The throwback to 70’s interior style is still going strong and having a moment in 2022. Love it or hate it, it’s back for a bit… so here is my take.
The 70’s celebrated exuberant use of bright colors, geometric shapes and patterns and open-plan living but at the same time, rattan furniture really defined the decade’s classic boho vibe and remains an integral part of recreating a seventies-inspired home. Linoleum flooring has made a huge comeback and there are so many fabulous patterns and colours to choose from, and with that price bracket how can you go wrong? I used a lino to do a temporarily makeover on my bathroom last year and it got a lot of love, also looked top notch, yet I only paid around £48 for it.
Large statement fireplaces really were a thing… so it might possibly be time to embrace them in the right setting. Still not sure how I feel about them but sometimes, we have to work around these things and making them a feature might be just how we do it. Living somewhere in the States would likely help this look along.
I would never have described my look as 70’s inspired yet there are so many elements we use in design today that are long lasting and starting to carve their own new path in the design story.
The Ligne Roset Togo armchair was actually designed in 1973, it’s timeless and one of my favourite purchases in the last year. The Green Lady painting by Vladimir Tretchikoff from 1952 was huge in the 70’s. Interestingly enough my Mum reacted negatively to mine from HomeSense that was hanging in the living room last year. She’s been reproduced and recreated so many times I’m not sure she’ll ever go completely out of style. Spoiled Life store in St Andrews have a selection of Ross Muir prints where she has, yet again, been reinvented.
If you want to go full 70’s immersive, there are a huge selection of animal print rugs, funky patterned wallpapers, velvet furniture and terrazzo tiles and flooring galore.
Dunelm Lava Lamp, Tiles from Mandarin Stone , 1970 Wallpaper from Poodle & Blonde
I draw the line at a conversation pit or a lava lamp myself. Our garden is on the schedule this year and we have a pond to fill in…. or do we? Perhaps a conversation pit is exactly what we need, with a couple of lava lamps on the edges. 😉
Image credits Eric Piasecki and Oliver Perrott
twelvemonthsahome.com 
I ‘came of age’ in the 70’s and like anyone else who was there, thought it a horrible, gloomy decade – strikes, power cuts, uncollected rubbish, incompetent governments blah blah… but all of that baggage has just been lifted from my shoulders by Emily Rickard’s splendid article. Shame she wasn’t around at the time !
oh what a lovely comment thank you! Glad I’ve changed your mind about an era!
Love the idea of a conversation pit! Still not keen on the Green Lady painting though.
Oh I think I’ll leave the conversation pit for now!