WHAT A TIME
The 1970s. A time for rest and relaxation; a time when the person not protesting for peace on earth, could lie back and forget about the time of the day; a time when it was not all about deadlines and report submissions. a more peaceful time when everyone knew what they wanted out of life and worked for it in their own leisurely pace. This was the time when the people had so much time that they thought up testimonials in their art to strange and shapeless forms painted in equally eye gouging colors. This was reflected in whatever they wanted to design and upgrade.
WHAT WAS INTRODUCED
Soon the ornate buildings and decorations of the classical 50s gave way to the disconcerting hideous figurines of the 70s. Some completely off the hook designs were cross hatched wallpapers that gave the idea that won was looking at a room decorated with a girl’s plaid skirt. It was all the more awful when the plaid design was in a color like orange or purple or a mixture of them. Add to this shattering ensemble a bouquet of sunflowers and you have a recipe for fainting straight away. That is not all, the cupboards and cabinets had to be completely matching in order to not feel out of place with the rest of the cocktail going on in the room.
If one was part hippie or even took an interest in the movement to some degree, the person did not lose an iota of opportunity or inch of space either vertically or horizontally to transform the soothing free space to a psychedelic monstrosity that would make anyone’s eyeballs spin out of sync like a cartoon. These mind boggling and eye muscle straining designs were manifest in tiles and wallpapers as well as cabinet designs.
LOOSING ONE’S MIND
Another strange design is the circular or oval kitchen space with no counter separating the dining room from the kitchen space. The counter instead appears as an isolated island in the shape of a cylinder right in everyone’s path so that a night spent without a few broken dishes can be a thing of the past. This was however not the icing on the cake. Some kitchens were designed using red and white polka dotted wallpaper. This may be done keeping other purposes in mind. Not being able to criticise the bad cooking may be one of them but this does add a certain touch not very often seen today.
