dilly, there are some designs in my opinion that are just too good to change. I'd say at least half of the homes in the slide show are that good. The black lacquer isn't my taste at all so I wouldn't count them in, but there are some that might. I'm more into looks that give the feeling of home and hold their modern feel or warm feeling like so many designs from the mid-century.
~Becky

I agree, some of those rooms would be at home in a magazine(80's kitchen not included)today. Good design stands the test of time and I think that's what makes it classic.

I also agree that many of those rooms would still be pleasant to live in. I would not have liked that black kitchen when it was brand new.

Seeing the owners in the homes I found it oddly reassuring. Kind of like how it felt when I was little and we would go visit Grandma and Grandpa or some other relative. The people in the photo's gave it warmth and vitality.

When dh and I were newlyweds. We went on a house hunting trip for our starter home. The real estate agent took us to a large upscale neighborhood with lovely homes that we thought we could never afford. The house had been on the market for awhile and the owners had finally dropped the price into the upper portion of our housing budgert. It was a late 1970's time warp that just gave me an eery feeling. Dh loved it while I instantly couldn't imagine wanting to sleep in that house. We both like 70's decor but walking through it felt like one day the owners had just left and never came back. There was dishsoap on the sink that had an old logo. The items in the bathroom has similar out of date products. We discussed it endlessly for days and went through it a couple more times and I just couldn't shake that feeling. Thankfully it was at the top of the housing price that we could afford so we didn't make an offer.

Most of the rooms that looked really good then, look pretty good now. The rooms that looked really trendy then (the black lacquer ones for example) are the ones that are easiest to carbon date.

There was a spread in a magazine a couple years ago where someone redid a Michael Taylor dining room from the 1980s, and they basically kept everything and refreshed a little. I have seen similar stories about rooms done by McMillen, and Albert Hadley and the like decades ago being tweaked a little by newer designers. I think people who do "investment decorating" do so for the long haul most of the time.

Someone I know kept all the invoices and hang tags for a job they had done in about 1970 and updated in the eighties. (Two chairs need to be recaned). Some of the prices they paid were pretty surprising. $1200 for a sofa 40 years ago, $95 a yard for drapery trim 25 years ago. But its all still there. Talk about life cycle. It looks a bit old and tired now,(the husband is close to 90, it probably Should look that way) but it doenst look *bad. A very little bit of money could bring it back to life.

I think this is the way to do it as opposed to today's disposable decorating.

This is from the 50s? Wow! It still looks very fresh to me!

palimpsest wrote.."I think this is the way to do it as opposed to today's disposable decorating."
So very true. We're working on making our home timeless, not a time capsule, by using classic furniture and home decor. Which will make it much easier to get rid of the trendy things of our youth when I go through the boxes in the basement.

Almost everything old becomes new again, it seems. I love that room from the 50's auntjen - would take that right now. Here is Bunny Williams from last month's House Beautiful. I really had to say "huh?" when I saw the article and read their bragging about it. Hmm.

Check out this coffee table - the 80's all over again?

Here is a link that might be useful: Bunny Williams in House Beautiful

The timing of this post is so appropriate for me as I received two older Ethan Allen catalogs today from the late 60's and early 70's. I was trying to date some of my parents older pieces that I now have and use. It was fun to look through them and so much of what I saw could easily be used today without looking "dated", although I hate that word. I just don't think of furniture as disposable or something to get rid of just because it's old. I really treasure the pieces I do have because of their sentimental value and also because they are so well made. I've had two tables stripped and refinished with new hardware added and added marble tops to other tables where the tops were just a bit worn but yet the whole piece was not in need of refinishing.

The picture from the '50's could easily be seen in a home today without looking out of place. Now the room above from House Beautiful would have also had me saying the same thing, it doesn't look current or even as if there is much thought put into it. But that is why there are so many different types of furniture out there and why I decorate to suit my tastes, not the current colors. This "dated" concept and how everything has to be kept up to the current trend is nothing but marketing to keep us spending our $$$.

If the picture of the Bunny Williams room was black and white, you could have a hard time dating it. There are certain details that make it "current" but other details muddy the waters as to when? Its also "styled" for the shoot. If we saw it in its day-to-day look, it may be even more difficult.

Some of these rooms are timeless and tastefully done IMO.

Well, I think the Bunny Williams room shows me that not very much from the last 30 years is worth throwing together in a room with truly timeless elements. The lucite end table, the tufted-leather / glass coffee table, the brass table lamp. Maybe one thing mixed in, but all of them together makes it look like we're trying too hard to make those items seem chic (timeless).

I agree that the Bunny Williams room is not the best I've seen, and wonder if it was by an unknown would it get the spread that it did.

But to me, there are timeless rooms that are classic in that they are almost "period pieces" (done in an historical style, filled with all classic furniture), while there are also rooms that are "timeless" just because they are hard to date by specific trends--the room has either grown as time has gone by, or it started out and stayed a room that wasn't following fashion at the time it was done. They can be quite ordinary rooms, but comfortable.

I think the BW room feels very cluttered and more like a furniture store. I find it unsettling.

Here it is in b&w:

{{gwi:1740331}}

Wow squirrel.

I'm someone who doesn't mind a little cluttered look but that room gave me the hives when you did it in B&W.

What bothers me the most is the two arm chairs with the round insets. With the six rounded back DR chairs and the round platter above the bookcase (or whatever the heck that is) it's just a bit much. And I like (and have) round DR chairs.

Posted by squirrelheaven: "I think the BW room feels very cluttered and more like a furniture store. I find it unsettling. Here it is in b&w:"

I really liked the Bunny Williams room. I agree that it does look like a storage room in the B&W photo. It just goes to show how important the use of color is when decorating.

Posted by palimpsest: "Someone I know kept all the invoices and hang tags for a job they had done in about 1970 and updated in the eighties. (Two chairs need to be recaned). Some of the prices they paid were pretty surprising. $1200 for a sofa 40 years ago, $95 a yard for drapery trim 25 years ago. But its all still there. Talk about life cycle. It looks a bit old and tired now,(the husband is close to 90, it probably Should look that way) but it doenst look *bad. "

Hmmm. Could my thread here have prompted the "Dating Game" series threads?? (Thanks for sharing you parents home. It was very interesting.)

-------------

Lately I have come across many many homes like this one below while attending estate sales. Literal time capsules. Not just good wood furniture used for decades, and colored bath fixtures left in place, but the whole shabang. Everything from wallpaper, to curtains and lamps, to small appliances on the counters, and knickknacks and wall art, all from the same decade. It is jaw dropping to walk in and see something like that.

Check out the pink stove and pink bathroom:

http://www.2204stephen.com/index.shtml

Here is a link that might be useful: Never Updated Home

My comment was actually referring to the color version that was posted. It does look like a storage room in b&w. But, to me, like a furniture store in color. Particularly the media wall. The fp area looks much better to me. I like a number of things about that view, and could visit but not live with it. I think the red chair is what makes that work -- breaks it up and focuses the mind. Esp with that large blue-green pic behind it.

I do like clutter. She's a Queen at mixing and breaking rules, from what I've seen of her work, and really amazes me that way. I just find this room unsettling.

Of course, it may be a tremendous job that she did incorporating all of the client's existng stuff. (Don't have the article.)

Curious what the poster, kcsunshine, thinks of it?

Use it up
Wear it out
Make it do
Do without

I would say that those perfectly kept homes (although dated) probably were owned by people who had a healthy savings account due to their carefulness.

I think one thing you will notice if you look at B&W pictures of interiors (Arch. Digest often has old Hollywood homes, for example)---the interiors are a little bare. I think this is because of the photography.

In color photos, sometimes it is the opposite, an interior shot needs a spot of color, so you will end up with a vase of flowers on the stove, or a colorful prop some place impractical in real life.

Squirrelheaven, oh, I see I totally misread you comment. LOL. When you said "I think the BW room feels..." I thought BW meant the *black and white* room. You just were using Bunny Williams's initials right? OK.

Dilly Dally, I find it very sad that those people lived in their unfinished basement and never used the main level of their home. There is something a little "off" about doing that.

I keep going back to the Bunny Williams room, trying to figure out why I don't like that clutter, but I do like this...

I think it might be his use of patterns and bolder colors. His room is one I could relax in, while the BW room just looks so stark to me. I don't get a feeling of depth of texture or balance of color.

Yup. Now that you mention it, at the time I thought it could be confusing but used her inits anyway! Totally missed that's why you read it that way this time around.

Coming out of my lurking mode to comment.

I love the timeless look featured in the article. I confess that's my approach to decorating. I'm still using the furniture I purchased from 1973-1982. I saved for a long, long time to buy that furniture....Henredon dining room furniture, Clayton Marcus upholstered pieces, Henkel-Harris, etc. I can't now remember who made my LR sofa, but when I purchased it in 1973, it was so exceptional -- down-filled cushions, fabulous upholstery, classic design. It cost $1,500 --- I well remember that. I was teaching school then and made $100/week -- $5,200/year, so that was a HUGE investment for me. And I paid cash, savoring the feeling of saving to buy a sofa that would last forever.

All that I purchased was considered "high end" in the 1970s -- and all of it was made in the South. And everything was a cash purchase.

I purchased excellent quality furniture, and have cared for it carefully. I've reupholstered the sofas & chairs every 15 years or so -- not because I needed a change, but because the fabric was looking a bit worn. I've had the furniture refinished or touched up because of the frequent cross-country moves. But it's all the same furniture, and it's still classic & timeless. And I love it in 2009 as much as I did when I purchased it.

I was fortunate to have grown up in the 1950s when the emphasis was on quality, durability, and figuring out what you like and living happily with it for decades. I confess I've been shocked at how, over the intervening decades, our national attitude has shifted to planned obsolescence, to constantly re-decorating, to buying cheap and replacing frequently. It's a thought process to which I truly cannot relate.

Five years ago, I needed to purchase lamps because I was moving into my current home, and needed additional lighting. I have regularly purchased Wildwood lamps because I love their unique lamps, their hand-crafted quality, their beauty --- and their durability. I found my beautiful new lamps, and was shocked and saddened to learn that Wildwood was in the process of closing their company (an American company, where the lamps were hand made, painted, and the lamp shades were hand made) because they could not compete with the stuff coming from China, Taiwan, etc. So now the company has closed....although you can still view their lamps at this link http://www.wildwoodlamps.com/catalog.php . But there's no way to purchase this beautiful art work that doubles as illumination.

I've so enjoyed the series of classic room photos that Palimpsest (is that who posted it?) has posted. I've so enjoyed seeing these beautiful, timeless rooms, and have mentally applauded the good sense and self confidence of the owners who knew they had created something beautiful and did not need to follow the decorating fashionistas.

I admit to being out-of-step and clueless with what is current in decorating. And, fortunately, I really don't care. I love my home, the feeling that the various rooms evoke, and the sense of peace I derive from my home. I readily admit that the house is done. It will look this way next year and 10 years from now. There won't be replaced furniture or new furniture. I doubt there will even be much need to reupholster. I love the colors on the walls, and I can't imagine repainting....unless the walls become damaged.

I'm not a stick-in-the-mud....I just am very, very happy and contented with what I have collected over the years, how it's displayed and the emotional sustenance I derive from my surroundings. For me, this is what decorating is all about.

I certainly don't judge what others do, and am very accepting of how others choose to decorate. I truly believe decorating is a personal reflection of values, personality, experiences, etc., and that people should feel free to decorate to meet their own needs. This is just a comment about my personal wiring and my personal approach to decorating.

By the way, in case you're curious, I'm 62 years old. I do realize my age and my generation affect my perspective on creating a comfortable environment.

I think the Bunny Williams room is trying to hard to be "eclectic" without paying its dues: eclectic should really *be accumulated rather than just trying to look accumulated. Despite all of the various styles in the Williams room, it looks like one-stop shopping to me. Everything is just a bit too pristine or something...it looks 'precious'. Although the Michael Smith room is not exactly my taste either, I can appreciate that it is a comfortable room, and it mixes without trying to be too innovative.

My in laws built their house in 1949. Their living room and dining room decor is all original. French mahogany/brocade sofa, marble tables and large wing back chairs with a french flair. They've reupholstered them (in the required brocade) a couple times. It's certainly a step back in time.

My MIL is very proud of her house. My FIL cut the marble tops for their tables himself. Her dining room is traditional as well. The DR wallpaper has very subtle stripes with a large mahogany table and heavy chairs. ("We paid a small fortune for this set but it was worth it.")

She would love it if I took it all when the time comes but my house just couldn't pull that look off. I don't say that to her, of course.

Beth4, I would love to see some pictures of your home, it sounds really nice.

beth4 - I don't get to this forum as often as I used to, but I'm glad I checked in today and happened upon your post.

I have 2 grown children who are in the process of furnishing and decorating their first homes. I'm going to print off what you've written and give them each a copy.

They've come to me for decorating advice and you've expressed perfectly what I hope to pass on to them.

Thanks for taking the time to write.

Beth4

If you furnish your house with things that you 'respond to', --as it sounds like you do-- it will feel right, and you will be able to live with it for a long time. When I work with clients, I do like to see pictures of what inspires them...but I generally try to steer them clear of magazines that are on the stands--and to look at some older sources, disembodied pieces of furniture from catalogs and references, and to "look inside" too.

I have a client that is always interested in what the latest thing is, and particularly since we are doing a bit at a time, I try to steer him away from the latest...and toward what he really Likes. His house was full of little bits and pieces of the latest--none of which he seemed to like all that much. Some people have trouble determining what they like...its not always easy.

Those rooms I pictured took some effort: the furniture was purchased and warehoused over a number of years, once the basic house plan had been determined. My mother gives great credit to her first interior designer for integrating my mother's taste into a cohesive plan. Sometimes a look that is classic and effortless takes a certain amount of effort, and my mother always said that she couldnt have done it by herself.

And, as you know, it takes a lot of commitment. Very few people can afford to spend [what would be about $5000 today] on a sofa...and once you buy it, you are certainly going to hang onto it. My father took another job specifically to pay for the furniture that went into the house. With the exception of a recliner (for him) and a chair that raises to a standing position (for her)--a new piece of furniture hasn't entered the house since 1975:)

Palimpset, I appreciate knowing the background of the rooms you showed. I love the story of how hard your dad had to work to achieve the quality your parents desired. It's a great lesson to all of us. Again, I thank you so much for sharing your parent's home with us...there is so much we can all learn or reaffirm from your postings.

Happiladi, I'm in the process of deep cleaning my house. When I'm through, I'll seriously consider taking some photos. I'm apprehensive about sharing them, however, because it's ME that I'm exposing. My decorating style is not trying to be chic or current....it's just ME. So, I'll think on that some more as I continue with my house cleaning.

amck -- What a great compliment you gave me! I do not have children, but if I did, I'd very much want them to know these thoughts. I am so touched that you're going to share my note with your children.

Finally, I do think we tend to inherit these tendencies. My parents (87 & 85 years young) lived overseas for 27 years (1963-1990), when my father was working in Thailand, Pakistan and South America. They have collected beautiful, beautiful things from their overseas adventures. And their lovely, unqiue accents, art, carpets, etc. are all anchored by the furniture they purchased in the 1950s at Denver's very best furniture store -- Daniels & Fishers (of course, long gone). Their furniture has been reupholstered, slip-covered with hand-embroidered crewel from Kashmir, re-finished, etc.....and it's still wonderful, beautiful furniture.

So, this apple didn't fall far from her family tree. :)