ugh, I ended up selling them all on ebay! 😅
Simultaneous with mid century modern and atomic in the 50’s was “early American”, highlighted by a cobblers’ bench as a coffee table. Floral prints, plaids in browns and creams in tufted upholstery were dominant, ruffled lamp shades topped lamps. (Mom chose Danish modern instead!)
Damn, you're lucky. My mom was Early American all the way ,baby. Down to the wheat and the roosters and everything was "hard rock maple" mom said. I still have the hutch and a bedframe with nightstands. I spent many a childhood afternoon at Ethan Allen Carriage House as it was called back then.
I love that. I didn't love the colors of tile floors. Teeth-jarring, green, pink, .... I was hoping he would cover that. Light colored wood.
@@rmonson5002 You're not alone. My mother loved Early American/Colonial. Everything was plaid and ruffled and busy. Our dinnerware was pewter, because she was convinced that's what the pioneers used. Antique butter churns, framed cowboy pictures, wooden cuckoo clocks. All the furniture had those wavy bottom edges with points (facing? Not sure what that's called) that would take the skin off your arm if you tried to reach something under the furniture.
I learned to detest that style from a young age 🙂
@@JamieM470 Yes! Mom loved pewter too. She had some "Paul Revere" pewter something or other. And yes, everything was scalloped and ruffled. We even had a maple platform rocker. And a firkin! That's right! I think mom kept the firewood in the firkin. The firkin was actually pretty cool. I wonder what ever happened to that 🤔. Okay, word of the day, "firkin" as in the firkin roosters were everywhere! 😅
@@JamieM470 If you're talking about a piece that runs under the edge of the table top, that's called an apron.
I love how the styles throughout the years are not necessarily repeated from before. More like remixed
Good description!
I was born in '79 and growing up we had that hideous, cheap wood paneling in all the main spaces of the house. Left me with a lifelong hatred of the look, lol!
I think an eclectic vibe works when u blend what u like from different styles while keeping it simple. I like MSD, art deco, modern farmhouse, boho and antique elements.
Dorney House in Hobart (Tasmania, Australia), built in 1978, is a brilliant example of a home designed around a conversational pit with a fireplace as its focus. It’s open to the public on occasion.
Enjoyed the vid.
I feel you very much missed the 80's style sponge and rag painted walls with patterned borders at dado rail height. I remember being so proud of my dusty lilac walls with 10cm floral borders and dusty pink velvety sofa and armchairs. So terrible to think of now, but filled with fantastic memories of my children when they were little 🥰
A few things I remember from the fifties and sixties (I was born in '56): cloth couches being replaced by Naugahyde sofas; cork floors; "knotty pine" wall paneling that was thick, real wood, and far high quality than the thin, cheap, paneling; the introduction of built-in "sound systems", intercom systems, and television cabinets as part of living room and family room design; family heirlooms and real antiques intermixed with the new, modern materials; the use of glass blocks in both bathrooms (shower enclosures, windows) and in entry-ways (glass block privacy screens, or floor-to-ceiling glass block windows); a big jump in popularity of large-leaf houseplants, such as philodendrons and potted fig trees (as opposed to the lacy hanging ferns of the past); a lot of small-format, pastel, tiles in the bathroom, such as pink, mint green, baby blue, yellow, etc. as opposed to the black and white of earlier decades; and the introduction of diaphanous "sheers" as a second panel (let in the light!) rather than just the heavier, winter-weight, drapes of the past.
My mobile military family once had a house with an intercom system. Dad absolutely loved it - he woke us up at 6 by playing music we hated! Nothing like torturing your teenagers. ... Also, I've gone back to sheers, because I love the diffused light.
I was a kid in the 70’s, and our house had the avocado green appliances and with lots of heavy dark wood and velvet furniture. My own room was in grass green, orange, pink, and yellow with big 70’s flowers, frogs, and even an orange plastic mush room lamp. Totally groovy! As an adult I had the white and French blue period in the late ‘80’s and first green and burgundy in the ‘90’s. But I think having grown up then gave me an enduring love for earth tones and natural materials. Still love granite!
Lol, reminds me of my sister's orange and pink shag carpet 🤢
I'm getting my 1980s builder-grade wood paneling painted antique white even as we speak!
Excellent video Nick! I agree that now and in the years to come people will be trying to personalize their spaces more. As you say, due to the influence of social media, design trends have been intense and ubiquitous. I’m looking at you donut vase and pampas grass 😂.
I love that you're always honest.❤
I inherited my childhood home complete with all the furnishings. Since my parents lived there more than 50 years their furnishings reflect multiple styles. Mostly very traditional mahogany furniture mixed with mid century modern mixed with 50s Mamie Eisenhower pink tile 2nd bathroom mixed with 70s rattan in the Florida room. Almost none of it is my style. But I decided to just embrace it. Updated with decor and lighting and now I adore it. The mix imo keeps it interesting and never boring. I even kept the pink tile 2nd bathroom and I love it. Put martinique wallpaper up in it for a Beverly Hills hotel look. It's been fun, rewarding, and challenging to mix "my style" into all the others and make it work.
Loved this video review of style through the decades delivered with your oh do appealing gentle snark. ❤
I inherited house and contents. Seriously seventies /eighties decor. But inherited beautiful walnut dining set. Reupholstered the chairs with apple green velveteen that matches my attached living room’s couch. Other beautiful solid wood furniture…simple lines, and a Jenny Lind bed. A lot of people don’t seem to value good furniture anymore. All plastic and chip wood, ending in landfills after a couple of years!
i think a portion of the 80’s, when you talk about pastels, was influenced by
“country” style, at least in the US. it was differentiated from “colonial” a horrendous alternative to anything modern in the 60’s, but kind of developed out of it. many decor magazines focused on it. the teal was called celedon and it was greener than a teal. the furniture was golden oak, curtains had ruffles, natural materials and dried flowers were decor.
i like your predictions, heading back toward traditional, but that seems a bit boring in shapes, but i do like the re-saturation of color. glam becoming real, i know you love your art deco.
The picture of the lady in front of her fridge & oven....
WOW!! Brings back childhood memories with that advocado green!! That way my mom's favorite color. This was a great video. 💚
What I remember from the '80s and continuing into the '90s was a popularity for antiques and antique knock-offs. I remember rows of antique shops and antique malls that are now long gone. Ladies had collections of Depressionware and antique china displayed in antique looking cabinets. There were folksy braided rugs, old rocking chairs, and a style called 'country' which was sort of like 'modern farmhouse'. The neighbor ladies were proud of their homestiched, framed 'samplers', which they hung above their couch, which also looked quant and old fashioned.
Some people called it "Early American". Some of the furniture was called 'Primitive'. The neighbors had a primitive 'Pie Safe' cabinet in the kitchen.
The trend may have begun with the American Bicentennial celebration in 1976, but I don't know. And it wasn't for everyone, of course, but the look was popular.
Im furnishing my first apartment - got lots of thrifted pieces - love forest green :)
Great video Nick! I love to look at historical design. I wish that colour would come back, like in the 50's through 80's. We had to house shop recently and EVERYTHING is grey or beige, even the flooring is grey. I think colour can be done without having to be overwhelming, at least those decades were unique. Nothing unique has happened since the 80s. Keep up the great work! Love from Memphis!
I remember when my mom bought a lime green sofa to replace her old autumn floral print early American one! But the autumn floral chair stayed on and on. I bought a few antiques for my bedroom, still available in thrift stores. She started antique painting 🧐 in colors. It was a mish mash but comfortable to sit on.
No wonder I went Japanese.
I remember French Provincial furniture in the late 50s. In the 60s Early American was popular. Antiques and Country came into vogue with folk art and that became ad nauseum. By the way, here in the States we pronounce formica as for-Mic-a.
We redid our kitchen in the early/mid 90s. We pulled out a 60s green kitchen with a floating glass drink cabinet over a small peninsula and replaced it with a peach kitchen with brown appliaces and fruit basket tiles behind the stove top. Very one trend both times. Our bathroom we kept. It was avocado with cute mosaics on the floor. We built a second story with a new bathroom and had a peachy cream vanity and bath and raspberry tilea!
Your house sounds quirky and fun!
Excellent video. It's always good to understand history and interior design is no exception!
I cannot tell you how hard a flashback I had when those 80s McDonald's with burger stools and indoor faux trees popped up!! Oh, the memories. Those were so cool back then. (But don't think we need a reprise lol.)
Swedish style is so much more than the minimalistic Scandi.
Earthy colours, and (Morris) wallpaper are also bery popular.
Lots of green panelling and kitchens right now.
One thing you didn’t mention about the 70’s…I don’t know if this was just regional, but I remember there being a “gothic revival” thing going on where there was a lot of gothic arches and fleur de lis in decoration. Even my first house when I bought it in 2004 still had a fleur de lis pendant lantern in the foyer. If you look up “glenwood theater sign, Kansas” this is my favorite example.
I don't see any fleurs de lis on that sign, but a heraldry shield, but they all go together with the Gothic. It's interesting that there's also a space age/atomic star on there, too! 😄
That olive green kitchen with olive appliances gave me bad flashbacks to moving into our house in south Florida when I was in kindergarten. All the appliances were that green, the wallpaper had mustard and olive sawgrass patterning with a bit of shimmer, and we had a drop ceiling light - panels of fluorescents in this big square in the center of the kitchen. Lime and avocado green booth seat kitchen table that was like a McDonald's booth seat, and mustard-colored linoleum. I was six, and I remember this kitchen. It was the first room in the house my parents renovated, because they couldn't stand it. The olive-toned faux-wood paneling in the den lasted longer - until my dad found a way to paint it over in a country white, and my mom got her country-blue trim as well. It was a hideous holdover from the 70s.
Trading Spaces was TLC's version of Britain's show Changing Rooms. We watched that on BBCAmerica before Trading Spaces was a thing, and wow, was it an experience. That whole weekend DIY remodel is very 2000s for me, even if we never did it ourselves.
Great video, thoroughly enjoyed it and the many comments. Nick has a way with snark, he has made it into an art form. 💜
I kind of want to go ultra utilitarian chic. Space efficiency rocks. Show me where tech meets design. Feels like I'm refreshed and ready for a new reno on this ancient home. We need a new Bauhaus that incorporates new tech.
The house I grew up in was ‘modern’ but I believe the influence was from Japanese design: simplicity, natural wood beams, large windows to connect the human with nature. Even now I need windows and views when I’m indoors to give my eye a rest and promote well being.
Regarding the 2020’s I see houses for sale really defaulting to the all white everywhere-I guess it’s to make it a blank slate. But it seems to be deciding to choose no style.
Another trend I would hope for incorporates reuse, vintage and even beautiful older antiques for a ‘green’ alternative.
I think all-white probably does make it easier to sell the house. Easier to paint. and it allows the buyer to impose their style on their new home. I agree on the reuse. Young people are more eco-conscious, I think, than old fogeys like me; plus, thrifting and shopping in your parents' house are great for the budget. If traditional styles and real wood are indeed making a comeback, then I hope some of the beautiful old furniture of yesteryear will find loving homes.
I'm in a 1920's 'Queenslander' - transoms above every door, fretwork arches separating kitchen from diningroom... i live coastal and remote rural so have an eclectic boho/scandi/coastal fusion.. 1920's white mahogany dining table, ornate seagrass woven high backed chairs with designer fabrics mixed as upholstery on the seats... apothecary 1020's curio cabinet, deep piled jute woven rigs on polished floors, pale walls to bounce light, harlequin glass casement windows- original to the house- an 80's off white laminate kitchen that strangely works... an original 1920's green cast iron bath and pedestal sink that works in the bathroom with a jungle of plants and the harlequin glass windows..
Function over form, and design styles that offer comfort, relaxed and easy living vibes. A place you can stretch your legs out and drift along in conversation.
90s Mmh, I remember a lot of Hunter Green and burgundy.
I was born in 1951 and have lived through all those fashion trends, even had an avocado green kitchen in the '80s (I loved the rust-avocado-gold palette). Shag rugs were the worst - there was absolutely no way to keep them clean, seriously. My living room has evolved from blues to neutrals with color accents. Nowadays, I am soooo happy to see the Target insipid-gold/aqua/whatever color scheme go away. And dark granite kitchen counters - yuck. Not a fan of all the gray appliances - if you can't stick a magnet on your fridge, what is the point? Boho, now, was fun, and my bedroom today is a little boho - still love macrame and textured handcrafted accents like it. Currently painting my 1985 brown paneling in the family room an antique white, keeping the dark trim. The bottom line is, make your house beautiful to you and a place that makes you happy, trend or no trend!
A 70’s child here
my parents allowed me to choose the paint colour for my bedroom. I chose bright orange wall paint with bright orange gloss paint, and it got painted that colour! I don’t know what my parents were thinking to allow me to do that especially when my mum used to work in a shop that sold paint and wallpaper before I was born.
Your parents obviously loved you!
All I remember of furniture design in the 80s was plaid furniture sets and a faux French county aesthetic. Lots and lots of rooster themed kitchen towels.
In the 90s my mom went for that ice blue and rose/mauve colors. She had the floral, pinstriped sofa... and lots of OAK. I hate oak to this day.
The early 00s remind me of taupe walls with crisp white baseboards/trim...
2010s and I think "accent wall" everyone had one.
These days my mom rides the line between farmhouse and mission, but they built on 5 acres in PNW, so it's at least appropriate with goats and chickens running around...😂
I was coming to mention the dusty blue variant of the desaturated trend! I too grew up with it and also cannot stand oak to this day. I see oak and am instantly take. Back to the 90s with the country style, chintz floral fabrics, frills, and “Victorian crafts” (aka dried flowers glued to straw hats, wreaths, & band boxes), all in the dusty rose, blue, peach, and SEAFOAM. Because of course what Nick was calling “dusty teal” was known as seafoam. 🤢 wretched palette. Bought our condo in 2010, moved in to dusty rose carpets and curtains in the bedroom. 😖
The 70’s style is really appealing to me, even though I’m an 80’s/90’s kid. I love all the earth tones and especially green. My current style could probably fall under the Boho umbrella but I add a lot of my interests into the mix.