Memories of mid 80's for my short story?

[onesmalldog]

What can you remember of the mid 80s living in the UK as regards house decor, colours, house style, furniture, knick knacks, wallpaper, doors, flooring, light fittings etc?

Also what did you eat and drink?

I'm writing a story need this sort of detail to make it realistic.

Would be so grateful to hear your suggestions - and fun!

Indian restaurants with Bombay mix and flock wallpaper. Scampi and chips in a basket. Schooners of sherry. Smoking in pubs, smoking everywhere.

Lycra cycling shorts with fluorescent stripes down the sides
My Little Pony
Lucozade in glass bottles wrapped in cellophane
Vienetta ice cream
Rara skirts
Blue eyeshadow
Grange Hill

I remember most of my relatives having lots of brass ornaments in their houses in the 80's. My auntie had some that she hung off her fire surround, strange but was the bees knees at the time. Also lots of ceramic ornaments positioned either on top of fire surrounds or massive wall units.

Metal fire surrounds literally in every house.

Ashtrays in every room, usually fancy crystal style ones that were probably from Argos.

Huge Hi Fi's encased in huge cabinets made of glass, always had records stored in the bottom.

Pink or patterned carpets that were quite chintzy.

We also had plates and cups that resembled Delft ware? Not sure what it's called but it was blue with pretty paintings on them, again probably from Argos but my mum had them for years.

@Grumpyoldblonde @Fleamaker123
I had a duvet cover and matching curtains in that fabric. Kept them for years. They seem so understated compared to the big hair with silk scarves in, crimping, shoulder pads, loose blouses with tight wide belt etc I used to wear....

Forgot to add TVs and video recorders being big bulky things.

Oh can anyone remember as a kid getting ceramic painted face/masks that you hung on the wall? They actually looked quite nice and had lots of glittery patterns on the faces.
Me and my cousins all got them one year at Xmas.

Lots of chintz, swags and pelmets.

Eternal Beau. We had pretty much the whole set as a wedding present.

Skinny ties with chains across the knot. Pleated waist trousers and jeans. Jeans were bleach washed. White socks. Moustaches.

Lots of people still had their stereograms, though there was a move to upgrade to single stacked hifi units. Room dividers were popular too: open wooden shelving units in the living room to make the dining table have a separate space.

Coloured bathroom suites. Carpet in the bathroom plus those little rugs around the toilets.
Net curtains, artex on all the ceilings
Large tv with wood panelling on sides and 4 buttons for the 4 channels
Telephone which you put your fingers in the holes and rotate to dial.
Bbc acorn computers with floppy drives. Printers with the paper with the bits you tear off either side with the holes in.
Lots of tupperware (tupperware parties)
Knick nacks were mainly royal doulton figurines in my parents house
I mainly remember the puddings, vienetta ice cream was a treat. Usually had neopolitan ice cream.

I had a reverse he jumper too, it was Mickey Mouse and the other side was lots of Mickey Mouse faces. You used to roll the arms up so could could see the reverse pattern.

And of course blue and yellow roller skates.

Everything matching. So eternal beau dinner service, kettle, toaster, clock, wall paper, wallpaper border Etc.

Pink and green decor.

Early 80s, but huge excitement over channel four staring up, and brookside or whatever that godawful soap was called.

@MiconiumHappens. I still have those mugs 😂😂

A lot of the 80's home decor colours and patterns are back!
Grey, yellow, pastels, wish washy patterns on fabric.

Shoulder pads
Curly perms and Big Hair
Court shoes
Pencil skirts

Loads of people smoked
Mini metros
2CVs
Coloured bathroom suites and patterned tiles. My mum and dad moved into their house at the end of 1987, it was new and they'd been able to choose the kitchen and bathrooms. Master bed en-suite is a pale pastel pink with pink patterned tiles, main bathroom is pale blue with blue patterned tiles. Downstairs loo is beige. Mum put on wooden toilet seats.

Yep, people smoking everywhere
Artexed ceilings
Panda pops
Pierrot
Hairspray

I turned 18 in ‘82 and my big present was an Amstrad Music Centre (a stacking one in a wood-effect cabinet, smoked glass door...) God, I loved that thing to death!😄
We still drank Babycham or Martini with our chicken in a basket, got into discos under-age and wore pretty well anything we wanted to!!
We smelt of Tramp, Cachet, Impulse and the eye-watering Giorgio... 😱
Laura Ashley home furnishings catalogue was a must, as was the Argos catalogue (Elizabeth Duke jewellery anyone..?) and also keeping up with the latest fashions via the “catalogues” Freeman’s, Kay’s, Littlewoods etc.... the must-have was the oversize black leather jacket, with huge shoulder pads!! It weighed a ton!! peach was the colour of the moment, head-to-toe, including clutch-bag and stilleto heels😄 I learnt to drive in 1984 and life opened up... there was a lot wrong with the decade, but it also felt that as a young woman, you could do whatever you wanted, it was no longer expected that you would be settled down at a young age. I enjoyed the 80s!

Patterned vinyl wallpaper, avocado bathroom suite and carpet in bathroom. Coal fire, coal bunker in back garden and the coal man delivering coal. The milk man. Lots of smoky chimneys on a winter's evening and the smell. Red lemonade and crisps for a treat. Mullet hairdos. Snorkler parkas.

It was very very income/class specific so you'll need to give more context. As PP has said, fashions - in interiors and clothes were both slow and stratified . People (generally) didn't decorate every year or 2. It was once a decade maybe? So my family were all habitat wannabes but had a lot of inherited/hand me down/second hand furniture (not "vintage" from an actual scrap yard). Clothes shopping once a year for special treat (save up the child benefit). My best friend's house was all lladro figurines and smoked glass. Chintz in the back room, velvet suite n the front room (no one ever went in, was pristine).

Wedding gift lists became a thing and always contained everyday items such as toaster, kettle, “Ali Baba” linen basket and lots of “Eternal Beau”. It was much rarer to live together before marriage so people needed the basics, which as a wedding guest was nice rather than being asked for money or vouchers.
Mum’s collected tokens from petrol stations and were thrilled when they had enough for some glass tumblers.
Uncles smoked pipes or cigars indoors and in the early 80s they drank and drove home. 2 car families were rare and quite a lot of mums didn’t drive.
We lived in the country and never had a take away or ate out except on birthdays when we ate fish and chips in the car. Parents went for meals with friends to Beefeater and Trusthouse Forte.

L'Oreal Pumping Curls and Studio Waves
Mum deodorant
The octagonal china was called 'Eternal Beau'
Paula Yates
Dulux apple white, bluebell white, daffodil white paint shades
Pattern carpets
Those freestanding wicker shelving units -Sally Webster from Corrie used to have one.
Pop tarts
Vimto
Poison and Eternity perfume - if you were grown up!
Bic perfumes from Superdrug
Purple nail polish by Constance Carroll
10-0-6 cleanser
The Body Shop Cucumber cleansing milk and toner, carrot moisturiser, white grape juice tonic
Fishtail skirts from Chelsea Girl
Striped blouses
Marble-washed denim
2" stilettos
Schreiber wall units
Swatch watches
Leather American airman flying jackets
Patterned tights: dots, chevrons etc
Buckled boots from Freeman, Hardy Willis
Those plastic trellis bags - photo attached

We bought our first house in the mid 80s. I was mid 20s, my husband a few years older. Most people we knew earning similar salaries to ours were also buying their first home. It was nothing like such a stretch to get the money together then as it is now, but interest rates were eye-watering.

It was a Victorian mid-terraced house which a builder had bought from the executors of an old lady who'd lived there for decades. They did a quick refurb, which included putting in a bathroom - the estate agent told us there hadn't been one before . The suite was white, IIRC, not avocado. We had central heating, but not double glazing, which was fortunate, as most double glazing at the time was UPVC and looked dreadful. Carpets were plain neutral colours and so were all the walls (painted woodchip or lining paper). (Builder's choices, but we would have gone for similar.)

Pine self-assembly bed with duvet, bedding from BHS or M&S (mostly blue shades with black or green patterns). We bought a black leather reclining chair and a blue velour covered sofa, which were both new, but we also bought a second-hand dining table that was probably from the 30s. The dining room chairs were new and exactly like the ones in the picture, probably from Habitat. We still have a couple in the bedroom.

Definitely coloured bathroom suites with toilet paper to match. Usually pink or green. Knitted little rugs that went round the toilet. Kitchen was very red and white. I had a pastel bedroom with pink, yellow, green, blue (lovely!)
People didn't decorate much so some of the 70s browns/oranges were still around.
Drinks- lots of fizzy drinks for kids- soda system, loved mine. Penny sweets. Mum drank martini, Bacardi, babycham.
Place to eat out was the Berni Inn. I remember the children's "cocktails" that came with cocktail cherry, glitter decorations etc and consisted of about 3 kinds of juice.

Fondues
Prawns served in a scooped out half melon or pineapple
Ford fiestas
Big hair
Spiky eyelashes
Pleated waist trousers

Black and white kitchen decor with “accents” of red, “blue willow” crockery, plastic handled cutlery usually red handles, glass topped tables, wood chip wallpaper, in teen girls bedrooms lots of posters (music and film crushes) Pierrot doll decor or geometric patterning in primary colours, sofas with wooden arms! Most uncomfortable especially for babysitters trying to nap!

“Crystal” effect door knobs, rippled glass panel doors, “stained glass” effect panels on front doors

Knick knacks - tiny “crystal” animals, “China” figurines of Victorian ladies, Athena prints people tried to pass off as “art” when everyone had the same prints! I’m thinking particularly of the little girl sobbing against a wall, naked man cradling baby in b&w bjt there were others too

Dimmer switches, up lighting

Corner baths!

Food and drink - wow so much! Microwave everything! French bread pizza, findus crispy pancakes, pot noodles, soda stream, tab, Vimto, opal fruits, marathon bars, crisps only available in boring flavours - it’s why salt n shake was so popular! Cheap crappy choc ices from
Bejam so when the ice cream van came your mum went “no! There’s choc ices in the freezer” scampi, chicken in a basket, prawn cocktail starters,

Omg yes to the smoked glass mugs and decorative ashtrays - and coffee table lighters! (Both parents heavy smokers, still suffering the effects)

“Piano key video players and ask asking my folks to get me horror films from the video shop.” This reminded me of those tiny handheld electronic keyboards the name of which escapes me and google isn’t helping!

Bathroom sets - carpet offcuts basically, “pedestal mats” which went around the toilet! (And probably ended up soaked in piss - Vom!) and even worse one on the actual toilet seat! Plus matching bath mat - but mum would shout at you if you actually got it wet!

Dried flowers and pot pouring were very in vogue

Look at the Argos catalogue from the time you need - all the back issues are online, good for toys, decor, appliances etc.