Although 1970s interior design isn’t exactly everyone’s cup of tea (shag bath carpets and disco balls, anyone?), this decade popularized a lot of design elements that can still be stylish today. So whether you want your living room to feel like a blast from the past or want to sprinkle a hint of 70s design here and there, here are some design elements from the 1970s that you might want to bring back today:
1. Vintage furniture
If you want your living room to have more of a retro feel, then having vintage home furniture is a must. However, this doesn’t mean bringing back grandma’s horrible-looking couch. You can have furniture that looks like they’re five decades too late to the party but without being terrible and tacky. To do that, look through more than a few catalogs from companies that specialize in vintage furniture. You don’t even have to stick to ’70s furniture alone strictly. Instead, you can mix and match furniture from different decades and even incorporate modern furniture as long as they complement each other.
2. Statement stone
Almost every household back in the 1970s had a statement stone wall or fireplace in the living room. That’s just how widespread this trend was. Bringing this back can make your living room look more stylish and sophisticated, especially when you choose rocks and patterns that fit well with the rest of the walls.
3. Open floor plan
Floor plans in the 1970s look similar to modern home designs today, with the main living areas (kitchen, dining room, living room) openly connected. This design element makes the home look more spacious and allows natural light to flow freely across the rooms, not to mention making entertaining guests much easier.
If your kitchen, dining room, and living room are separated with walls, you might want to consider converting to an open floor plan.
4. Lots of colors and textures
A lot of homeowners in the ’70s liked decorating their living rooms with an abundance of colors and textures. But today, homeowners tend to use fewer colors and textures, mainly influenced by the minimalism movement.
Hence, if you want to make your living room feel more ’70s-ish, incorporate more than three or four colors and textures in your decor, wall colors, and furniture pieces. However, avoid going overboard lest you want to end up with a living room that looks like a Crayola pack exploded in it.
5. Nature elements
The hippie culture back in the ’70s played a hand in influencing interior design at the time. Since the hippie viewpoint respected the Earth and all its natural elements, ’70s homeowners found themselves decorating their living rooms with indoor plants, pine accents, natural stone, and other things that reminded them of nature.
The best part of this design element is that people are still doing it today, albeit a little more sparingly. To bring the outdoors into your home, try decorating with indoor plants, flowers, and other natural materials.
6. Bean bag chairs
Bean bag chairs were all the rage in the ’70s. These comfy pieces of ‘furniture’ are inexpensive, easy to carry, and super comfortable, making them an excellent addition for your ’70s-themed living room.
7. Geometric shapes
From furniture to walls patterns to decorative pieces, 1970s glamour popularized geometric shapes in many of the decade’s trendiest design elements. To bring back this trend to your modern living room, find furniture with clean, geometric shapes or try looking for geometric patterns for rugs, accessories, and throw pillows. Too retro for you? You can settle with geometric art pieces.
8. Shag carpet
Shag carpets came in all sorts of colors back in the day, usually in eye-burning hues like burnt orange or brighter-than-bright pink. If you don’t dig these outrageous colors, you can still indulge in the comfort and style that a shag carpet provides by choosing more neutral colors. More importantly, shag carpets are easier to clean today than they were in the ’70s, so you don’t have to worry about going crazy like your parents did when the shag carpet got dirty back then.
The 1970s is a unique period just like any other, especially when it comes to interior design. While a lot of design elements are too old school or even convenient to bring back today, you can incorporate a lot of other features into your modern living room.
