Displaying posts labeled "Vintage"

When God was handing out taste most people say that the designers from the 80s were holding the door for the other decades to pass through first. I’m on a mission to rehabilitate this much maligned 10 years. Not everything was horrendous and as some of you have rightly pointed out good design will out. There are good ideas here, bright painted interiors of cupboards, painted floors, bold vibrant artwork and tasteful rooms that could be from the present. Try to ignore the ruffles and the dried flowers. I love the use of house plants from the 80s. Maybe if we start with that. Baby steps remember.

Images scanned from Better Homes and Gardens New Decorating Book, Editor Gerald M Knox, Meridith Corporation, Des Moines, Iowa, 1981.

Sidsel wrote to tell us about an apartment in Denmark that is loaded with all sorts of great thrifted finds. A creative agency “Stupid Studios” is taking over the apartment to turn it into their office, but since the previous owner had such a knack of finding and displaying her thrift finds, they posted photos on their blog of what it looked like before they took it over. Since thrifting is one of my favourite pastimes, I LOVE to see what people can do with all the fantastic stuff they find. Many thanks to Sidsel for the link to this treasure trove of an apartment!

Ah the 80s! Era of large hair, even larger shoulder pads, leg warmers with high heels and excess excess excess. There were some things that were good. New Romantic boy bands with smoky eyeliner and rat’s tails in their hair for one thing. OK OK I was a med student in the 80s not an interior designer so my taste may have been a little dubious. It was a mixed bag of an era just like these kitchens from the early 80s but good design would shine through occasionally. Images scanned from Beyond the Kitchen, A Dreamers Guide, Thomas Cowan, Blandford Press, Dorset, 1985.

While some of these kitchens are revolting some are not. This is part of my subversive campaign to bring back the 80s. Long live the decade that taste forgot!

I know, I know. I’m a little late with your retro fix this week. In honour of Kim who is up to her armpits in last minute jobs before she puts her house on the market I’ve scanned some fabulous retro chair porn. Once again from the indispensable The Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement, Vol 8, Greystone Press, New York, 1971.

There are some things conceived in the 60s that hold their age quite well (ahem, ahem…. I’m a case in point) but there are others that are in serious need of cosmetic surgery or is that a complete gut reno? Here are some interesting to say the least kitchens from the era. OK, OK I could live with one maybe two of these.