This post was most recently updated on September 23rd, 2019
Can you believe that the 80s are now considered ‘vintage’? Holy smokes. Well, today’s ad in my series on Vintage Home Decor Ads is vintage 80s Pier One!
I spent most of my childhood years in the 80s – from grade school to high school – and it seems like just a decade ago. Despite the 20-30 years that have passed, the 80s are still pretty vivid to me. If you’re like me and you were old enough in the 80s to remember your childhood home, then I’m certain that you’d have memories like mine:
- insipid pastels
- peach, lots and lots of peach
- hunter green
- floral drapes (think Laura Ashley) and sofas
- brass light fixtures
- oak kitchen cabinets
- potpourri and dried flowers
- bedspread ruffles and frou frou
- and who can forget, wall-to-wall carpeting
In a 1982 article on home decor trends, one industry insider contrasted the clean lines of mid-century modern decor with predictions for the 80s: “We are seeing a return to opulence” (Source: Retro Housewife, 1980s decor). OK, well, I’ll let you have that one, lol. But it was more like “overdone”.
These 1989 ads for Pier One are a little window into that style that we all associate with the quintessential 80s home.
Source: ‘Found in Mom’s Basement’
Source: ‘Found in Mom’s Basement’
Pretty different from what you’ll find in the pillow section at Pier One today!
Isn’t it funny just how much home decor trends can change in just 20 years? Gee, I wonder what our kids will be saying about their childhood homes in 2031?
Hope you have an awesome Friday!
~Kerri
Wow! Pier One was my first job after high school in 1989. I llloovvveed it! My co workers were all eccentric, artsy types and the store always smelled soo good. We kept those pillows on the back wall (of all places) and to take one down…they all came down. Haha.
I wonder if they still sell the “Papason” chair ( rattan, scoop-shaped seat with round futon cushion)? We couldn’t keep enough of those in stock!
Haha! And, yes, they do still sell it!! I saw somebody carting one out of the store just the other day!! For real. Too funny. Thanks for coming by! ~Kerri
I think I may have the first set of valences I bought from Pier 1 in the 80’s. Pale pastel floral–pink and blue and sage. Loved them!
Haha! This is what my first home looked like just after I got married! Between the Laura Ashley dresses and the Laura Ashley curtains, you could hardly tell the difference!