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If you’re renovating your home, then you are looking for inspiration for your design. One of the most common trends right now is to follow the 70s interior design; of course, with some modern tweaks to tie it all together.
We love the “eclectic hippie” style of design. And the best thing about it is that you don’t even go far to find inspirations and elements. Just pop round to your parents’ house and have a look at the basement – there’s bound to be loads of stuff in there that you can reuse.
But even the 70s interior design has its own subcategories. There’s the boho hippie-styled design, and then there’s the slightly more glamorous disco look. No matter what you prefer, you’ll find plenty of ideas within the realm of the 70s interior design.
Consider the old to be new, and take a moment to notice everything that you can find in your mother/grandmother’s basement. Disco balls, macramé, and other elements can add a healthy dose of the 70s, and you can even experiment and try them out yourself.
Here are some 70s interior design tips for you to use.
The Terrazzo
Image source: Dansky Handcrafted LLC
Nothing screams 70s quite like the good old terrazzo. There’s many ways you can incorporate it into your design – whether it is the flooring, the walls, or even the countertop.
It will give your rooms a good feeling of the mid-20th century. Terrazzo is big again in design, and there’s more and more people who style their whole rooms with terrazzo again. If you’re crazy about it, why not go for broke and use big installations with it?
Hanging Chairs
Image source: studiovert design
How about some swings in your home to liven it up? It’s an endless styling idea that will spruce up your home and make it feel “old-school”. Whether it’s a rattan egg chair or macramé swings, or even wooden hammocks, you’ll bring fun to your home while also having a very retro feel to it all. Or, it can act as a reading space. Just make sure you avoid any accidents!
Geometric Shapes
Image source: Micamy Design Studio
Forget the rounded shapes of today – It’s all about the geometric shapes and patterns. The 70s were full of instances where these shapes and patterns made their way into design. It can be something subtle, such as a small furniture piece.
Or, you can consider an ottoman piece to give you that retro feel. Invest in some good rugs and textiles such as pillows, and spread them across your room to make use of them.
Brass Animals
Image source: Archetype Design Studio, LLC
Spend some time searching antique stores, whether it’s online or physical shops. You’ll bound to find some interesting pieces of animals and animal accents in there. It turns out that these sorts of pieces were extremely popular in the 70s. They are just a subtle addition to your décor that can make a world of difference.
Ranch
Image source: L.EvansDesignGroup,inc
If you’re renovating your home in a 70s style ranch, then wooden walls are the way to go. But, you’ll need to add a touch of paint, some furniture, and of course, choose the right colors to go with it.
This modern Hudson River ranch takes inspiration from the 70s – alpaca for a rug, straw marquetry walls, and other subtleties make it an appealing type of design.
Macrame Wall Over the Bed
Image source: Urbanology Designs
We’ve already touched on macramé, but it’s such a 70s thing that we can’t ignore it. It will give your home that hippie feeling, and you can use a wall of macramé in your bedroom. Why not hang it over your bed to liven it up a bit?
A bold option would be a macramé chair, which is actually quite strong, as it’s made from knots and it will also add some 70s to the design.
Crochet Blankets
Image source: Marilyn Hill Interiors
While many people connect crochet blankets with a granny’s home, that’s not necessarily the case. This handmade crochet blanket can add an exquisite but subtle touch of 70s to your design.
Rattan
Image source: sullivan + associates architects
It’s all about rattan with this idea. This type of furniture from cane and willow was extremely popular in the 70s. But you can create a whole design from rattan – the furniture, the subtleties such as bookshelves, and more. It will give it a laid-back feeling and also a very boho feeling at the same time.
Natural
Image source: Alderwood Landscape Architecture and Construction
The 70s were all about the hippies, and we know that hippies revered mother Earth out of all things the most. They sought to live more naturally, tied in with the nature. And this also resulted in interior design changes, which included various natural materials.
70s homes had natural materials built in, such as extra-large windows, natural stone, indoor gardens, pine accents, wicker furniture, and more. You can incorporate some of these ideas to create that feeling in your own home.
Avocado Green
Image source: John David Edison Interior Design Inc.
We already said that natural was popular back in the 70s, and this was only encouraged by the avocado green color. Anything can be used with this color, from Pyrex, aprons, to cabinets and walls. This color was the go-to color for quite some time, and you can still use it today.
Jungalow
Image source: Melissa Miranda Interior Design
Again, if you are a hippie enthusiast, you’ll love this design idea. The carpet, the exposed brick walls, oversized plants, and pillows tied together in a very hippie-styled design that many still use today.
It’s All About Velvet
Image source: Nanette Wong
While velvet is not necessarily a hippie-style décor idea, it’s still a very popular fixture in 70s homes. To be more precise, it dominated the whole world of interior design back then. Velvet goes pretty well with rich colors, rich wood tones, and decadent fabrics such as silk. You can create a more elegant design with velvet.
Cream-Colored Shags and Sheepskins
Image source: Judith Balis Interiors
Wall-to-wall shag carpets might be a thing of the past; but small fixtures such as shag rugs and sheep skins are still very much popular. They can easily add a touch of coziness to your home, but they must be used where dirt is unlikely to be present.
And the cream color is one of the colors that were popular in the 70s. You can add some cozy pillows and other details to complete the look, if you’re about this type of color, of course.
Embroidery
Image source: Archetype Design Studio, LLC
Embroidery is another fixture that’s making a quick comeback today. Along with macramé, this style is more and more present in modern design, and we love it. You can add a homemade, crafted embroidery to make your design slightly more interesting and elegant.
Floral Prints
Image source: Lauren Ostrow Interior Design, Inc
It was all about the flower power in the 60s and 70s, which is where hippies drew inspiration from. The flower prints were quite common, as were slightly more vivid colors such as orange, avocado green, and mustard. They were often featured on bedspreads, curtains, and other fixtures of interior design.
Owl Accents
Image source: California Lustre
Back in the 70s, the owl was the protected animal and probably one of the most revered animals in the US. That’s why owl accents often made their way, even into 70s interior design. It’s a fun print idea for your child’s room, or for some other rooms where it can be used more subtly.
Agate Accents
Image source: Pompeii Quartz-Precioustone-Vetrazzo-Sapienstone
Again, the importance of organic is prevalent. Here, it’s stones and crystals that take the throne. You can add some of them to the design, and a table like this can be the center piece of your décor.
Disco Balls
Image source: SCM Design Group
Towards the end of the 70s, disco was just making its way to the top. And that was when it also became one of the prevalent fixtures in design. This includes disco balls. While for some, this idea is slightly too bold, you can make it subtle, too. They create a cool lighting effect, and you don’t need to display them prominently for them to make a difference.
Ending thoughts on 70s interior design
The 70s will remain one of the most popular eras in recent history. Many people remember them because of the carefree nature, and the connectedness with the natural things. There’s plenty of 70s interior design options that you can go with, though.
In the end, choose whatever suits you best. These are just some ideas to inspire your quest to redesign your interior.
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