Copyright © Claire Walter 2006
Editors: For reprint rights, contact cmwalter@claire-walter.com.
This feature appeared in the September
16, 2006, edition of the
By Claire Walter
Some images from the ‘70s in pop culture are etched firmly into
the American consciousness. Diane Keaton’s androgynous
wardrobe in Annie Hall. John Travolta’s
white dancing suit in Saturday Night Fever. Farrah Fawcett’s big TV-screen filling hair in Charlie’s Angels.
Archie Bunker’s chair. Platform shoes.
But homes and
their décor? Does anyone remember it? Lisa’s Nostalgia Café
(www.angelfire.com/retro2/lisa/nostalgia.html), a website that trains the
cyber- microscope on past decades, does. “In
the 70's, there was very little interest in reviving old architectural styles.
Most new single-family homes were of the nondescript frame variety,” the site
sniffs when describing the one-story ranches, two-story homes and split levels
that filled the suburban landscape.
Exteriors might have been nondescript, but inside, the ‘70s were all about breaking the mold. During this schitzy decade, you never knew, when you walked in the door of one of those outwardly unobtrusive homes, what wonders you might find inside.
You might find futuristic designs
that were more Space Age than the Jetsons.
The most sophisticated pieces came from
The beanbag chair, born in 1969, was the brainchild of three other Italian designers working for the Zanotta Company and really came of age in the ‘70s. Called the Socco, the original beanbag was a pear-shaped leather sack filled with Styrofoam beads.
Meanwhile, Northern Europe spawned oh-so-tasteful
Marimekko print fabrics came from
“Some designers pushed traditional materials into new
shapes. There were beautiful veneers made from exotic woods and innovative uses
of steel and glass,”
The American Spin on the ‘70s
Not all American homes were
furnished with European designer pieces, but in the early years, anyone could
jazz up an interior upholstery, drapes, rugs or wallcoverings were visually
ablaze with animal print patterns or such lollipop colors as orange, raspberry,
pink, grape, lime green – perhaps in the same room or printed on the same
cloth. If there’s any doubt that the ‘70s are back, an anonymous writer for Interior
Design magazine recently gushed, “
Dana Cain, organizer of the recent Denver Modernism Show, loved orange then, and she loves it now. She concurs that “there’s a big resurgence in orange. It’s such a warm and inviting color.” The early ‘70s, she says, were a time of Peter Max art, vibrant colors, Formica-topped tables and tootsie-friendly shag carpeting.
As the calendar pages turned through the decade, there was a transition to a more subdued, back-to-nature look. Next to the mod-furnished suburban home might be one furnished in a latter-day hippie mélange of batik fabrics tossed over any old piece of upholstered furniture, lava lamps and macramé slings for the hanging plants that ‘70s sorts began to cultivate.
Some designers and furniture makers used teak, natural wood and synthetics for furniture and accessories. Along with these subdued materials, colors were toned down. Cain says that “something horrible happened. Earth tones,” she says dramatically and with a shudder.
Peter Max, bright colors and shag were replaced by browns and tans and beige. During this transition period, people were putting a macramé plant hanger next to a bright orange and yellow ceramic owl. They’d tear up their shag carpet in favor of bare wood floors.
Designers today have the luxury of plucking the best from any era and combining pieces into a look that is at once retro and contemporary. Denver interior designer Jeffrey P. Elliott recognizes the dual design tracks of the ‘70s – mirrors, gloss and Studio 54 glam on the one hand and earthy, haphazard combinations and natural wood on the other. The early ‘70s, he notes, are known for “wild colors” that are back now too. “The crazier the pattern and color scheme, the hipper,” he notes.
Client Ron Corsentino told Elliott, “I want a real contemporary high-tech bachelor pad, but with earthy touches.” The designer drew from the ‘70s more glamorous side – no wild colors, but rather Lucite, lacquer, mirrors and white walls and fabrics. He added accents from nature such as bare tree branches anchored in a heavy clay pot and a trophy animal head hung on one wall.
“You can’t help but gravitate to the ‘70s for innovation. They used new materials to get a sense of ‘modern,” Elliott notes, adding, that “when you mix ‘70s elements, you get style. You can’t help but gravitate toward it for innovation.”
Furniture & Interiors of the ‘70s by Anne Bony (Potterton Books)
1970s is Here & Now by Samantha Hardingham (John Wiley & Sons)
Collector’s Compass: ‘60s and ‘70s Décor by Nancy Martin (Martingale Company)
Those Suburban Seventies by Debbie Lynn Wilson (Dreamhouse Publishing)
Interior Desecrations: Hideous Homes from the Horrible ‘70s by James Lileks (Random House). Lileks, who gleefully documents “an ungodly collection of the worst of 1970s interior design,” warns that “this book should cure whatever lingering nostalgia we have.” Lileks also wrote The Gallery of Regrettable Food and Mommy Knows Worst: Highlights of the Golden Age of Bad Parenting Advice, so take this one with a grain of salt – and smile.
|
The True ‘70s: The Good, The Bad, The Funky “The 70s were certainly the most colorful decade for furniture the world has ever seen. Certainly in no other time period in history, would anyone dare a lime green with zebra motif,” enthuses Robert Berry’s pop culture website, retroCrush.com, “After purchasing the 1970 classic Decorating Ideas For Every Room In Your Home, I was amazed to see such wonderfully tacky arrangements, so garish even Anna Nicole Smith would hate them. In our over-sanitized, safe bleached wood, IKEA-designed, hermetically sealed shelters, these colorful explosions of kitsch at least showed off some creativity that hasn't been seen since.” What you might have found in a real ‘70s home, and what you want to look for now if that disco era appeals to you:
|