13 ’80s trends we had forgotten
(and that's a good thing)
It all started with Paris. Well, not necessarily because of Paris, but because of the apartment we rented there. Neighborhood, top, number of square meters: amazing. But the decor brought back a lot of memories. From the decade we miss in many ways, but in terms of interior, we are quite happy to have left a few things behind.
1. The lava lamp
Do you remember? Those Expo stores you had in every major shopping street? With those Pause posters (Pause was a magazine that was distributed at school and had posters in it that you secretly liked. A boy and girl kissing above a car, a row of New York cranes balancing on a beam high above the city, and so on. In those stores, they also sold the lava lamp. You could watch it for hours. And you thought it was something).
2. The geese or the duck
Okay, I sincerely hope (‘from the bottom of my heart’ is too cheesy now) that you skipped this back then, because they really couldn't. Those two-dimensional wooden geese that stood so cheerfully in front of your kitchen window.
3. The coaster
Whenever someone slides a coaster under my glass, I feel a bit uncomfortable. It always has a cramped feeling to it. Exactly not the feeling you want to have when visiting someone, I think. But okay. The preferred ones were those that were shiny on top and had a cork edge on the side. And oh yes, with an image of Renoir or Matisse on it. I plead guilty. But I was so young.
4. The Buddha head (preferably in color)
A few incense sticks in front of it, drape some moonlight-soaked stones around it, and done. This trend has survived the eighties.
5. The hopeless painting
That you bought at that Expo. And then you bought an ‘artistic’ version of a place you had been. On interrail. Preferably with an ugly frame. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sydney.
Could also be in white. Nice and small and square. And how hip we all thought it was.
6. Blinds
They were once hip, dear young readers of mine. Blinds were the new Luxaflex.
7. The convector pit
Suddenly everyone had it. But really everyone. The heaters were suddenly all, poof, vanished into the ground. And how annoying it was when you suddenly dropped your rubber band/magazine/candy in it.
8. Tiles
Could also be in white. Nice and small and square. And how hip we all thought it was.
9. Black, white, red, and gray
Those were the colors. Of your couch, your cushions, your lamps, your rug, your duvet: everything. Everything.
10. Glass tables
In all sorts of variations. My parents were a bit stricter and had marble slabs with a large glass plate on top. Friends' parents had glass over a black base where you could place something artistic in between. For example, some orchids. Or something.
11. The sunken seating area
I must say I found that super cozy. But it was there. Everywhere.
12. The gumball machine
Or even better: a phone that was attached to the gumball machine. I shared it with my roommate and always secretly ate all the gumballs on the weekend when she wasn't there. And then quickly refill on Monday morning when Jamin opened.
13. The peak pipe
Do you remember? Do you remember? A meter-long, round pipe where you threw every guilder you had left. And when it was full, you suddenly went out for a day.
I already know what I'm going to write about this time in twenty years. The framed butterfly, concrete floors, the steel door... The cloche. For now, I'm still going to find it incredibly fun.
