Step back into your ’80s living room and you’re stepping into a time of bad decor and bulky technology. This was a decade where drab reigned supreme and nothing quite matched, but somehow it all created our coziest space. The living room wasn’t just a place to sit; it was a full-on experience, where family came to watch the latest Blockbuster release or gab on the phone for hours.
Looking back, it’s hard to imagine we lived in homes with gigantic television sets and waited seven minutes for a tape to rewind. Trends leaned heavily into comfort and convenience, no matter how terrible the aesthetic. While most of our ’80s living rooms weren’t winning any awards for interior design, these spaces were homey and familiar, and we wouldn’t change a thing. Here are 10 features of the average ’80s living room.
Boxy Tube TV
The TV wasn’t just a device; it was a piece of furniture. The piece of furniture. These massive, boxy sets often came wrapped in wood paneling and weighed roughly the same as a small car. You better hope you chose the right location for it because moving these monstrosities was a job for the whole family. Once it was in place, though, it permanently sunk into the carpet, where it became the primary source of entertainment.
VCR
The chunky, rectangular companion to your television set, blinking “12:00” for eternity: this was the VCR. This device was cutting-edge technology, and nobody fully understood it, least of all your dad. Programming it to record a show required plenty of forethought and felt like solving a complex math equation. Still, the weekend trip to Blockbuster didn’t exist without this beloved machine.
Wood Paneling
If your walls didn’t look like a forest, were you even in the ’80s? Wood paneling made every room feel like a cozy cabin, whether you were going for that vibe or not. Who needs light, neutral walls when you can fade into the darkness of your surroundings? Today, walking into a space like this instantly screams dated, but in the ’80s, it was home.
Glass Coffee Table
Nothing said classy like a glass coffee table with shiny brass details. Your mom didn’t seem to care that you were one small accident away from a trip to the emergency room. It looked elegant, modern, and only bruised a little if you missed the corner. Fingerprints were permanent residents, no matter how often it was cleaned, and everyone cringed when a drink was set down slightly too hard. But, hey, where else would you have kept the stack of mail order catalogues?
Overstuffed Couch
These couches were built for comfort with little concern for aesthetics. Covered in loud patterns or pastel colors, they were also capable of unknowingly consuming all kinds of objects. Flipping the cushions every once in a while was like going on a shopping spree from the comfort of your home. But it was comfy, and that was all that mattered on family movie nights.
Stereo System
The stereo system was the pride and joy of the living room. The goal was to make it sound like you had a movie theatre in your home. If done right, towering speakers and stacks of equipment would rumble at the height of action scenes, vibrating the entire house. And sometimes, we moved that fancy glass coffee table to the side so we could jam out to our favorite cassette tapes.
Corded Telephone
Before cell phones, this wall-hanging device with the ten-foot cord was your only connection to the outside world. The plastic cord stretched and bounced across the room, with family members maneuvering around it accordingly. It always seemed to get tangled no matter how carefully you handled it. And your call was almost certainly interrupted when someone inevitably picked up another phone in the house.
Numerous Houseplants
Do you know where you are? You’re in the jungle, baby. The ’80s living room wasn’t complete without far too many houseplants, in differing stages of growth and health. Ferns and hanging plants filled every available corner, perhaps in an attempt to add life to those drab wooden walls. Some were thriving, others were doing their best. If they were set in macramé hanging holders, you were truly living right.
Horizontal Blinds
No ’80s living room was complete without those infamous vinyl blinds that looked sleek on installation day and slightly defeated every day after. Made of thin plastic slats, they would frequently bend, twist, and never quite return to their original shape. Sometimes, if you didn’t pull just right, they would get stuck in a slanted position, like a mangled piece of art nobody asked for. But on the plus side, they made a satisfying clacking sound every time you touched them.
Ashtrays
Ashtrays were everywhere, whether you smoked or not. Because if you didn’t smoke, surely your sister or neighbor did, and it would be rude to deprive them of bringing their favorite carcinogens into your home. Glass, ceramic, or decorative, they sat on tables like tiny works of art ready to be filled with toxic ash. It was just part of the era, like too much hair spray and lots of spandex.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©sporkist / BY 2.0.