Interior Design in the 1970s

Until the 1970s, interior design was simply a DIY pursuit. Once the Seventies hit, it became a lifestyle statement.

The dominant colours were Puce, Red, Yellow, Blue, Green (sorry, Avocado), Purple, Gold and Brown.

If it moved, it had to be sprayed with metallic paint – cars, shoes, hair, shirts, guitars, Y-fronts and faces. To be truly 70s and Glam, it had to be Shiny, Glittery and Spangly.

There were swirls everywhere: on the ceilings, on the walls, on the floors and even on the windows. The furniture was as bright as the walls, and the overhead lights had to be able to be pulled down on a curly lead.

Funky textured carpets (shag-pile was popular, even in the bathroom), funky textured walls (velvet was a popular choice, as were flocked or foiled paper), wood-grain panelling, and wallpaper ruled supreme . . . lots and lots and lots and lots of wallpaper (and pre-pasted Vymura was “as easy to hang as a painting”).

In the seventies, plants made their way into the house for the first time, and all Glam 70s homes had to have a Yucca or two in the dining room.

Their pots would inevitably be filled with JPS butts and cheap cigarillos after Saturday night dinner parties at which the guests would don velvet dinner suits and backless evening gowns, relax in a bean bag, listen to Bert Kaempfert records, drink Cinzano and eat fondue.

Macramé, created by tying cords into knots, was all the rage in 70s homes, used for everything from potted-plant holders to decorative wall hangings in the shape of owls (a bird which also featured in the popular ‘string art‘ of the time).

Soft furnishings really came into their own in the 70s, with much more choice available than in previous decades –  everything from bright, bold graphics to florals to sumptuous velvets – but natural textures such as rattan (once consigned to patios) were also a big hit in interiors (used in rattan light fittings, chairs, chest of drawers and storage baskets), thanks to its neutral tones.

No kitchen and bathroom flooring in the 70s was nearly as ubiquitous as patterned linoleum, beloved by working mums for its durability and easy cleanup.