As a young child, that is exactly how I felt about that style. I knew I really hated it. There was no openness to rooms and everything felt drab. It was a style that felt outdated even before I knew what “outdated” even meant.
The smell is the biggest thing I remember. The wood paneling and those types of carpets always had that smell. Well, it was either that smell or the lingering odor of old cigarette smoke and spilled scotch.
By the time I started becoming truly self-aware, the 90’s hit and I was awakened with a blast of neon colors. (My brain doesn’t want to remember anything much from the late 80’s other than my Velcro shoes and jean jacket.)
Rooms don’t need to be open. My parents have an open concept modern home in Texas and it sucks. You can’t hear the TV if someone is soing anything in the kitchen, but anyone upstairs hears EVERYTHING that goes on downstairs. Having dedicated spaces for different activities is nice
I like it when rooms feel open. Even without open floor plans, strategic furniture placement and wall paint can make almost any room feel a bit more spacious, even if it is just an illusion.
Rooms like the one in the picture make me feel like the walls are closing in on me, or I start to get false feelings that it is dirty or musty. The small room in the back of that space doesn’t look welcoming and resembles some place were only bad things happen. I can’t help but start to imagine the sound of an old grandfather clock ticking in the background as a weird sign that I will be stuck in that room for a while.
Back in the 70’s brown was considered neutral, neither oppressive or energetic, selected to not stand out.
Also, everything would be that colour soon anyway, on account of the cigarettes
Yes! This is vital context – in every photo taken by/with my grandparents, every single person was smoking.
But not the married people?
If they liked it they should have put a (smoke) ring on it.
As a young child, that is exactly how I felt about that style. I knew I really hated it. There was no openness to rooms and everything felt drab. It was a style that felt outdated even before I knew what “outdated” even meant.
The smell is the biggest thing I remember. The wood paneling and those types of carpets always had that smell. Well, it was either that smell or the lingering odor of old cigarette smoke and spilled scotch.
By the time I started becoming truly self-aware, the 90’s hit and I was awakened with a blast of neon colors. (My brain doesn’t want to remember anything much from the late 80’s other than my Velcro shoes and jean jacket.)
Rooms don’t need to be open. My parents have an open concept modern home in Texas and it sucks. You can’t hear the TV if someone is soing anything in the kitchen, but anyone upstairs hears EVERYTHING that goes on downstairs. Having dedicated spaces for different activities is nice
I like it when rooms feel open. Even without open floor plans, strategic furniture placement and wall paint can make almost any room feel a bit more spacious, even if it is just an illusion.
Rooms like the one in the picture make me feel like the walls are closing in on me, or I start to get false feelings that it is dirty or musty. The small room in the back of that space doesn’t look welcoming and resembles some place were only bad things happen. I can’t help but start to imagine the sound of an old grandfather clock ticking in the background as a weird sign that I will be stuck in that room for a while.
They have managed to reproduce that smell in modern times with Febreze.