It’s 1990. What does your living room look like?

[JandamiHash]

Mine was:

• China plates on the wall sitting on little hooks
• a burgeoning amount of creepy Royal Doulton ornaments lining every available surface
• Maroon corduroy sofas that you had to perch on otherwise you’d fall down the back never to return
• Scalloped net curtains at the window that were black with dust at the hem
• This gas fire

Oatmeal coloured carpet, pale peach walls, curtains and cushions, a pair of 1960s TV chairs reupholstered by Dad in green wool, looked lovely, but they were incredibly uncomfy as they sagged terribly, second hand B&W TV, second hand circular pine Habitat table bought through the small ads in the local free paper, bent ply dining chairs bought in Argos and carried home on the bus, wooden fire surround with shelves and faux coal effect electric fire with two bars, small nest of teak tables which were a wedding present to my parents. Two Habitat bookcases, plastic basin full of baby toys, baby bouncy chair from the social worker, highchair from the ads on the board at the supermarket. It was the first flat that felt really mine, and a lot happened in the couple of years I lived there.

Bedroom was grey and pink and I painted the cot grey to match, bathroom had a pampas green suite, and the kitchen was grey with red accents, very on trend for the late eighties!

Victorian terraced house
Very pale green painted walls which were white above the picture rails as was the ceiling.
Floor was sanded/varnished (by me, what a filthy long job that was) with a large rug on top.
open fire which was lovely in winter with a fire guard that was pretty as well as functional I had found at the auction.

3 piece suite was a hand me down from my grandma who died in January 1990, it was perfect for the room, 1930's at a guess. I can't remember the pictures now, but I've probably still got them and there was a pretty little dresser I bought from the auction down the road.

TV
Video recorder
Dog basket
Landline telephone
There must have been at least a couple of table lamps as well.

Pink Velvet curtains originally which I replaced in 1993 with home made interlined linen curtains in a william morris style fabric which I'm still using, they are still functionally fine but when I next redecorate it's time they got replaced.

The other end of the room, the front part had an octagonal table in the bay window with a lovely table lamp on it. There were net curtains as a lot of people walked past outside. There was a small oval dining table and built in bookshelves/cupboards either side of the blocked off chimney breast.
I remember cleaning/polishing it all one Friday night as a friend was coming to visit on Saturday and coming down in the morning with the sun shining in, thinking how lovely it looked and feeling very proud of what I had cobbled together with hand NF downs, cast offs, auction bargains and not a lot of spare cash!

That gas heater! DM and DF had that.

My living room in the early 90s had a couch and two armchairs, a coffee table, hardwood floors and a red rug, bookshelves with a small TV/ vcr on top, side table by the couch with a lamp on it, standard lamp by one of the armchairs, toy box for DCs' toys, and a radiator near the window.

Also, floor length cream curtains.

It's so long ago. Sanderson wallpaper, aqua and peach accents. Dado rail. TV, video recorder. Antique style gas fire and surround. Can't recall the carpet. Big pictures and small. No plates or china ornaments. I made the curtains all 14 feet. of window . 3 inch header tape. Made matching cushion covers too. Three piece suite in velvet fabric, probably nest of tables and a large coffee table with glass top.

Dark red and gold patterned carpet, matching dark red crushed velvet curtains with pelmet, lacy net curtains which kind of arched up in the middle. Beige draylon and mahogany cottage suite, and a drop leaf dining table and chairs, with a cream tablecloth. Mahogany coloured MFI tv unit and matching cabinets either side, housing a massive CRT TV, VHS player and my dad's treasured hifi separates, plus records, tapes and videos. A glass fronted sideboard full of crystal as my dad worked for a place that made it. Anaglypta wallpaper, painted cream, which Mum redid every year. Brass light fitting with 3 glass shades. Photos in brass frames above the 3 bar gas fire, which was the only source of heating in the house (and usually a clothes horse in front of it drying washing). Southern Comfort bar mirror above the fireplace, and a couple of paintings on the walls - a young crying girl with a collie dog and a hunting scene, if I remember correctly. We had no side tables/cushions/rugs etc.

Mahogany units, peach coloured carpets, with peach ‘ragging’ effect on the walls with a flowery border, cream sofas, small tv/video player in the living room.

95% of it was 2nd hand furniture. Brown carpet with white zigzags. Giant’s beige sofa that had to be sawed down the middle to get passed the badly designed porch doorway, and never quite slotted together properly again, with a rip in the back that my cat used to climb into to freak me out. My Nans piano. My Uncle’s old dining table with bulky legs that could kill a man. For some reason a convex circular mirror on the wall, the kind they used to have in shops to discourage shoplifting. Paintings on sheep in snowy sunsets. Heavy green velvet curtains.

White. White. Then some more white, with glass and some metal. Our splashes of colour were yellow dining chairs, yellow venetian blinds, contemporary art and white shelving full of LPs and books.

I'm heading back that way now, actually. The only thing I don't want to repeat is the yellow blinds.

We were in our previous house then and the sitting room had a bay window. The curtains were tapestry like with a mediaeval hunting scene, dark beige background with lots of dark green and red.
The carpet was dark green and I can't remember the wall colour, probably beige, with lots of bookshelves.
The sofa and chairs were green patterned and there was a beige brick fireplace with an open fire. We had a forties wooden lamp standard with a huge floral fringed lampshade and a wooden coffee table.

The TV was in the dining room, where we had a beige Yorkshire range and built in wooden cupboards on one side. The carpet was brown and beige patterned and we had a strange squidgy brown patterned sofa bed that consisted of two foam mattresses and two huge L shaped bolsters, as well as the wooden dining table and chairs.

Looking back, it seems very dull.
Upstairs was much more interesting, with bright yellow geometric patterned wallpaper in DS1’s room, the popular grey black and red decor in DS2's room and dark red floral Laura Ashley in ours.

This is such a good thread 😊

im loving the contrast between those who were living with parents and forced to endure their left-over-from-the-80s, (and often by the sounds of it, the 70s) styling whereas those who had their own places were clearly young and hip with their stripped pine and cheese plants. Both styles bring back memories for me.

As I was only 14/15 in 1990, I had to endure my parents’ choice in decor. Their house has two sitting rooms of equal sizes with bay windows and high ceilings. One room has always housed the TV and the other been more formal but they’ve switched function regularly as they are decorated so the newly decorated room becomes the ‘posh’ room.

Anyway, I remember watching TOTP on repeat one Christmas holiday in 1989 so in 1990 the TV room at the time had a massive box 📺 with tiny screen, video player, hifi system and lots of orangey-coloured furniture with glass fronts. A mint green G Plan suite with glass coffee table. The ubiquitous William Morris print curtains. I think the walls were a yellowy colour and I’m sure at some point there was an Aztec-style patterned border which if it was there at the time must have clashed terribly with the curtains and sofa suite. A maroon wood burner, which was possibly gas. Oatmeal carpet. At least something was neutral.

They had a wicker Bergere suite in the other room, dubbed ‘the Gold Sitting Room’ which like the previous room had brass sconces on the walls with ‘flame’-shaped bulbs and melted wax effect on the bulb holders, and an open fire. Gold carpet, gold velvet curtains, gold, brown and white patterned wallpaper. We didn’t go in there very often.

'Rustic' brick fire surround a gas fire.
Lots of brass ornaments.
Thick shag pile type carpet in deep red wine colour
A bit stereo system - one of the ones with dual cassette deck and record player on top
A 'phone table' with dial phone and flip address book with everyone's numbers.

I'm loving all the DIY. Rag rolling, sponging, the colours we used to have in our homes. Spending Saturdays looking at wallpaper books, paints, carpets. Bringing samples home to line up in the room to check the light. Yards and yards of fabric to make up curtains.

Mixing paints to get the right shade. Interesting fabrics for sofas. Trim phone, lots of books. Records for relaxation.

Today's trends are so neutral.

Yellow rag rolled effect wallpaper, yellow curtains with black triangle print black carpet with small yellow triangle pattern, black leather sofas, wall mounted gas fire with beige brick surround, pale wood furniture

Probably my most perfect and opulent room having just bought everything new for the new property when I moved on promotion.
Liberty print sofas, beautiful plain carpet and Sanderson self patterned, lined floor length curtains with a lovely pelmet.

Wish I hadn't given away the sofas when I moved abroad a decade later, they were so lovely.🙁