Such a different Soviet interior style. Retro style furniture Apartment design in the style of the 70s

Designers often get new ideas from history. Among fashion trends The interior this year turned out to be in the style of the 70s of the twentieth century.

“The Decade of Bad Taste” was the name of this time, but recently many designers in Europe and America have become fascinated by the style of the 70s.

It was a time of many inventions in different spheres of life - Disco, trousers with huge bell-bottoms, floppy disks and the first email, numerous tragedies, natural disasters and wars. The 1970s were characterized by the beginning of many innovations, including in the decoration of residential premises, where romantic decor coexisted with pragmatic functions.

It is distinguished by the use of shades of a bohemian environment - numerous, different types, and tones.
Orange colors play a significant role in the character of the 70s. Walls are painted in shades of citrus, furniture is upholstered, sewn, etc.

Another highlight 70s style are geometric designs. Upholstery of furniture with fabrics with circles and circles, wide and narrow stripes, wallpaper with the same pattern - characteristic feature retro style. The brightness and combination of contrasting colors create a cheerful, cheerful spirit of a bygone era.

The basis of style in addition to bright color palette there was stylized furniture. The furniture set from the 70s is still preserved in our grandmothers’ apartments. Walls, sideboards, coffee tables and armchairs with widely spaced legs that taper slightly towards the bottom - everything is simple in shape and always polished.

A floor lamp near the sofa will help highlight the relaxation area in the living room, and a fancy sideboard in the kitchen.

In the bedroom, it is necessary to have a large double bed with a high bed, or tables with night lamps, a wardrobe, drawers.

They can convey the mood of the 70s forged elements beds, scuffs on wooden furniture.
As a rule, the upholstery of chairs and sofas is made of plush and artificial leather, colorful on the floor and on the walls, crystal dishes and trinkets, tulle curtains on the windows.

Of course, not only furniture and colors are important, but also accessories. A small chandelier, popular prints, tin boxes for spices and seasonings, porcelain plates and cups on the shelves will add emphasis to the style.


The presence of a tabletop in the shape of an owl, a soft toy or a piggy bank will become the main accessories in the interior, and an antique record player or radio will be an accent of the chosen 70s style.

However, there is no need to abuse these elements. Several items will give the room a harmonious look, charged with comfort and positive emotions.

Variety 70s style may become high-tech, which appeared in England in that era and was based on industrial design. It is characterized by the use high technology and robotization, with the help of which a functional and beautiful room is created.

For decoration, a variety of wall and floor mounts, built into pieces of furniture, and spotlights. Furniture designs lightweight, with a clear geometric shape. The materials used are leatherette, popular in the 70s, plastic varieties and polished metal.

Today, as in the 70s, interior items are in fashion. You can create a cozy home with the help of embroidered, embroidered panels, hand-painted tables or homemade ones. This gives the room exquisite charm and exclusivity, the main thing is that these details fit organically into the overall interior.

The bright and original style of interiors of the 1960s and 70s was formed in the wake of the emotional reactionary movement of the post-war era against conformity. Men took off their fedoras and freed themselves from their suspenders, women abandoned their bulky “shells” of underwear and shortened their skirts, and both willingly became addicted to cigars, Canadian Club whiskey and actively supported the new sexually liberated counterculture and the consumer boom initiated by industrial progress. . The revolution has begun!

Plastic revolution

The technical achievements of the era brought to the forefront such innovative materials as durable plastics and polypropylene, which were easily molded, painted and made it possible to create objects of the most unusual configurations. Mass production instantly flooded the market with lightweight plastic furniture of streamlined and ergonomic shapes, hanging cocoon structures, rotating soft chairs with a tubular steel base and voluminous cubo-futuristic furnishings in “fried potato-colored foam.” Fantastic-shaped models of furniture and accessories by Eero Saarinen, Pierre Paulin, Verner Panton, Gaetano Pesce, Vico Magistretti, Angelo Mangiarotti appear on sale Mangiarotti) and many others.

Thanks to the ability of polypropylene to quickly and easily fill voids, a new type of upholstered furniture appeared in the 1960s - large monolithic or composite objects, usually round in shape, which made it possible to create entire sofa areas. This trend, in turn, gave rise to a fashion for studio-type living rooms with a sofa island in the center; furniture was often raised on a platform or, on the contrary, recessed into the floor. Another design know-how, provoked by the era of the first space flights, was multifunctional interior units with mobile pull-out elements, allowing you to save space and at the same time equip the interior with everything you need. IN designer interiors polished metal is introduced, as well as structures and ceilings intended for zoning and having a non-trivial geometric configuration: round arches and light wells, “floating” stairs, mobile screens, multi-level platforms, etc.

Psychedelic color palette

And finally, a color of bright, saturated, and, as critics say, “psychedelic intensity”, which arose under the influence of hippie culture, fascinated by the oriental flavor of India, Spain and the Mediterranean. These are blue, red, dark green, light green, sea green, as well as various shades of yellow, pink and orange: from pea and lemon to peach and saffron. Color is introduced into the interior not only with the help of colorful textiles, carpets and furniture upholstery, but also thanks to the abundance of rich plastic accessories (from radios and telephones to lamp shades and flower pots) and expressive graphic decor of walls and floors. Bright geometric motifs for the design of background surfaces are borrowed from the palette of the fashion industry and become a manifestation of special chic. Thus, the interiors of the 1960s and 70s were an extremely motley spectacle, barely on the verge of bad taste.

Guru of new philosophy in the field luxury interiors becomes an Englishman who brings “acid” shades of a psychedelic palette to the classical surroundings. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Dorothy Draper, a leading interior designer in Manhattan in the 1960s, continues to persist in her favored combination of dull white and sunny black. However, truly revolutionary metamorphoses are taking place in conceptual interior design. New innovative materials make it possible to transform interior spaces in the manner of original futuristic landscapes, and special merit here belongs to the Danish industrial designer Verner Panton with his installations from the Visiona series (1968 and 1970) and the interiors of the Varna restaurant in Aarhus.

But the most important achievement of the experimental, hyper-creative and somewhat even “crazy” 1960s and 70s was the transition from smooth and unified modernism to an individualistic approach to design. Radial shaping and flashy game moves brought to the fore are due to the desire of designers to personalize the interior!

Retro style furniture represents interior fashion of the 40s-70s XX century. Technological progress at this time was constantly gaining momentum, as a result of which the furniture industry was rapidly improving and changing the configuration of carpentry. Therefore, the interior items that transformed the appearance of homes in the 40s were significantly different from the designs of bureaus, sideboards or cabinets produced in the 60s and 70s.

In the post-war period, carpentry manufactories created retro-style furniture: tables, chairs, sofas and other furnishings made of wood with chrome plated metal parts . Joinery products were produced in large quantities. Therefore, cabinetmakers rarely decorated the fronts of cabinets or bedside tables. In the 60s there was a loud furniture boom - free-thinking designers actively created beds, armchairs, dressing tables and other carpentry products from plastic with frames unusual shape, colorful upholstery and eye-catching finishes.

Retro style furniture: distinctive features

Retro style furniture has different design features that characterize a certain era of the 20th century. In the 40s, carpentry had rectilinear outlines and simple design. The deliberately rough finish of the facades and tabletops was softened by textile decorative items - crocheted napkins and tablecloths.

In the 50s, the post-war financial crisis significantly affected the furniture manufacture: carpenters manually created structures from cheap materials - plastic, plywood and simple wood species. Used for upholstery plain fabrics in eye-catching colors: blue, red, yellow, white and black textile coverings.

There was a heyday in the 60s carpentry production– automated equipment has facilitated and accelerated the labor-intensive process of creating upholstered retro furniture. Modernized materials and decoration methods have allowed us to radically change the idea of ​​interior items. At this time, it came into fashion wooden kitchens with glossy facades, sofas and armchairs with streamlined backs. Absolutely all pieces of furniture had straight or slightly inclined thin legs. Thanks to this feature, the furnishings looked elegant and did not clutter up the surrounding space.

In the 70s, the younger generation sought to emphasize individuality and created exclusive stylish images. The designers took into account the wishes of progressive youth, so retro-style furniture dynamically stood out against the background of the interior picture. Prominent representatives of carpentry products of this time are sofas with semicircular backs, covered catchy striped and checkered fabrics, leather chairs in rich colors and teardrop coffee tables with glass table tops.

Original carpentry will create an amazing ambience in the house and emphasize the courtly features of the interior. Your guests will not forget about the spectacular image of a colorfully decorated apartment for a long time, because its cozy atmosphere will not only be conducive to pleasant communication, but will also allow you to visit the last century.

Furniture celebrities of the 20th century

Retro furniture provided an opportunity for decorators of the last century to express a personal point of view about ergonomic and stylish interior items. Designers developed models of unique furnishings without taking into account any rules or stereotypes. Thanks to this, many legendary carpentry products appeared in the world of interior fashion, which to this day are very popular among admirers of retro-style furniture.

Egg-shaped chair with bright upholstery, decorated with expressive geometric patterns, - the main symbol of retro design. The first example of a stylish piece of furniture was draped in red velvet, and then the back and seat began to be decorated various types fabrics with colored abstractions. Today, designers are actively using this stylish piece of furniture to design media zones in rooms designed in different styles design.

Sofa in the shape of the front of a car – business card this stylistic concept. Massive semicircular armrests with integrated car headlights and a leather double seat with separate headrests, visually reminiscent of the appearance of a car interior, are configuration features of the original furniture product. An unusual sofa will look great in tandem with ottomans made in the shape of car wheels. This spectacular interior composition is perfect for decorating a man’s or teenager’s bedroom.

Swan chair with semicircular inclined back and seat, connected to the armrests, is an icon of retro style. It was designed by the famous Danish designer for the hotel, whose representatives wanted to decorate the luxurious rooms in an original way. hotel complex. In the interior modern apartment This elegant piece of furniture will look impressive, reflecting the retrospective features of the setting.

Buffets with antique porcelain tea sets against walls decorated wooden frames with black and white photographs will eloquently testify to the dominance of retro aesthetics in the kitchen. The headset must be selected without wall cabinets, since more than half a century ago, spaciousness reigned in dining areas.

Wooden bedside tables with built-in faience sinks equipped with metallic faucets can act as retro bathroom furniture. The focal point of this interior composition can be a cast-iron or wooden font equipped with graceful legs.

If you want to create a comfortable environment in your home that will promote a break from the surrounding glamorous pathos, then you should buy retro-style furniture to improve your home. Original soft interior items draped in plain eco-leather or multi-colored velvet, chenille or corduroy, will allow you to decorate different rooms calm or spectacular color schemes.

Retro furniture has many design variations, as carpenters use different materials: wood, glass, metal and polymers. Therefore, you can choose interior items for your home that can organically fit into the surrounding environment. In the Westwing shopping club you will find beautiful classic furniture, typical for equipping apartments designed in the style historical styles design, and carpentry, reflecting the features of modern interior fashion.

I have long wanted to write a post about what furniture was like in the USSR. Until about the mid-1990s, my parents’ apartment was furnished with typical Soviet “mass” furniture produced in the 1970s-80s, and in old apartment grandmother, I saw many examples of old “artisan” furniture made in the fifties.

So, in this post there is a story about Soviet furniture and how apartments were furnished in.

02. Until about the beginning of the 1960s, what is now called “mass-produced furniture” did not exist in the USSR - when standard cabinets, tables, racks, etc. were cut from chipboard sheets, furniture production in those years was most often carried out small production, as well as artels, such furniture was most often made from solid inexpensive wood (glued pine boards), plywood (both veneered and regular), and also simply from boards.

This is what the kitchen in an ordinary 1950s apartment looked like in the photo below; white painted wooden cabinets and cupboards were popular furniture. The buffet was used both for storing and preparing food - in top cabinet the cupboard (glassed) was used to store dishes, in the lower one - all sorts of pots and bulk products, and work surface The buffet (countertop) was used, for example, for cutting food.

Since the late 1950s, such a buffet stood in my grandmother’s old apartment in Minsk on Berestyanskaya Street, and it survived almost until the mid-2000s, I remember it very well.

03. Here's another very good example kitchen interior a la the USSR from the period before the 1960s. At that time, the everyday concept of “interior in such and such a style” simply did not exist; apartments were furnished with whatever was necessary. Very often in the kitchen of that time one could find pre-revolutionary furniture, especially all sorts of cabinets and sideboards - they, as a rule, were made of quality wood and served for a very long time, they began to get rid of them en masse only during the move to small-sized Khrushchev-era apartment buildings.

According to the famous St. Petersburg anthropologist Ilya Utekhin, in the 1960s and 70s, Leningrad garbage dumps were littered with antique furniture that simply did not fit into new small-sized apartments; they got rid of it en masse, replacing it with modern chipboard furniture.

04. Interiors living rooms in those years they also didn’t look very presentable. This picture perfectly conveys the details of the Soviet interior of those years - a mixture of ornate pre-revolutionary objects, cheap artel furniture (painted stools), homemade bookshelves. Furniture was placed, as a rule, strictly around the perimeter of the room; only a table could stand in the middle.

05. The interior of a rich (by Soviet standards) house could look something like this; in the photo there is very expensive, by the standards of that time, solid veneer furniture in the Art Deco style. Not an ordinary citizen of the USSR could afford such a set.

06. Typical Soviet furniture began to appear en masse in the 1960s; the need for such furniture became obvious after the resettlement of communal apartments began and families moved to Khrushchev-era buildings. The design of standard furniture at that time was carried out by the so-called. "All-Union Design and Technological Institute of Furniture" (VPKTIM), it was created in 1962 and essentially copied the developments Western countries, the same Swedish IKEA, which since the second half of the 1950s has been making assembled furniture transported in flat packages.

In general, following the developed countries, the USSR also began to make “square” furniture; it fit well into small-sized apartments and was multifunctional, which is also especially important when there is a lack of space. For example, in different compartments of the same closet linen, dishes, books and documents could be stored at the same time - in big apartment for the same purposes it was possible to buy a separate chest of drawers, a display cabinet, a rack and a secretary.

According to the designers' sketches, the ideal Soviet apartment of the 1960s should have looked something like this:

07. In reality it turned out closer to something like this. Furniture surfaces coated with a hard, shiny varnish were considered especially chic; in the 1960s and 1970s, such sideboards (after brush-painted chests of drawers) looked very formal and expensive - they were reserved for best place in the room, and inside they kept sets and crystal, which were either never used or used on exceptional occasions.

By the way, polished sideboards filled old dishes, can still be found in.

08. Around the same time (late 1960s - early 1970s), polished “walls” began to appear in houses, and they were in almost every Soviet apartment. “Walls” produced in the socialist camp were considered especially high quality, but not on the territory of the USSR - in the GDR, Romania or Poland. The “wall” was usually placed in the very big room in the house and had many functions - valuable services, books, clothes, etc. were stored in it, and photographs or simply beautiful pictures were often displayed on glass shelves.

By the way, it was partly because of the “walls” that he was born - in the USSR, people massively bought books (twenty-five-volume editions of all sorts of Tolstoys, Nekrasovs and Prishvins) simply “for the interior” and to fill the empty space of the shelves.

09. The standardized “upholstered” furniture of those years looked quite scary. It was noticeable that the designers tried to copy samples from Western catalogs, but at the same time these samples were most often never seen in person, plus local “production specifics” were imposed.

While studying at the Faculty of Industrial Design, I heard a lot interesting stories about how they designed household things in the USSR - the designer drew a beautiful vacuum cleaner, went to the designer, who told him “here you have “hidden connection” written, we can’t do that, we only have KV-14 screws.” Then the designer went to the paint shop, and there he said: “here you have written “blue paint with a metallic tint”, this is not in stock, there is yellow oil enamel KT-116.”

In short, what ended up happening was:

10. Back in Soviet times small apartments you could often find carpets - they were hung on walls most often for sound insulation, but that’s a completely different story)

Do you remember Soviet furniture? How were your apartments furnished in those years?

Tell me, it’s interesting)

Rough, hard wallpaper on the walls, creaking parquet and uncomplicated furniture sets- these are those interior details that most people try to throw out of the house irrevocably. But there are people who are interested in home improvement during this historical period. They even get inspiration to create modern situation, looking through photographs of apartments of that time.

Some people like this design

Soviet interior is not very popular

Most people only dream of getting rid of things that are already many years old.

Russian style. Interior and life in the first decades of the USSR

Along with such popular interior styles as baroque, modern, and country, you can put the Russian style, which corresponds to the era of the USSR. Designers often refer to Soviet interior style with the pretentious word “kitsch,” which literally means “a carbon-stamped object of low-quality production.” The beginning of the formation of such a furnishing of premises began in the 20s of the twentieth century and has not yet ended for one simple reason: people who were born and lived most of their lives in a union cannot accept changes and furnish their home (refrain from alterations), imitating culture of the times of Brezhnev and Khrushchev.

In the first years after the change of power from imperial to Soviet, people had no time to re-stick wallpaper and rearrange furniture. Urbanization began to occur en masse, and housing shortages became acute. But the authorities, not having the funds to build new houses, decided differently - to turn the former rich houses of the bourgeoisie into dormitories, which to this day are referred to as “communal apartments.” Their main feature there was a common bathroom, kitchen and corridor. In each of the living rooms there were sometimes 5-7 people.

This design can be modernized without any problems.

Some people who lived during the USSR never decided to somehow change their housing

Military operations in the territory former USSR left a mark not only in the memory of people, but also in their everyday life. Lack of money and hunger forced people to abandon excesses; the interior of apartments of the post-war period was more than modest.

Cheap furniture was mainly used in such apartments.

Some simply did not have enough money to furnish the apartment

The design gradually changed

The style of the 50s and 60s in the interior design of Soviet apartments is strikingly different from the decor of previous decades: the population came to its senses after the war destruction and its consequences. Modern designers classify this period as “multifaceted retro,” which is strikingly different from Soviet minimalism. The following elements and solutions are typical for the housing furnishings of this period.

  • A large amount of light - instead of massive, bulky and intimidating dark curtains light, translucent curtains arrived. Artificial lighting went beyond the scope of “only a lamp under the ceiling”, classic cascading chandeliers began to be complemented by wall sconces, floor lamps, and table lamps.
  • Color brightness – rich green soft corners, lemon yellow curtains and other original decor unusual shades turned Soviet housing into a mini design studio.
  • Multifunctional furniture (sofa-couch, chair-bed, folding table) complemented the interiors of that time due to the shortage of living space.

The only thing that did not express the Soviet interior of the 50-60s against the background of the modern one was the banal wallpaper with stripes or flowers. Furniture upholstery, except bright color, did not express itself in anything against the general background. Textiles helped diversify and decorate the interior. Monochromatic fabrics and fabrics with ornaments were fashionable at that time. Even today, in the apartments of people whose youth passed in the 60s of the last century, you can find bedspreads with the following ornaments: plant motifs, geometric patterns, simple decorations canvas in the form chessboard, Christmas trees, squares.

In those days, design was boring and monochromatic

Some people's apartments still haven't been updated

It may seem to the younger generation that in the USSR, regardless of the decade (40s, 50s, 70s), everything in houses was the same. But people who lived in Soviet times remember well the smallest details interior In the 70s of the last century, there was a breakthrough in architecture - “Brezhnevka” houses began to be built in cities, which had at least 9 floors, equipped with comfortable new items - a garbage chute and an elevator. The authors of the idea themselves called the apartments in such buildings an improved version of “Khrushchev”.

Apartments built in the 70s have from 1 to 5 rooms, low ceilings and a cramped kitchen (7-9 sq.m.). You can partially get acquainted with the interior of the Brezhnevkas when watching the film “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears”: whitewashed ceilings, wallpaper with a geometric pattern or light brown stripes on the walls, birch parquet on the floor. The layout of the living room is simple - there is a “wall” made of chipboard against one wall, opposite it there is a sofa and two armchairs, next to it there is coffee table or a polished table, which was laid out on holidays. The bedroom also had a sofa, a dressing table and a bulky wardrobe.

In the 70s they began to build houses

The living room is simple - there is a “wall” made of chipboard against one wall, and a sofa opposite it

The bedroom also had a sofa, a dressing table and a bulky wardrobe

In the interiors of the 70s there must be carpets hanging on the walls, there must be fish in the sideboard (the same blue ones that some people still have), and a three-tiered chandelier with crystal-like pendants (made of banal plastic) sparkles under the ceiling. . The walls in apartments of the 70s, and even in the 80s, are decorated with calendars and posters depicting Soviet artists.

In those days everything was monotonous and boring

Calendars and posters were usually hung on the walls

Many items produced during the Soviet period can only be found in abandoned attics or in rare collections. But it’s not only everyday objects that cause surprise or laughter on the faces of young people living in the 21st century. Many things that once seemed fashionable and beautiful to people are now called the popular word “shocking.” There are 5 items that cause the greatest surprise on the faces of the younger generation.

The first thing that catches your eye when looking at photographs from the USSR period is the carpets on the walls, which rightfully lead in the “Soviet shocking” rating. Canvases depicting deer and still lifes were used for decorative purposes and... to save wallpaper. Also, the reason for the original decoration was the cold walls (the role of a heat insulator) and noisy neighbors(the role of a sound insulator).

Soviet design causes laughter or surprise among young people

Soviet design can be modernized

There are a lot of weird things about this design.

The second place of honor in the ranking of shocking items of the Soviet era was sewing machine with foot drives, serving as an “assistant” in needlework and a storage place for shoes. A tablecloth was usually laid over it, after which the device turned into a work table. The third item that can surprise today's schoolchildren is a TV or radio on legs (like a stool).

The fourth position in the rating deservedly goes to openwork napkins, which covered not only the table and chairs, but also the previously mentioned TV and radio. Since the 30s of the last century, openwork, often homemade decoration, used as decor for pillows, tops of cabinets and sideboards. The sideboard, or as it is also called, “buffet,” closes the top five. This piece of furniture served as a storage place for sets produced by the Leningrad Porcelain Factory (or other holiday tableware), family photographs, and sometimes money. Such things were put in the upper part of the sideboard with glass inserts in the doors - so that everyone could see the “wealth” of the family, while in the lower part of the sideboard, towels, clothes and other valuables were hidden behind wooden doors (for example, a forbidden Bible or jars of cucumbers).

The walls were usually decorated with paintings, calendars or posters

The wallpaper was usually striped or floral

Carpets on the floor

When you mention the phrase “carpet in the USSR,” it is wall hangings that immediately come to mind, but floor carpets were no less popular during the Soviet period. Why was their popularity at its peak in the 50-80s of the last century? Yes, simply because they were expensive, and if a family could afford to buy a carpet, it means that it is prosperous and lives in abundance.

We often bought such carpets.

  • Pile wool, produced in Turkmenistan. The basis of the ornament of Turkmen carpets is “gel” (diamonds, squares, polygons).
  • Pile or lint-free products made in Armenia. The main motif of such carpets is a lotus flower with unfolded petals.
  • Silky pile carpets made in Azerbaijan. They are distinguished by unique geometric patterns; the most popular types are “Kazakh”, “Shirvan”, “Cuba”.

In addition to products made in Central Asia, carpets made at the Vneshposyltorg factory (jacquard products with half-wool pile), the Obukhov Carpet Factory (double-sheet pile carpets), and the Almaty Carpet Factory (4-color rod rugs, smooth rod runners) were popular in the USSR.

IN wall cabinets photographs were usually stored

The main attractions of the family were usually placed in sideboards and cabinets

Usually soviet design was boring and monotonous

Country, Provence, Art Nouveau - these styles are fed up with people who love unusual experiments. Soviet interior in modern interpretation– it’s artsy and original. In one of the rooms or throughout the house you can create an atmosphere from the USSR period of various years. The color combination table will help with this.

Soviet design can be modernized without any problems

Carpets were usually hung on the walls

Conclusion

History, whatever it may be, is the basis of the present. In the USSR, people decorated their homes according to their financial capabilities and the fashion of the time. Today, Soviet interiors are considered a relic of the past, but it is likely that the fashion for floral wallpaper, bright sofas and colorful carpets on the walls will return.