Vintage 80's Home Decorating Trends

While the 1980's are hot when it comes to clothing, toys, and pop culture, 80's home decorating doesn't seem to have come into its revival yet - when you see 80's style decor, you still tend to think - ugh, dated! And not in the good way. ;) Will the 80's end up being a lost decade as far as interior design goes, or has its time just not come yet?

I came across a stack of home magazines from the 80's - from about 1982 to 1985, to be exact. I decided to go through them and see if I could identify some of the trends from those years, and maybe see if there was anything that I could envision becoming popular again. Some things definitely popped out at me, so grab a cuppa and a snack, this is going to be kind of a long post (as always, click to enlarge the photos to see them full size)...

Pastels, pastels, pastels - they were everywhere in these magazines. This bedroom combines two trends actually - pastels and stripes. Ruffles and baskets seem like they were also really popular. I kind of like the stacked baskets at the end of the bed - it's similar to the stacked suitcase look that you see a lot these days.

Here's another pastel bedroom - this one has several trends in it as well. Stripes, geometric/abstract designs, and a metal bed. The shiny metallic trunk and lamp I didn't see too much elsewhere - with good reason, I don't see too much to love about those...

Pinks in the 80's tended to lean more toward a dusty mauve shade, like this bedroom. See the dainty florals? Those seem to be a big trend too - a more frilly, girly feel than the big bold florals of the 70's. Here we see ruffles again, and another metal bed too.

Here's another frilly/girly floral bedroom with a metal bed, and those damn ruffled pillows - whoever was in the ruffled pillow business in the 80's was likely very, very rich.

I didn't see too many craft rooms in the magazines, but here is a beauty, again in pastel shades. It also has girly florals, baskets, and blinds rather than curtains (another trend). Oh and don't forget about the track lighting - we'll definitely be seeing more of that before this post is done!

The pink in this home office is more on the coral side - paired with the dainty florals again. I see a few things in this room that are popular now - the metal desk lamp, the mod magazine rack, and the brass animal figurines on the side table...

Here's another home office - track lighting again, and how cool is that stairway/loft thing? The abstract/geometric pattern is seen here again, and this is our first look at another big trend - mirror walls! How many of those get torn out on those home improvement shows? They NEVER keep them - and it's one trend I can't really see ever making a comeback...

Here's another office - metal lamps again, with pastel green and peach ruffled pillows, and, yes, baskets!

Pastels weren't the only color trend I noticed - dark colors also had a good showing, like this hunter green. Maroon and brick red popped up a lot too, and dark woods in the furniture. Another popular trend that this room has is quilt patterns - on the bed AND on the wall. The ruffles are here as well, this time on the bed skirt and the pillows, and the stripes make their appearance on the chair fabric.

This spread was devoted to track lighting, and this room has several other of the trends in it as well - a mirror wall, baskets, the geometric/plaid pattern on the couches... There is also a glass topped table - apparently these were the MUST HAVE item in the 80's, they were everywhere, in all different styles.

A glass topped coffee table here is in front of an oh-so-80s dusty rose couch. The living room furniture in these magazines tended toward that puffy style for sure. One thing I really think is neat in this room is the frosted design on the windows - that's something you don't see every day!

Here is puffy combined with another big furniture trend - rattan. These have a tiki feel to me, and I really dig that coffee table!

Here is another rattan living room - this one has neon colored accents. I didn't see a lot of those, I think this room is from the 1985 magazine, so maybe neons were starting to come into style then...

Blue and white was another very popular color scheme, this room has that as well as wicker furniture, which was also in a lot of the magazines. And, of course, we have ruffles - you can't get away from them! At least they went with the quilt pattern on the pillows, which I think are kind of nice.

Here's a dining room - this one has the track lighting, a mirror wall, and a glass top table, as well as vertical blinds, which were in every single magazine. (Aren't those one of the other things that are always immediately scrapped in renovations?) There are 2 other trends here that I haven't mentioned yet - butcher block on the side table, and check out the chairs - there were a lot of different styles of these types of chairs, with metal frames and cane backs. They were in all the magazines also, I kind of like them actually...

Here's a kitchen with another version of those chairs, along with, of course, a glass topped table. There are two other trends here - white laminate cabinets, and patterned laminate flooring. I really like the lighting, and can you make out the pots on the stove? They have big numbers on the side of them - I want some of those for sure!

 

Here's a kitchen in the popular blue and white, with a brick wall, which I also saw a lot of in the magazines. Another thing that was in nearly every kitchen was a pot rack - I can't remember the last time I have seen one of those in a kitchen, can you?

A lot of the kitchens were really dark like this one - and here is the butcher block, the brick, the pot rack, and the laminate flooring that I mentioned before. I like the creepy dead animal tile on the end of the island, I wonder if you could find something like that now?

Another kitchen with all the trends - plus another one, the copper pots on the pot rack. Copper was apparently HUGE in the 80's...

See? Copper. This kitchen takes the pot rack idea to the next level, with a utensil rack. The huge hamburger artwork is pretty cool!

Just in case you thought I was lying about the copper, the pot racks, the baskets, the butcher block, and the blue and white...

 

I HAD to throw this one in - check out that taxidermy chic! Was taxidermy an 80's thing? If so that is one 80's decorating trend that is definitely making a comeback...

Last but not least, is the La-Z-Boy. Every magazine had an ad for recliners in it - and not even ONE of the photo spreads featured one actually in use in the room. People still love their recliners, and I think they are STILL shunned by interior designers. You can't beat comfort though, I don't think these will ever really fall out of style... :)

So what do you all think - are any of these trends bound to make a comeback? Or are they going to be forever labeled "dated"?