1970s home decorating problem: The blah browns, prevalent in paneled living and family rooms.
The owners had set out to give this family room a woodsy, natural look with wall paneling, but they forgot to use color. The result was wall-to-wall drab.
The furniture and its arrangement was good, with the exception of the table behind sofa (too big for space) and the coffee table (too small in scale).
What this room needed was a big dose of vitalizing color, pattern, and texture. And it definitely got it, with a bright palette and loud retro styling.
Replace bland 60s with super 70s home decor
The decorator’s makeover solution: Turning the tables unscrambled one problem. The table behind the sofa was pulled out, refinished, and put to dining use.
The old dining table was turned into a striking new coffee table by cutting the legs in half, adding bright yellow paint, and covering the top with practical vinyl. The dining chairs were painted to match.
ALSO SEE: A 70s designer dream house: The American Home of 1974
To add a bold element of pattern to the room, the old draperies were replaced by a screen made of six pine panels, which were covered in a bright and colorful angled stripe pattern.
Another big room brightener was the fabric-covered mantel decoration — white, brown and yellow abstract floral wall art — which also served to stretch the room horizontally.
The owners chose a fairly expensive wool area rug to harmonize with the fabric screens, but you could get by with an inexpensive nylon remnant in vivid orange or red.
Behind the sofa, a new modular bookcase balanced the horizontal lines of the wall hanging, and provided five shelves of handy storage.
