[caption id="attachment_1089" align="alignright" width="300"] A modern property styled to recreate the 1960's look, displayed on themodernhouse.net[/caption]
Trends in house design and decoration come and go. It seems as if we just get used to a particular style, colour or furniture idea, embrace it, and before we know its yesterday’s news. Or is it? Interior design ideas do have a tendency to be revived and return, with a twist, on a regular basis, sometimes within 20 years or so.
For example considering the fashion in clothes, I have seen similar styles to those I wore during my teenage years, revamped on numerous occasions. I've lost count how many times I've said to my daughter "I had a dress just like that" while looking in trendy boutiques (there's an historical term for you). It's true, though the fabrics and construction techniques used may be contemporary the styling, patterns and influences are retro.
As a child of the 1950's my first recollections of interior trends are generally that of the 1960's. I lived in a house built during the Victorian Era with Gothic detailing on the external timber fascias. The exterior doors were a chunky 4 panelled style, constructed from Pitch Pine, which were originally painted. I remember the main front door was made to look modern in the 60’s by covering it with a sheet of hardboard, to give it a flush appearance Yuck! When I think of that lovely 4 panelled door, with raised beading surrounding the panels, underneath a piece of flimsy hardboard, I cringe. The kitchen door, which was of a similar design, was removed and replaced with a modern 4 panel glazed door with Deep Flemish Glass. This was the trend of the moment and although the doors were perfectly ok it was the modern thing to do.
The interiors of the house were also subjected to similar treatments. The existing internal doors were Pitch Pine Timber with 4 flat panels surrounded by Bolection mouldings. They were ultimately flushed with hardboard then painted; some were removed and replaced with glazed 4 panel doors similar to the kitchen door. This process was understandable in some ways as the glazed doors allowed more light into the house, and the trend for brighter interiors after the war years and the previous dark Victorian times was very popular. We can see this demand for light and airy interiors in contemporary styling today such as in Scandinavian influenced interiors.