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Ghastly Decorating Choices That Your Mom Made

I'll start

Plastic Carpet Runners/Protectors everywhere

Next....

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by Anonymousreply 164August 8, 2020 7:28 PM

As a kid my mom took our wonderful mid-century modern house and converted it to a Mediterranean nightmare complete with paintings of bullfights and Spanish dancing Senoritas... I never got over it :(

by Anonymousreply 1August 2, 2020 2:46 PM

Gold and orange shag carpet. In her defense, it was the 70’s

by Anonymousreply 2August 2, 2020 2:49 PM

I loved all the decorating sins of moms in my neighborhood. I categorized all of them in my little snarky mind and visited them often to really appreciate and enjoy their ghastliness.

by Anonymousreply 3August 2, 2020 2:50 PM

conquistadors were sexy

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by Anonymousreply 4August 2, 2020 2:54 PM

Orange and brown kitchen carpeting, also in the 70s. I can still remember waking-up every morning, and coming down to breakfast to have that staring me in the face.

by Anonymousreply 5August 2, 2020 2:54 PM

Eldergays-- did you know it was "ghastly" (to use OPs term) back then, given that everything seemed to have looked like that, or is it only in retrospect that you realize how awful it was?

by Anonymousreply 6August 2, 2020 2:56 PM

Prediction: this thread will become a DL classic.

by Anonymousreply 7August 2, 2020 2:56 PM

My Mom went through a Cabbage Patch Doll period. She had them everywhere, except my room and the living room we only used twice a year.

by Anonymousreply 8August 2, 2020 2:58 PM

@r4, "conquistadors were sexy "

Not when they're made into a lamp with giant shades above their heads

by Anonymousreply 9August 2, 2020 2:59 PM

Balloon valances

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by Anonymousreply 10August 2, 2020 3:01 PM

Pine panelling on the ceilings and walls. Pine table/chairs/cupboards/ cabinets. Casts a horrible light.

At least I’ll be able to fashion her casket from it. Save some cash. Or burn the bitch on a pine fueled bonfire.

by Anonymousreply 11August 2, 2020 3:04 PM

Capodimonte lamps - EVERYWHERE

by Anonymousreply 12August 2, 2020 3:08 PM

What do you mean, dear? I'm waiting...

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by Anonymousreply 13August 2, 2020 3:09 PM

70a Early American in the 80s when all my friends’ houses were done in French Country. I did not appreciate it at the time that the decor in my house was much better quality and many authentic. antique pieces. Except for the dark walnut and bronze eagle lamp that graced the living room.

by Anonymousreply 14August 2, 2020 3:10 PM

My mom went through a period in which she had awful avocado green decor in the house.

by Anonymousreply 15August 2, 2020 3:11 PM

OMG, r13, we have the same mom AND the same livingroom

by Anonymousreply 16August 2, 2020 3:22 PM

My Mom's ghastly choice was to buy the showroom window. Actually for 1958+, it wasn't actually ghastly. Everything was blue and green. Think Bitossi pottery, of which we had quite a few pieces. Those were the only colors she used.

The living room has a white wool carpet (She would tell anyone who came into the house that the carpet was *wool*.) Two wood-frame Regency chairs in white and gold, upholstered in light blue cotton velvet. The coffee table was two antiqued gilt Corinthian columns with an oval piece of glass. The case goods were what I guess is called Hollywood Regency. At least one had an inset top of Travertine. The sofa was an off-white Hollywood Regency with a French gilt mirror above. The two fully upholstered chairs matched the sofa, but were upholstered in a blue and green Quatrefoil trellis pattern. What might be considered ghastly was that there was an Van Luit wallpaper mural of the Acropolis, but maybe that is more "camp". What got me was that everything came from a show window at the JH Biggers Furniture store. She literally walked into the store bought the entire window.

by Anonymousreply 17August 2, 2020 3:25 PM

R10, my mother put up balloon valances and vertical blinds.

by Anonymousreply 18August 2, 2020 3:28 PM

R10 I'll see your mum's baloon valance, and raise you some 90s swags. A friend of hers even enquired: "Did your son help you with those?" They were très gay to be sure. The ends resembled bishop's sleeves. Totally over the top.

by Anonymousreply 19August 2, 2020 3:30 PM

This was long after I moved out, but my parents had the Bundys' couch in their living room.

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by Anonymousreply 20August 2, 2020 6:58 PM

Avocado everything including appliances and wall-to-wall carpet, accented by orange, including a bright orange very long and narrow couch in the living room. Oh, and a 3 ft tall cherub with a bouqet of fake flowers sprouting from the cherub's head.

It was dreadful. And that's just a small taste.

by Anonymousreply 21August 2, 2020 7:06 PM

my grandparents had this lamp that dripped oil down these string things that made it look like it was raining I guess? I just know as a kid I was fascinated. I remember it took a while for the oil to heat up and get going after you first turned it on.

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by Anonymousreply 22August 2, 2020 8:08 PM

Mom had a long-skirted doll to hide the spare toilet roll in both bathrooms.

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by Anonymousreply 23August 2, 2020 8:40 PM

These

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by Anonymousreply 24August 2, 2020 8:47 PM

Please continue with your tales and pictures of heaven.

by Anonymousreply 25August 2, 2020 8:50 PM

I was lucky that my mother had fantastic taste. The only problem was, I guess she sort of ran out of space over the years and just kept buying more stuff, and so our house was lovely in most respects, but could've been edited down in a big way. Nothing near hoarding, but very cluttered.

At one point not that long ago I bought a weekend home and was allowed to go "shopping" in my folks' house for furniture, accessories, antiques, dishes, etc. I took a LOT of things - enough to furnish about half of my weekend home - and right now, you could never tell anyone had taken anything.

Good taste can become ghastly without proper editing.

by Anonymousreply 26August 2, 2020 9:02 PM

R1 OMG my aunt did this as well. She's got black velvet paintings of bull fighting and conquistadors all over the place framed in this golden ornate frames. Red velvet curtains, pink walls throughout... it looks like a brothel. Melted wax candle covered wine bottles. Red ruby beaded curtains through the entrance ways. Ruby glassware dining sets. The walls in her dining room have really dark wood paneling.

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by Anonymousreply 27August 2, 2020 9:03 PM

Taxidermy And Macrame.

Even my dad cringed.

by Anonymousreply 28August 2, 2020 9:13 PM

Every single pillow in the house is karate chopped. It’s not like she’s Bruce Lee.

by Anonymousreply 29August 2, 2020 9:16 PM

The parents built their dream house with all these awkward levels (watch your step!). A full bath on the 2nd story and a half bath on the ground level. Lots of stairs...

A few years later Dad was in a wheelchair and had to live at a retirement home.

Also, their backyard is a steep decline down to woods. I told them years ago to find a landscaper who could 'terrace' it with plantings, benches, walkways, lighting.

But it remains just a hill of grass my mom has to mow at age 82.

by Anonymousreply 30August 2, 2020 9:17 PM

R17 that sounds very nice. I'm the one who said I enjoyed questionable taste. If she had these Bitossi I am envious! I loved piss elegant middle class suburbia especially anything "continental" such as French or Scandinavian and I loved loved Italian American crossed with Hollywood Regency (not the label at the time). I bet your mom was swell and I admire her economy in 1 stop decorating.

by Anonymousreply 31August 2, 2020 9:20 PM

Bitossi urn

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by Anonymousreply 32August 2, 2020 9:20 PM

My mother had excellent taste. My father, on the other hand, favored the cheap western motifs created by his secretary turned second wife.

by Anonymousreply 33August 2, 2020 9:22 PM

My mom wanted the Eero Saarinen tulip dinette set but it was too pricey. She bought a knockoff that was surprisingly well made as it lives on, and was passed among our student apts then vacation homes.

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by Anonymousreply 34August 2, 2020 9:24 PM

I begged my mom to put in inflatable furniture along with the bean bags in our rec room. She refused but I was allowed an inflatable sofa in my bedroom. I loved my mod white plastic b&w portable tv.

by Anonymousreply 35August 2, 2020 9:27 PM

R34 really reminds me of the dinette sets people would win on Let's Make A Deal.

You sound like you were such a cute little gayling, R35

by Anonymousreply 36August 2, 2020 9:36 PM

R31, my mom wasn't swell in any sense of the word. She was a shallow girl from rural Arkansas who thought you could buy good taste by the yard. She bought Bitossi because it was blue and green, not because she had any appreciation for it. The interesting thing was that she was well-dressed during the early 1960s Jackie Kennedy era. We would go to Bullocks Pasadena where she would buy licensed copies of Chanel, etc. Then the late 60s/70s happened and she lost all sense of direction. She wore hideous Act III polyester pantsuits in that made her look like a clown and Pucci that made her look like the stereotypical, caftan wearing Datalounger. Plus, she applied Opium perfume by the gallon.

Below is the Bitossi style we had. (I still have).

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by Anonymousreply 37August 2, 2020 9:44 PM

My mother insists on keeping a ridiculous wood wall-unit that used to hold my family's entertainment system in her living room. Despite the fact that her TV doesn't fit into it anymore, it's been tucked into the corner of the living room with various tchotchkes and photographs on the top of it, with a giant empty glaring hole where a regular TV used to fit. She never let us forget that she paid $2000 for it in 1985, so she'll be damned if she ever gets rid of it. It's the first think that's going to the dump once she's dead. I can't even imagine how it'd be repurposed. *shudders*

by Anonymousreply 38August 2, 2020 9:49 PM

I loved every inch of the house I grew up in. My mother had little interest in decorating actually so she used interior decorators mostly, maybe a bit hollywood regency leaning, but appropriate for the time period. I loved the turquoise wall ovens and center island stove top. I'd have them in my house even now if Miele made them in that color. Also a lot of inherited stuff from her parents too that worked well - it was a huge house so she could always find some place for anything.

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by Anonymousreply 39August 2, 2020 9:59 PM

Ashtrays on stands. They were beside every chair, they were even next to the toilets. It was my job to empty them.

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by Anonymousreply 40August 2, 2020 9:59 PM

Green shag carpeting in the living room, it was comfortable to lay around on but God awful ugly.

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by Anonymousreply 41August 2, 2020 10:05 PM

My mother was a professional interior decorator and home stager so she had decent taste. Not always my taste but I recall always living in a beautifully decorated home. I still use a few of her ideas. Beautiful antique oriental styling is in a separate category and that was what she was known for. It's not for everyone but I like the vibe as long as it's not over the top.

by Anonymousreply 42August 2, 2020 10:07 PM

My mother put spine chillingly sinister folksy religious icons above our beds.

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by Anonymousreply 43August 2, 2020 10:08 PM

Mom went through a velvet phase in the living room. I don't know if it was actually velvet or 'flocked' or what it's called but the sofa was orange and avocado green and yellow floral flocked print with two 'velvet' solid green wing chairs. Bridge lamps on either side of the sofa. We weren't allowed in the living room. It was for guests only.

by Anonymousreply 44August 2, 2020 10:09 PM

Paper mache big Mexican sculptures of birds, etc. awful

by Anonymousreply 45August 2, 2020 10:18 PM

So many people had that living room rule. You couldn't go in the living room because it was for guests. Fortunately, my mother didn't have that rule. We were allowed to play in the living room. My mother was also a professional decorator and her favorite style was modern no matter what the era. I do remember having an avocado refrigerator at some point. She also hated knick-knacks. She like sculpture and abstract art. I always thought the rooms that she decorated were cold. Too much white.

by Anonymousreply 46August 2, 2020 10:21 PM

this wallpaper in the center hall entryway

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by Anonymousreply 47August 2, 2020 10:22 PM

A ping pong table.

by Anonymousreply 48August 2, 2020 10:24 PM

reupholstered a wingback chair in gold velour backing and armrest covers and then white and gold needlepoint front and cushion c.1973

by Anonymousreply 49August 2, 2020 10:25 PM

R46, we had a psychiatrist (female) in our town who had all all white house. Even the wall art was embossed white paper. All of that because she was "the one color accent".

by Anonymousreply 50August 2, 2020 10:26 PM

#46's mother.

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by Anonymousreply 51August 2, 2020 10:35 PM

In the early 70s, my bed spread was bright orange shag.

by Anonymousreply 52August 2, 2020 10:51 PM

My Grandmother's rug was orange shag and I remember her having this little plastic rake that she used to fluff it after vacuuming.

by Anonymousreply 53August 3, 2020 2:02 AM

Seafoam green shag carpeting over honey blonde oak tongue and groove flooring downstairs, up the stairs and in the master bedroom. Multi-colored green indoor/outdoor carpeting GLUED down to oak flooring in kids' rooms.

by Anonymousreply 54August 3, 2020 2:37 AM

A tie between two "needlepoint/wall art/hanging things." The first said, "Make Mine Country!"; the second said, "Tea Tastes Better With a Friend." Oy.

by Anonymousreply 55August 3, 2020 2:47 AM

^^^ My mother had a mug tree that said "It's Coffee Time".

by Anonymousreply 56August 3, 2020 3:23 AM

My mother decorated the living room in French Provincial style, which was bad enough, but for some reason she started collecting Saloon Showgirl porcelain dolls from Franklin Mint and put them in acrylic displays cases on the end tables, piano and mantel. These gals looked like bordello madames, and I thought mom had taken leave of her senses.

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by Anonymousreply 57August 3, 2020 3:42 AM

Those are fucking creepy, r57.

by Anonymousreply 58August 3, 2020 3:48 AM

Overall, my Mom's taste was consistent and rather prim: grey and pink for a 50s color palette, even up until 7 years ago. The only things that irked me were carpeting in the bathroom, and wallpaper borders used to decorate the drapery valances.

by Anonymousreply 59August 3, 2020 3:50 AM

My mom put a life size suit of armor in our 2 story lawyer foyer. I think it was inspired by the Knight’s Inn that had opened close to our highway exit. We weren’t allowed to try it on. Even for Halloween.

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by Anonymousreply 60August 3, 2020 3:53 AM

We had shag carpeting of orange, brown and mustard throughout the entire downstairs. Upstairs was that gold crap. With gold fiberglass damask curtains.

I still have one of those hideous gold curtains to block the light in my bedroom.

The kitchen had an avacado green refrigerator and the mustard yellow stove. We didn't have a lot of money so the refrigerator was second hand when the mustard one died and dad could no longer fix it.

The walls in the house were mustard yellow save for one that ran the entire width of the front which was chocolate brown.

With Buddha heads for lamps.

by Anonymousreply 61August 3, 2020 3:59 AM

A LOT of those "dusty pink" 1980s faux-Deco vases in various shapes (and there are a lot out there).

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by Anonymousreply 62August 3, 2020 4:50 AM

[quote]Ruby glassware dining sets.

My grandmother loved that shit.

by Anonymousreply 63August 3, 2020 4:55 AM

R24 that kid has really big feet for his height! Do you think he’s hung?

by Anonymousreply 64August 3, 2020 5:05 AM

The house I grew up in was 100% avocado green when my family bought it in 1970. We had to live with the kitchen appliances and one green bathroom for a while but my parents painted every room and the exterior immediately and redid one bathroom. Still very 70s, my room was red, white and blue like the boys on the Brady Bunch.

by Anonymousreply 65August 3, 2020 5:07 AM

What judgmental prissy little snobs you all were/are. You must have driven your poor mothers insane

by Anonymousreply 66August 3, 2020 5:19 AM

So much was fauxlonial, including all of my bedroom furniture, with those gold eagle-y pull handles on cherry dressers, a pair of cherry fauxlonial bunk beds, a rag rug in shades of brown and beige, and repeat-pattern wallpaper in two different bedrooms not unlike the sample below. I detest Early American to this day.

What I wouldn't have given for a mother who preferred Saarinen.

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by Anonymousreply 67August 3, 2020 5:29 AM

My mother's "ghastly" decorating choices were the least of her problems and mine.

Quite frankly, some of the stuff that I thought of as awful wasn't considered bad back then. And some of it has gone in and out of style since then. So who cares?

She's been dead for years and I've had my own place for decades. I've decorated to suit my own tastes and no one else's. She pretty much did the same.

Some of you seem ashamed of your past and it seems so important to proclaim that you are so much better than who you were. Why is that? Who are you trying to impress?

by Anonymousreply 68August 3, 2020 6:04 AM

Homemade craft with White Crochet on everything. Curtains, tablecloths, towels, cushions, etc. And lots of flower patterns and ribbons. She is very crafty.

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by Anonymousreply 69August 3, 2020 6:08 AM

My best friend's mom did latch hook rugs and they hung on every wall in the house. I remember one that was a giant owl and another of a clown holding a bunch of balloons. They also had an organ and she would play music that was similar to skating rink music or the organ music we would hear at Dodger Stadium.

by Anonymousreply 70August 3, 2020 6:19 AM

It sounds as if most of you have memories from the 1960's which was a generally decent era in interior design at least. My memories are from the late 80's and early 90's and both were dreadful - particularly for suburban moms with no taste to speak of. My mother's choices were some of the worst. Many of my friends had the tacky yet comfortable (at least in hot, steamy Florida) "leather" sofas/sectionals. They were not actually leather at all with the exception of one or two seating surfaces and were instead stitched vinyl. Big, puffy and ugly - but again somewhat cooling and comfortable - particularly during the long summer months. My mother preferred the same hideous La-Z-Boy style (with foot rests that kicked out) but instead done in rough scratchy grey blue fabric with flowers on it. This was matched with dusty rose everything else and dirty looking deep tan wall to wall carpet. Hideous. Her particular passion during my childhood was applying "wall paper borders" - hideous 7 to 8" strips of printed vinyl (with ducks, flowers, etc.) that was used in the place of crown molding. This was particularly terrible when attempted on "cathedral ceilings" (a tacky architectural style of homes built in the era - we aren't talking post and beam MCM here) and used at angles with odd cuts that lined up terrible. Taking into consideration the plethora of bad design trends of the era - I would have to say that these cheap wallpaper borders take the cake for me.

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by Anonymousreply 71August 3, 2020 6:26 AM

In retrospect, my mom's decorating choices were not bad, for the era. However, too much harvest gold, olive green, and brown. Ugh! Our family room (part of an extension to the house) had fake, dark brown wood paneling.

Carpet was not shag and I always envied those kids who had shag carpeting. Now, I find shag carpet disgusting.

Later in life, my mom became an organized, semi-hoarder. In order to clean something, you had to move something else.

by Anonymousreply 72August 3, 2020 6:38 AM

I didn't really mind my mum's decorating growing up, but to this day I still detest fake flowers. She still has them all over her house, despite the fact she is an excellent gardener and has bunches of fresh flowers and foliage at her fingertips to choose from.

by Anonymousreply 73August 3, 2020 6:40 AM

We were the house of hand-me-downs. Snow-bird Irving across the street got married and his new bartender middle-age floozy with the blonde hair sprayed bouffant wanted new carpet. We got the old slightly worn old carpet, and my mom cuts it to fit the living room. When we sold my mom's home over 15 years ago, that carpet was still there. The neighbor across the street sold mobile homes. Every now and then they would 'update' the model homes and we got these hideous tacky dark plank wood coffee table and 2 end tables. When I moved my mom to live with me over 15 years ago, she still had them. They were in the attic when I moved from that house, to my current house. They were over 40 years old. Donated. We got someone's old white with green edge design Corning Ware dishes. Back in the 60s, my mom bought a small, 3 panel size China Hutch from Sears that has plastic wood reproduction doors; even the glass window doors on top. It is in my dining room, right now. My mom uses those plastic on wheels storage with drawers. In my living room, right now, next to her new lift chair (the old one worked, she just wanted a 'new' one & and the 'old' she wants to keep as another chair in the world's smallest living room) is a skinny 5 drawer plastic drawer in wheels that contains, who knows what crap. On top of that she has one of those spinning wood TV remote holders that holds 4 remotes that practically takes up the whole top of the 5 drawer on wheels; but just enough room for a coaster. But she also has an arm chair flap thingy to hold remotes. Yet, she can't figure out how to get Netflix and Amazon Prime, by pressing the button labeled with those exact names. In the 3rd bedroom, her office, she an assortment of mini dresser type plastic drawer. About 4 of them. All full of who knows what crap. Married With Children had better design class.

by Anonymousreply 74August 3, 2020 8:07 AM

Our suburban 1960 split level house was professionally decorated in "Jewish Rococco" style - lots of chandeliers, gold trim, etc. Also there were plastic floral arrangements galore, shag carpet in some of the rooms, harvest gold-pumpkin-avocado colorways. My mother was quite beautiful and the early 1960s look suited her well - stiletto heels, knit dresses, bouffant hair, black winged eyeliner. Unfortunately it all went downhill in the 70s - polyester pants suits, etc.

by Anonymousreply 75August 3, 2020 8:46 AM

[quote]A LOT of those "dusty pink" 1980s faux-Deco vases in various shapes (and there are a lot out there).

Ugh. Those hideous things. Worse than one's mother, I knew a group of gay men who gave each those things as gifts, in various colors, all with a sticker on the bottom advising that they were not to be used to hold water. (How did they ever arrive to that habit?) "Beautiful and practical, too?" No, neither.

by Anonymousreply 76August 3, 2020 8:47 AM

Painted floor.

by Anonymousreply 77August 3, 2020 8:51 AM

We need another thread to satisfy the scolds lecturing us on our judging and prissiness:

"Our (Imaginary) Children's Pronouncements on our Ghastly Decorating Choices."

by Anonymousreply 78August 3, 2020 9:19 AM

Did everyone’s house have shag carpet ??? Ours was avocado green. I was mystified that we had to rake the carpet . Classic thread

by Anonymousreply 79August 3, 2020 9:21 AM

The green, patterned carpet and not divorcing my father were the WORST!

by Anonymousreply 80August 3, 2020 9:31 AM

R15 - My sympathies - my mom went through the avocado green decor phase too. Even our Tupperware was avocado.

by Anonymousreply 81August 3, 2020 9:34 AM

R79 Our carpeting was Ghastly Gold (that was an actual shade wasn't it?) We didn't ever get shag because we were too poor to get new carpeting so our thin, flattened rug became more stained and ghastly as the years went by.

by Anonymousreply 82August 3, 2020 9:42 AM

I now think carpeting of any kind is unhygienic and allergenic, and will never again have any flooring that I cannot wash or throw out, ie, area rugs. Wall-to-wall carpeting+cats=a smelly, filthy house.

by Anonymousreply 83August 3, 2020 10:09 AM

OP I know you specifically mentioned moms decor that we grew up with but I can't help but share this disgraceful secret regarding my dad's CURRENT ghastly decor:

Dad currently has the walls in his living room plastered with Chris Consani paintings of Elvis, James Dean and Marilyn hanging out at the bar, playing pool, at the drive-in, etc....

In dad's dining room hutch, he has a collection of Elvis plates (circa 1985ish) - the type that you saw in glossy, full-color ads in women's magazines. Guess dad ordered the whole collector's edition series. Right next to Elvis are about 7 Campbell's Soup mugs (circa 1978) that mom let him have when they divorced. I've never seen him or anyone else eat soup out of those ugly mugs.

Anyway, I'm thoroughly ashamed and am not walking, but actually running to see my therapist in order to deal with dad's bad taste.

by Anonymousreply 84August 3, 2020 10:39 AM

My mother adored these things called "draft dodgers" which were long calico animal shapes meant to stop drafts from coming in from outside. I found this one on eBay, but mom's were brighter colors like red and yellow. When they got dirty and wore out she would buy new ones. She left them out all year so they were clearly meant to be decor.

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by Anonymousreply 85August 3, 2020 10:47 AM

For a few years, mom was really into Sandra Lee's Kurtain Kraft look, but she eventually got tired of the fabric sagging. Unfortunately, she kept the floral curtains.

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by Anonymousreply 86August 3, 2020 10:57 AM

Like r67 we also had faux-lonial. Which included a life size spinning wheel, powder blue velvet wingback chairs, ruffled pulled back curtains and dark pine furniture with white ceramic knobs. Also corner cabinets in almost every room eith blue transfer ware- which I actually liked.

by Anonymousreply 87August 3, 2020 11:40 AM

We had green transferware, r87, which I loathed. I still hate any of that type of dinnerware. And corner cabinetry. Thankfully, one of those corner cabinets was filled with my mother's mother's dinnerware, a simple white with floral rim pattern which, while I didn't love it—I don't like floral [italic]anything[/italic]—was still a lot better than the green fauxlonia.

My mother would have died to have her own spinning wheel. I wonder why she never thought of it.

R67

by Anonymousreply 88August 3, 2020 11:49 AM

Full length mirrors on a wall in the dining room.

Years later, when I was selliing the house after my parents had died, the realtor told me that was a major faux pas known in the trade as "too taste specific" that would need to be addressed before the house hit the market. This was in 2012 when it was still kind of a buyer's market after the Great Recession.

by Anonymousreply 89August 3, 2020 12:21 PM

R37, I like that Bitossi thing.

My mother liked “Early American” in the 70s and then went to “country” in the 80s and beyond. Earthenware jug lamps and dusty rose upholstery with pineapple motif woven in. Log cabin quilts, beeswax candles in pewter sconces.

In the last 20 years, her taste had gotten refined and really on-point. If you like the sort of farmhouse parlor look of Martha Stewart. Her former-schoolhouse home was on local garden tours. Very tasteful. This week we are going to clean out her house in Maine and I have dibs on the handmade Windsor chairs she had made. Guess I’m just missing her.

Now my GRANDmother... Ruby cut-glass goblets, kitchen wallpaper printed with butter churns and eagles clutching arrows. Side table with the lamp built in.

by Anonymousreply 90August 3, 2020 1:37 PM

To be fair to the mothers of the 70s, there wasn’t as much choice for the DIY home decorator then as there is nowadays. They had to choose from the lines the furniture stores carried and design at the time was heavy into earth tones and fauxlonial and other atrocities.

by Anonymousreply 91August 3, 2020 1:56 PM

R91 makes an excellent point -- if you were shopping for carpeting or kitchen appliances in 1975 avocado green / harvest gold / dark brown were the bulk of what was available. And while all us 70s kids NOW wish we had grown up in a tasteful MCM home full of Eames, Saarinen and Knoll, that furniture was alway very expensive -- more for the upper middle class and wealthy not the vast army of teachers, cops and union workers who could suddenly afford single family homes. Also, aside from the knockoff tulip kitchen suites that were much more common than the originals, by the Bicentennial those designs were already 20 years old and were viewed as very out of style. Fauxlonial, "Mediterranean", and 70's Mod were all arguably uglier; but they were different, "in style" and available -- welcome to consumer culture.

by Anonymousreply 92August 3, 2020 3:02 PM

[quote]And while all us 70s kids NOW wish we had grown up in a tasteful MCM home full of Eames, Saarinen and Knoll, that furniture was alway very expensive -- more for the upper middle class and wealthy not the vast army of teachers, cops and union workers who could suddenly afford single family homes.

Weren't Eames, Saarinen, and Knoll available through a decorator only?

by Anonymousreply 93August 3, 2020 3:09 PM

My parents did OK in the 70s. No avocado green everywhere. Generally a nice midcentury look, except for a bit of floral splash on the couches.

It was the 80s that was the problem.

We had the same couch as seen on The Golden Girls but in blue, and they apparently loved coral. Coral carpet, coral easy chair. Coral tiled walls in the bathroom. It was as if a bottle of Pepto Bismol threw up everywhere.

by Anonymousreply 94August 3, 2020 3:12 PM

R94 - The 80's "dusty rose" and all those "southwestern" pastels were the result of the pendulum, and the market, swinging away from the "earth tones" and bright primary colors of the 70s - it doesn't have to be better, just different.

by Anonymousreply 95August 3, 2020 3:26 PM

The home our parents bought in the mid 60s had beautiful pegged hardwood floors in the living room, dining room and entry. Not for long. Gold shag carpeting was installed over the beautiful floors. (Well, it did cut down on the echo.) It wasn't until both parents passed away and I was able to pull up the carpeting and restore the floors.

by Anonymousreply 96August 3, 2020 3:52 PM

Yes my mom in the 80’s went full throttle with dusty rose, peach, lavender, sort of a softer version of teal. It’s kind of cool to see pictures because she really committed to the look. This is the closest I found online

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by Anonymousreply 97August 3, 2020 3:56 PM

Olive green movie theater curtains at a bay window with two gold cut velvet club chairs on the sides of the window ....on the opposite wall was foil flocked cut velvet wallpaper in some deep red color.

Our home was a mid century split level...you felt like you were walking into a funeral home

by Anonymousreply 98August 3, 2020 4:23 PM

In 1976 my mother put up six bicentennial commemorative plates on the wall in the dining room. They didn’t come down until circa 1987. I can still picture the engraved pewter edges surrounding the bad enamel versions of such classics as Washington Crossing the Delaware. Though in retrospect it did replace a cheap painting of a toreador so maybe it just maintained the same degree of tastelessness rather Than take it down even further

by Anonymousreply 99August 3, 2020 4:43 PM

[quote]Our home was a mid century split level...you felt like you were walking into a funeral home

I've been to more funeral homes that reminded me of Tara than of [italic]chez[/italic] Brady Bunch.

by Anonymousreply 100August 3, 2020 4:45 PM

R100 - Imagine a lower end Brady Bunch house decorated in Sears Catalogue Tara, or Italian gold plaster cherubs and purple velvet covered in plastic - that was the general vibe in my ethnic-suburban 70s neighborhood.

by Anonymousreply 101August 3, 2020 4:55 PM

I had a paper route, so I regularaly saw almost 100 neighborhood living rooms - several had these stereo cabinet with fake fireplace things - like the one pictured but even more over the top. Imagine a high china cabinet with the fireplace in the middle and speakers on either side topped with columned, mirrored niches containing chain hanging lantern fixtures - these came in both dark "wood" Spanish Mediterranean, or white & gold Rocco Italian Provincial.

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by Anonymousreply 102August 3, 2020 5:06 PM

Another kid of the late 80s/early 90s here and my mother, as well, went in HARD on Southwestern. Pastel pottery everywhere.

I remember liking it, though. It seemed cool for the time and it was such an improvement from the orange carpet we had when I was really small.

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by Anonymousreply 103August 3, 2020 5:09 PM

I hated the fake wood panel thing even as a kid. But it covered up cracked walls and was cheap. But yuck.

by Anonymousreply 104August 3, 2020 5:13 PM

I hope some Brits chime in. If their domestic decor looked like what was shown on British tv from that era, God help them..

by Anonymousreply 105August 3, 2020 6:10 PM

80s floral chintz couch, with pinks and blues. Matching pink and blue velour Lazy Boy recliners. Blue carpeting that wasn't shag but had some sort of odd sheen to it. All in the living room where we were strongly discouraged from sitting in although at the time that was the only TV except the other one in her room.

by Anonymousreply 106August 3, 2020 6:16 PM

Indoor/outdoor carpeting.

In orange and brown.

In plaid.

by Anonymousreply 107August 3, 2020 6:17 PM

I remember cracking up at this line on Dynasty:

Sammy-Jo: "There's nothing I hate more than plaid wallpaper!"

by Anonymousreply 108August 3, 2020 6:20 PM

I think I had nightmares last night after reading half of this thread. The balloon valances were enough to drive me over the edge!

by Anonymousreply 109August 3, 2020 6:24 PM

Leopard skin carpet.

by Anonymousreply 110August 3, 2020 6:29 PM

Early 70s Sugar Land, Texas: Mediterranean-style home with Saltillo tile...stained blue. I loved it but many might find it ghastly.

by Anonymousreply 111August 3, 2020 6:31 PM

R102 Did you grow up in Baltimore?

by Anonymousreply 112August 3, 2020 6:32 PM

My parents purchased their "move up" home in 1961. Despite having separate living and family rooms on the main floor, my meticulous mother wanted a basement rec room which we kids could junk up to our heart's desire without disturbing the main floor. And so my father and his 9 year old helper (moi) got to work, installing wood paneling, drop ceilings, asphalt tile, faux brick and a wet bar, It was classic 60's flyover land rathskeller chic. It was also used for birthday and graduation parties and other large scale gatherings. After all of us kids grew up and moved out, my parents had less reason to do large scale entertaining, so it was seldom used after that. My mom often wanted to remodel the space but my father refused to spend money to remodel something no one ever used. When they downsized, the realtor insisted they update it, but my father told the realtor to drop dead. Luckily it was a seller's market.

by Anonymousreply 113August 3, 2020 6:48 PM

[quote]My best friend's mom did latch hook rugs and they hung on every wall in the house. I remember one that was a giant owl and another of a clown holding a bunch of balloons. They also had an organ and she would play music that was similar to skating rink music or the organ music we would hear at Dodger Stadium.

One of my aunts did had rugs all over her house for years.

by Anonymousreply 114August 3, 2020 7:17 PM

[quote]hope some Brits chime in. If their domestic decor looked like what was shown on British tv from that era, God help them.

I've seen current shows and they still have people living in horrid wallpaper and ugly carpeting. Exceptions sure but maybe it's working class folks still living in the past.

by Anonymousreply 115August 3, 2020 9:17 PM

My mother went through a Laura Ashley phase. She started in the bedroom and my father hinted that he got some kind of kinky pleasure by sleeping in the Lady's boudoir. We siblings figured old Dad was getting frisky and Mom was delighted with the extra attention, so she mistakenly assumed more Laura Ashley all over the house would be good for their love life.

by Anonymousreply 116August 3, 2020 9:26 PM

In addition to the avocado green, harvest gold, & burnt orange combo, there was a fourth color—pink. Not coral pink, or hot pink either but real pink, like carnation pink. Wasn’t used for major appliances, but pink definitely went into the color scheme. You had to see it next to burnt orange. It fit, in sort of a ghastly way.

The 70s were not for the faint of heart. The 70s was the decade that took the counterculture into the mainstream. It has a lot to answer for.

by Anonymousreply 117August 3, 2020 11:32 PM

Oh, god. The 70s...

In our family room my parents put in orange and green loop carpet (at least it wasn't shag). 1 inch squares of orange and green all over the floor of a large room. Matching orange curtains. The walls were cream so it didn't look too bad. All things considered anyway.

But, in the late 70s my mom decided to put up wallpaper and she chose... ships. Brown and blue ships. Still with the orange and green carpet and orange curtains.

It was eye searing.

She finally replaced the carpet and curtain with brown in 87 or so.

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by Anonymousreply 118August 3, 2020 11:42 PM

Did anyone have astroturf on their patio?

by Anonymousreply 119August 4, 2020 12:03 AM

Our 50s-era kitchen was painted turquoise, with boomerang pattern Formica countertops and turquoise-and-black splotched linoleum. God, I hated that turquoise.

My dad built the house and installed red oak flooring and trim throughout, but put linoleum down over it in every room in the house. Then again, they had eight kids so it made sense.

In the early 80s, my mom replaced the linoleum in the living room with deep-napped rust carpet. It went really well with the red oak trim. She was very proud to finally have been able to afford wall-to-wall carpeting.

After I bought the house, I tore out the carpeting and the remaining linoleum and discovered absolutely gorgeous hardwood floors in pristine condition underneath. So I guess mom and dad were right to keep it covered while we were growing up.

by Anonymousreply 120August 4, 2020 12:28 AM

[quote]Did anyone have astroturf on their patio?

My grandparents did. It also flanked their pool.

by Anonymousreply 121August 4, 2020 1:51 AM

In college I had an apartment that had AstroTurf on the balcony. In upstate NY, it stayed wet most of the year.

by Anonymousreply 122August 4, 2020 1:58 AM

I could never understand why so many people covered up hardwood floors with ugly tile and carpeting. Those are classic.

by Anonymousreply 123August 4, 2020 2:05 AM

My parents had no taste. Glue-on paneling, pastel paint, unfinished oak floors with scratch tracks, stairway rungs left broken off. Their indifference and six kids left it looking rough.

Home sweet home.

But my grandmother, who had an apartment in the house, did her place in mid-century (19th) Austrian with a few simple moderne pieces for astringents.

It was e a respite to slip down and play her Gounod's "Ave Maria" music box where she kept her rosary and read another chapter of HIdegarde's "Over 50-So What?" that she kept on her coffee table.

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by Anonymousreply 124August 4, 2020 2:17 AM

R67 R88 - Early Bewitched was my mother’s inspiration. She bricked up the whole wall in the family room to surround the fireplace. Unfortunately she lost interest and never moved onto the fake Modigliani paintings or more modern furnishings. I believe the Zenith TV even had a decorative trim. Also braided rugs from LLBean. She still orders those.

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by Anonymousreply 125August 4, 2020 3:32 AM

We had an assortment of fake pies displayed on the entertainment center.

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by Anonymousreply 126August 4, 2020 3:41 AM

Racist memorabilia, up to and including a lawn jockey in the living room.

by Anonymousreply 127August 4, 2020 3:43 AM

Mum was always thinking pink.

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by Anonymousreply 128August 4, 2020 4:39 AM

Grew up among avocado green shag carpeting, avocado green wallpaper, avocado green couch, pickled wooden furniture. A series of annual pewter plates resided above the fireplace. The kitchen was dark brown paneled cupboards, green linoleum, yellow formica countertop.

Fast-forward to the 90's. The living room & kitchen got blond hardwood floors, blue plaid overstuffed chairs, nautical wallpaper with new england themed border and glass/brass-top wood coffee & end tables. Massive custom-made corner wooden entertainment center to hold the CRT TV and the VCR. The kitchen cupboards were painted semigloss white and the countertops a baby blue / confetti formica. The decor remains to this day.

by Anonymousreply 129August 4, 2020 5:04 AM

[quote]It was e a respite to slip down and play her Gounod's "Ave Maria" music box where she kept her rosary and read another chapter of HIdegarde's "Over 50-So What?" that she kept on her coffee table.

I'm quite serious when I say thank God for your wonderful grandmother in your journey as a hilarious baby gay aesthete!

by Anonymousreply 130August 4, 2020 6:11 AM

My parent's taste was modern and contemporary. I lived in two houses with them. The first was a modest ranch. In my very early childhood they had blonde wood side tables and coffee table with a ceramic black panther on it. Very typical for the time. Then they hired an interior decorator from a local furniture store and did the whole living room in mid century modern. Danish modern chairs, original modern paintings, some of which I still have.

When I was 14 we moved to a large two story house and they went even more modern but with a hippy edge. Big square coffee table with inset arty tiles. Huge soft squishy velvet sofa with a loud patchwork pattern, browns, golds, oranges, etc. It was butt ugly but that was one solid and comfortable sofa. I slept on it rather than in my old room it was so comfy (under grandma's granny squares blanket she crocheted, very 70s). For the most part the furniture was good quality and the place was comfortable. In the family room, however, they had hideous patterned vinyl flooring, an atrocious black Naugahyde sofa, and a plain modern light wood kitchen table with matching contemporary chairs (think conference room) on wheels.

The dining room had a good quality modern set with large china cabinet. Modern china from the 1950s. I look back on it all fondly. Sort of a mishmash, not the most beautiful rooms ever, but very comfortable and filled with love and life. I sure miss the feeling of safety I had there and really enjoy the pieces I kept.

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by Anonymousreply 131August 4, 2020 6:21 AM

People imagine the decor of bygone eras is tasteful and elegant; eg, Art Déco being all Lalique and beautiful clean lines. But I had lunch in a hotel that had retained all its' original 1930s decor and it was the ugliest shit imaginable.

by Anonymousreply 132August 4, 2020 6:40 AM

Excellent point, R132. At any point in time there are always people who have informed taste and do make good, interesting things, sometimes refined and sometimes big, bold, and a bit sloppy but a space well done. I shudder a bit when I hear that someone likes Art Deco because my first impression is, "Oh, shit, this isn't going to be a collector of Donald Deskey; he doesn't have a lacquered Eileen Gray screen, or bronze relief plaques from the elevator doors of a grand building, or even a nice group of 1920s playing cards with Art Deco designs, but instead a 1950s kitchen bursting with mass produced Fiestaware and Jadeite bowls and a busted up late 1940s Electrolux vacuum in a closet.

by Anonymousreply 133August 4, 2020 10:14 AM

Actually, R133, I was making a different point. Everyone is bemoaning the horrible domestic decor of mid to late 20th century with which they grew up. There are common themes - the orange/gold/avocado colorway, shag carpeting, pine paneled walls, flocked wallpaper. But 20 years hence, people will open up an Architectural Digest from the 60s or 70s and say, "If only we had stunning interiors like these!" The majority of people had terrible taste in every era.

by Anonymousreply 134August 4, 2020 10:35 AM

R134 is correct - in any era and in any style there is always much more ugly stuff around than great stuff -just look at all the horrible 60s “danish” case goods being hawked on Etsy. After 15 years almost everting looks “dated” and it takes another 15 for (mostly just the good stuff) to start to seem “interesting” again - just look at the cycles of designs and their revivals over the last 100 years. 35 year old Memphis stuff is hot right now.

by Anonymousreply 135August 4, 2020 3:37 PM

R123 - see R120. For lower middle / middle class people in the 60s & 70s wall to wall carpet was not only in style, it was a status marker that they could finally afford.

That generation grew up with area rugs - and even those types of floor coverings weren’t cheap —completely bare wood floors were associated with poverty. A decent hardwood floor, along with rather elaborate woodwork, were just basic construction standards, they weren’t coveted. So wealthy people started the “broadloom” trend and by the late 60s it was becoming affordable to the masses.

My mother wanted to ditch wall to wall in the late 90s (their 1965 house has great oak floors) but my dad refused. It took another 15 years for that new carpeting to wear out before she got her way.

by Anonymousreply 136August 4, 2020 3:50 PM

We had wall-to-wall in our bedrooms, mostly because my parents remember, from childhood, waking up to cold floors.

by Anonymousreply 137August 4, 2020 5:10 PM

R126 made me piss myself laughing.

by Anonymousreply 138August 4, 2020 5:15 PM

R137, I’m the same way.

My entire house is hardwood floors except for the bedrooms. And for that exact reason. To me, hardwood floors are cold for a bedroom and the carpet is more “homey.”

by Anonymousreply 139August 4, 2020 5:16 PM

R139, it occurs to me they also used it in hallways and stairs, probably to cut down on noise. They also believed it was safer, cushioned on the stairs especially.

by Anonymousreply 140August 4, 2020 5:36 PM

The reason for wall-to-wall carpeting is that is was easy to maintain. You just vacuumed it. Hard wood floors had to be mopped, waxed, and polished. My mother had a electric buffer that she used to polish the floors after waxing.

by Anonymousreply 141August 4, 2020 5:44 PM

[quote] My mother had a electric buffer that she used to polish the floors after waxing.

Ha! My grandmother had one and she told us our father was terrified of it.

by Anonymousreply 142August 4, 2020 6:00 PM

One of my little friends from down the street's mother did their entire house in powder blue. Powder blue carpet through the whole house. Powder blue paint on all walls. Powder blue seating. It was bizarre and unsettling to go in there. It made me ever so slightly nauseous. I remember there was a bit of white with the powder blue, but not a whole lot. It was like walking into another dimension.

by Anonymousreply 143August 4, 2020 6:10 PM

I have never heard of anyone "waxing" a hardwood floor. They're usually stained and then have a layer of polyurethane on top. After a few decades, you sand and re-finish. In the meantime, vacuum and dust mop, or damp mop with hardwood floor cleaner like Bona if necessary. Did people in the "old days" wax hardwood floors and constantly have to strip and re-wax? That sounds like a horrible way to maintain a wood floor but I acknowledge I am uneducated on the ancient ways of housekeeping.

by Anonymousreply 144August 4, 2020 8:10 PM

R144 polyurethane didn’t exist back then. Floors were finished with an oil lacquer and protected with wax.

by Anonymousreply 145August 4, 2020 8:48 PM

[quote]One of my little friends from down the street's mother did their entire house in powder blue. Powder blue carpet through the whole house. Powder blue paint on all walls. Powder blue seating. It was bizarre and unsettling to go in there. It made me ever so slightly nauseous. I remember there was a bit of white with the powder blue, but not a whole lot. It was like walking into another dimension.

In one of Stephen McCauley's novels, he describes an all-powder blue condo as "the visual equivalent of air freshener."

by Anonymousreply 146August 4, 2020 10:33 PM

R146, Haha - that's an interesting analogy. It's really difficult to describe. It felt like being immersed. And not in a comfy way.

by Anonymousreply 147August 4, 2020 10:42 PM

[quote] hardwood floor cleaner like Bona

Tee hee.

by Anonymousreply 148August 5, 2020 11:45 AM

Many, many houses and apartments in Europe have parquet flooring, and they are not polyurethaned. They are waxed, and periodically the wax is removed and replaced.

by Anonymousreply 149August 5, 2020 11:47 AM

My mother did not decorate. She inherited. If it was made of wood and covered with carvings, she uses it. The house looks like a Shirley Jackson nightmare. I'm somewhat accustomed to it and some of the pieces are of interest in themselves, but it is a bit much.

by Anonymousreply 150August 5, 2020 12:17 PM

My mother had a tasteful wooden sculpture of a flowering bough that was painted gold. I grabbed it when we were cleaning out the house and I hang it on the wooden fence in our garden. Kitsch.

by Anonymousreply 151August 5, 2020 12:34 PM

Kisses, R130. She was a campy godsend in the House of Whatever.

by Anonymousreply 152August 5, 2020 12:47 PM

In 1953, we moved into an 8-bedroom/3 bath country house built in 1912. Lots of dark wood, stained glass, and bathrooms with clawfoot tubs, as well as gas fires with beautiful mantelpieces.

My mother took out all the stained glass, “updated” the bathrooms to a sort of mid-century look, tore out all the gas fires and mantles, and furnished the place in a kind of Danish modern. Singlehandedly, she probably could have supplied her own urban archaeology store.

The place was a mismatched mess. A metaphor for the emotional ricochets that occupied it.

by Anonymousreply 153August 5, 2020 2:49 PM

[quote]I have never heard of anyone "waxing" a hardwood floor. They're usually stained and then have a layer of polyurethane on top. After a few decades, you sand and re-finish. In the meantime, vacuum and dust mop, or damp mop with hardwood floor cleaner like Bona if necessary. Did people in the "old days" wax hardwood floors and constantly have to strip and re-wax? That sounds like a horrible way to maintain a wood floor but I acknowledge I am uneducated on the ancient ways of housekeeping.

As R148 notes, polyurethane is a modern product. It was invented only in 1937 and it wasn't until the 1950s that it filtered down to domestic and automotive uses.

Wax finishes are still favored by some people today for a depth and lustre accomplished through successive polishing. If the finish becomes built-up or cloudy or otherwise unattractive, it's rubbed clean with mineral spirits and rags then resealed or restained or retouched and waxed anew. These however are not much older than polyurethane, popularized only from the 1930s. In the late 19th and early 20thC varnishes were used. in 1th and early 19thC houses what we call hardwood floors were almost always left unfinished and had a pale look that surprises people today; the floors were maintained seasonally by scrubbing with sand or sometimes caustic lye—usually left bare or laid with large almost wall-to-wall straw or fiber mats in the warm months and, in rich homes, with small costly rugs in the the winter.; by the middle of the 19thC, wall-to-wall carpeting (or almost) was popular, you sometimes see rooms with elaborate borders in wood and big center field in a sort of raw plywood that was meant to be covered by carpet.

by Anonymousreply 154August 6, 2020 3:47 PM

True r154. In many older New England homes the middle field, meant to be covered by a rug, might be spruce if the visible edges are pine, or the middle field pine while the edges are hardwood. Even a hundred or more years later these old places suffer from differences in expansion and contraction between soft and hardwoods.

My place was built in the 1920s and has oak and a decorative strip of cherry, with a field of oak herringbone in the field, but only in the living room and dining room. Every once in a while a corner of the herringbone will pop up .

by Anonymousreply 155August 6, 2020 3:59 PM

She love painting the walls with flamingo pink and bright turquoise.

by Anonymousreply 156August 6, 2020 4:11 PM

Thank you R154 and R155. I did not know these things and appreciate being enlightened on how hardwood floors were maintained before my time on earth. I am fascinated by this idea of nice hardwood "borders" around the sides of the room with crappy plywood look in the center, covered in a large carpet. It sounds like a prudent use of resources!

All the best, R144

by Anonymousreply 157August 6, 2020 7:21 PM

R47

Isn't it Svenskt Tenn?

by Anonymousreply 158August 7, 2020 2:25 PM

R157, but in the best of homes, the "good wood" (haha) extended across the whole room, of course.

by Anonymousreply 159August 7, 2020 11:39 PM

Diagonal tongue and groove varnished shiplap. A huge wall of it. It made my head hurt to look at. This then had cutouts with an alarm, wall fan, clock and an art niche. After these nifty additions the diagonal lines were then inexpertly put back. Crookedly. So I had to look at crooked diagonal varnished shiplap.

by Anonymousreply 160August 8, 2020 12:13 AM

r22 I saw that lamp in the window of Roma Furniture on Grand Street in Little Italy. The locals thought it was elegant.

by Anonymousreply 161August 8, 2020 12:22 AM

I had one of those rain lamps @R22 in my room when I was something like 14. I had seen one sometime in the 70s and was obsessed with it as a kid so bought one for my room later (I don't remember from where). And I had velvet draperies on the window. Imagine that.

by Anonymousreply 162August 8, 2020 12:48 AM

R161 - Roma Furniture was an extremely popular choice on Staten Island as well. My mom called the style Gaudy Guinea; and since we are Italian American as well she was free to slur our fellow white-adjacents. Mom was more of an Ethan Allen colonial gal.

by Anonymousreply 163August 8, 2020 2:37 PM

[quote] My mom called the style Gaudy Guinea;

That’s fucking hilarious. I like your mom.

by Anonymousreply 164August 8, 2020 7:28 PM
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