Interior Design in the 1970s

Until the 70s, interior design was simply a DIY pursuit. Once the seventies hit, it was 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, funky textured walls, wood-grain panelling and wallpaper . . . lots and lots and lots and lots of wallpaper! Pre-pasted Vymura was “as easy to hang as a painting”.

In the seventies, for the first time, plants made their way into the house 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, listen to Bert Kaempfert records, drink Cinzano and eat fondue.