From the Archives of McMansionHell: Traditional Wallpapers from the 80s (Patreon)

Here is a scan from Mary Gilliatt's The Decorating Book from 1983. As we can see, 19th Century prints were huge during the 80s, and many of these can still be found on the walls of "time capsule" houses. One would think that there wouldn't be many of these around anymore, but there are. 

Why?

Because when people hire an interior designer to design their home from the inside out, it's extremely expensive, along with a lot of the furniture. We are always promised by designers and architects that what we are getting will be timeless. The only way we can tell whether or not this is true is to, well, wait it out. 

Here are a few trends from the 80s that have lasted 30 years or more:• The multi-story entryway• Sunken bathtubs• The two-story living room window ("great room" concept)

Here are a few trends from the 80s that have lasted 20 years (until c. 1999)• Brass taps and light fixtures• Hunter Green/Textured Walls• Heavy Drapery

Here are a few trends from the 80s that lasted only about 10 years:• Having every fabric in a room match• Carpeted bathrooms• Super-Rococo ultra-feminine themes (this got toned WAY down in the 90s)

That's it for today's excerpt, folks. As always, thank you for your patronage! Tune in next time for more peeks at the past.