Times have certainly changed since our grandparents were young! From interior design trends from the 1920s to the bright colours and technological advancements of the 1970s, the ordinary family home rapidly changed in the 20th century. Click or scroll through to take a look back at what homes looked like way back when…
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The 1920s
If your grandparents were born in the 1920s then they would be in their nineties today, possibly even 100 years old! Many people in the UK would not have had indoor bathrooms and furniture would have been handmade before mass production methods were around. It was also the beginning of modernity as we know it, and the taste for Victoriana soon became eclipsed by Art Deco and a desire for clean design in the homes. Electricity also became widespread: in 1920 just 35% of US households (6% in the UK) had it, but by 1929 this had risen to 68%.
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The 1920s house
After the First World War it was a boom time for housebuilding, and kit home design catalogues became a popular way to choose a brand new property. Colonial styles with European heritage such as Dutch Colonial, Greek Revival and English style were extremely popular and would often include columns, shutters and gabled roofs in their designs.
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1920s: the living room
A comfortable living room was at the heart of any modern home floor plan and it would have generally had a fireplace as its focal point. Rich colours were used frequently in 1920s interior design: greens, reds, yellows, blues and purples would often be freely mixed. With the dawn of Art Deco, there was an appetite for modern fashion including exotic prints and patterns. Floors were generally wooden or tiled and large colourful rugs would be used for warmth and comfort.
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1920s: the kitchen
Depending on how rich or poor you were growing up, you might have had a kitchen similar to this one in the 1920s. Fitted kitchens were only just invented in 1926 and most culinary spaces were formed from cabinets, shelving and a good sturdy wooden table. Food would have been cooked on a wood-burning or oil stove and preserved in a pantry, pre-refrigeration.
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1920s: the bedroom
Back in the 1920s, it was not uncommon to see twin beds in a couple’s bedroom, though they might well be pushed together. An economic boomtime, bedrooms were an expression of a newfound taste for luxury in the home and sumptuous soft furnishings and fine furniture sets were brought in to set the tone.
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1920s: the bathroom
The 1920s saw a shift towards better cleanliness and most people went from bathing once a week to more frequent ablutions. Bathrooms became much more important to potential homeowners and architects began to integrate them into new home plans. They were still smaller than we’re used to today and showers were almost unheard of. Tiles, wallpaper and mirrors were used decoratively and to keep the place clean and splashproof, while wall-mounted sconces around the mirror over the sink would often have served as a vanity.
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The 1930s
If your grandparents were born in the 1930s, then they would be 90 years old today at most. The era is often associated with glamour, but it was a time of great scarcity for most ordinary families following the Wall Street Crash of 1929. In the Great Depression that followed, more than 15 million employable Americans were out of work and the consumer economy ground to a halt. Times were hard but those who could afford it would splash out on the latest fashions and interior trends for their homes. Ivory, beige and metallics were used prominently and modernism came into full force, with clean lines and geometric shapes becoming all the rage.
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The 1930s house
The glamorous 1930s was the decade that Art Deco turned into Art Moderne, and streamlined curves were the coolest thing you could have in your house. It was another decade of intense home building by individuals with DIY home kits, plus architects let their creativity run wild on creating stylish abodes that embodied the age. Stucco was a firm favourite, delivering a smooth surface and crisp finish to highlight geometric shapes. Driveways were becoming increasingly common as more people bought their own cars, though these were still very much a luxury!
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1930s: the living room
If you grew up in the 1930s, your living room may have looked as stylish as this. Garish bright colours were swapped for muted tones in pale green, beige and pastel pink. The dawn of mass production brought more futuristic materials into the home such as chrome and plastic, while shiny furniture began to creep in too. Geometric prints, inspired by exotic and often oriental influences, were used in fabrics and soft furnishings.
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1930s: the kitchen
As fewer people had domestic help and the average woman spent more time in the kitchen, designers began to really pay attention to this previously neglected space. Like many aspects of modern design, the concept of a fitted kitchen originated in the German Bauhaus movement and by the 1930s it was the must-have feature in any new home. The decade’s obsession with curves was also brought into the shape of the cabinetry, with worktops rounded off at the ends to give that Art Deco look. Sinks and appliances were fitted seamlessly and counters maintained the same height throughout.
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1930s: the bathroom
Luxury was the name of the game in a 1930s bathroom. Marble and brass were used extensively to create a sumptuous bathing space. Clawfoot baths were – for the most part – banished in favour of streamlined tubs that nestled into corners to maximise space.
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1930s: the bedroom
The bedroom really became a boudoir during this decadent decade. Curved shapes were introduced in furniture, lighting and sometimes even the walls themselves! But the 1930s were also a time when the Arts and Crafts movement was still exerting its influence, allowing beautiful materials such as warm wood to shine in the home.
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The 1940s
Those born in the 1940s would be in their seventies today, and many people might remember the effects of the Second World War on their daily lives. By 1942 manufacturers stopped making metal furniture, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners and washing machines in order to contribute to the war effort but it was also a time where society’s attitudes began to modernise. Despite this, families still spent a lot of time together in the home, with multigenerational living a common occurrence.
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The 1940s house
With half of the 1940s taken over by the Second World War, the average house was far from affluent. ‘Make do and mend’ was the order of the day and with rationing and shortages still widespread on both sides of the pond, homes still bore the hallmarks of the previous decade’s style. As the war ended and the great rebuilding programme began, the demand for housing increased rapidly and many new homes were built on the outskirts of towns, creating the modern suburbs.
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1940s: the living room
With the war only coming to an end in 1945, homes interiors in the first half of the decade were largely still stuck in the 30s. Properties were awash with floral prints and traditional dark wood furnishings. In the vintage living room, entertainment consisted of listening to the radio or record player, while a shortage of material meant old clothes and soft furnishings had to be adapted and repaired.
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1940s: the kitchen
In the 1940s, your kitchen would probably have been small and simple in comparison to what we’re used to today. Pastel colours and two-tone cabinets were popular, as well as brighter tones like this sunny yellow. As more people started to own larger appliances like fridge-freezers, more spacious layouts were designed to accommodate them.
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1940s: the bathroom
With a focus on cleanliness still lingering from the turn of the century, sanitaryware was typically white. Square tiles were often used to line the walls around the bath and sink, with the upper portion of the wall painted. Linoleum was the exciting new floor covering of choice in the 1940s and the classic black and white checkerboard pattern was especially popular.
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1940s: the bedroom
In this 1940s bedroom, you’ll find more traditional dark wood furniture, from the dressing table to the bed frames. A familiar sight to anyone who grew up in this decade, busy floral-print curtains hang in the window, while pastel pinks and peaches flow from the walls to the soft furnishings. These silky eiderdowns must have seemed like the height of luxury, adding a touch of Hollywood glamour.
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The 1950s
Anyone lucky enough to be born in the 1950s would be among the early wave of ‘baby boomers’ who grew up in a prosperous and revamped society. Now in their sixties, their childhoods were the first where TV sets were much more common in the home, labour-saving appliances appeared in the kitchen and consumer goods were plentiful. Homes were undergoing big changes too, with new open-plan layouts favoured and American influences felt all over the world – checkerboard floors, Formica furniture and bright colours become especially popular.
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The 1950s house
In the 1950s, the economic picture was much rosier. It was a boom time for industry and consumer wealth, which spurred on great leaps in terms of design and modern tastes. House building moved away from traditional styles to more modernist designs, with clean angular lines, swathes of windows and sliding glass doors to draw the outside in. House façades from this era tended to feature very little ornamentation and outdoor space becomes more polished.
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1950s: the living room
If you grew up in the 1950s, your living room is where you would have listened to music, watched TV, spent time with your family and entertained guests. Typically, the colour palette consisted of pastel hues, with bold shades incorporated across accessories, like the red zigzag cushion pictured here. When it came to upholstery, heavy textures in earthy browns and greens were all the rage, while busy patterns were commonplace too.
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1950s: the kitchen
This kitchen features all the essential 1950s design elements: colourful units, chrome and vinyl chairs and Formica worktops. As in the 1940s, linoleum was a popular floor covering but manufacturers started to redesign it with bright bold patterns to make it less utilitarian.
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1950s: the bathroom
A popular hue for bathrooms, the pink suite has a ‘love it or hate it’ place in the hearts of 1950s kids. Coloured sanitaryware in pastel shades also became fashionable at this time, a trend which continued well into the 1980s. Colour coordination was a must, while wipeable tiling found its way onto countertops and bathroom vanities.
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1950s: the bedroom
More prosperous than the previous decade, there was a greater emphasis on comfort in the 1950s. Bedrooms were colourful, luxurious spaces, with bold schemes and glitzy wallpaper. Wall-to-wall carpeting also emerged as an opulent new trend around this time. More households owned TVs too, so entertainment was at the fingertips of homeowners like never before.
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The 1960s
Growing up in the 1960s would have felt very cool and modern. After 1963, society changed dramatically as cultural, political and economic forces swept away the buttoned-up rules of the previous decade. The Swinging 60s meant that the home and interiors also became supercharged with colour and many of the comforts we recognise today. Women were beginning to enter the workforce in earnest, while many people moved into apartments, flats and condos as new buildings shot up. Plastic, PVC and space-themed décor were on-trend, as were global throws and rugs from Morocco and India.
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The 1960s house
If you grew up in a 1960s house, you may have lived in a smart new-build house like this. These designs borrowed from the traditional styles of the past but came with shiny new modern additions. Cars were increasingly relied upon for day-to-day life, so this house has a built-in double garage and concrete driveway.
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1960s: the living room
The 1960s was a time of cultural revolution and change, reflected in a vibrant new interior style. If you were around in this psychedelic decade, your home would’ve been transformed with an array of bright colours and the new obsession with shag pile carpets. Modern Danish furniture was also in vogue, which influenced the architectural shape of these sofas and chairs.
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1960s: the kitchen
This modernist kitchen showcases two major interior trends of the 1960s: Scandinavian-inspired design and wood-panelled walls. Kitchens from this decade would have featured sleek unfussy cabinets and laminate or Formica worktops, with lots of new-fangled kitchen appliances for entertaining, such as an electric coffee maker.
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1960s: the bathroom
Bold colours continued into the 1960s bathroom, with coloured bathroom suites like this bright yellow design. Showers, as well as baths, became a more common choice for homeowners. This was also the age of fluffy bathroom rugs – usually one in front of the bath and another around the toilet. Many might remember the fluffy tissue-box cover with fondness – or a shudder – too.
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1960s: the bedroom
This luxurious bedroom shows off the more flamboyant side of the 1960s when homes were increasingly treated as status symbols. The colour coordinated deep blue bed cover, bejewelled bench, carpet and chair create a decadent interior scheme typical of the decade. As homes expanded so too did the luxury of built-in storage. Massive bespoke closets with mirrored doors would allow the groovy homeowner to keep their growing wardrobe in check without losing that streamlined style.
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The 1970s
Anyone born between 1970 and 1979 will only be in their forties now – spring chickens! Aside from big hair and even bigger flares, the home was influenced by advancements in electronics, with a microwave oven in the kitchen and even some early Atari computers. New housing was in development between the 1960s and 1980s, resulting in modern new builds that were ripe for decorating. Colour TVs were showing the first wave of home improvement programmes and the desire to decorate went mainstream.
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The 1970s house
Houses built in the 1970s tend to get a bad rep, but they have a lot going for them! Big rooms, large windows and plenty of outdoor space made them fabulous family homes but some of the decorative touches are now considered design pariahs. Very few ceilings were spared the Artex (popcorn) treatment, which also sometimes contained asbestos, and cladding was in in a big way.
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1970s: the living room
If you are a child of the 1970s, this living room may look very familiar – wood panelling, shag pile carpets in vibrant colours and orange and brown hues were all major trends at the time. This room has a textured Artex or popcorn ceiling – ubiquitous in homes of the 1970s.
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1970s: the kitchen
Laminated kitchen cupboards and Formica worktops were a staple of the 1970s kitchen – this bright space features a sunny colour scheme of harvest gold with black accents. Plenty of storage, plus the latest appliances including the first domestic dishwashers, became the new norm in the heart of the home.
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1970s: the bathroom
The classic avocado bathroom suite was a much-loved staple of the decade. Here it’s paired with brown and orange patterned wall tiles and hexagon floor tiles – ceramic tiling was now a common choice for bathroom flooring. For those born in the 1970s, a fluffy toilet lid cover may also have been a familiar, if questionable, feature in your home.
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1970s: the bedroom
Bedspreads with geometric patterns like this one were a popular trend in the 1970s – this room even features framed matching curtains flanking the bed too. Plastic was now a regular choice for furniture production, and it looks like it was used to create this curved headboard. Busy carpet, often in loud prints or check, was often used throughout the house too.
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