The 1970s was an exciting time in the world of design. Architects and engineers were competing to build the tallest building in the world. Buckminster Fuller perfected “Spaceship Earth.” Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers “turned the architecture world upside down” with the inside-out Centre George Pompidou in Paris. And as we discovered via our favorite passport to another time, Retronaut, Graystone Press published a massive, eighteen volume anthology known as The Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement . Arranged alphabetically by topic, the books cover everything from “how to select chairs that are comfortable and durable” to “how to arrange collections to create focus and visual rhythms” to “why the ancients used color.”
We were so inspired by the quirky range of entries that we had to make our own abridged version of our new favorite design reference. Let us know in the comments what has you wanting to invest in some avocado green accent pieces or give couching a whirl.
Astroturf
Image credit: Sandi Vincent
Baby blue
Image credit: Sandi Vincent
Couching
Image credit: ouno design
Dual-purpose furniture
Image credit: Sandi Vincent
Evelyn Ackerman wood panels
Image credit: Midcenturia
Flokati rugs
Image credit: ouno design
Goldenrod
Image credit: Sandi Vincent
Harry Bertoia chairs
Image credit: Sandi Vincent
Isamu Noguchi lights
Image credit: Sandi Vincent
Juhl (Finn) sets of drawers
Image credit: Sandi Vincent
Knoll furniture
Image credit: Sandi Vincent
Leopard
Image credit: Lunger Girl
Murals
Image credit: ouno design
Neon pink
Image credit: ouno design
Outdoor rooms
Image credit: Sandi Vincent
Petrified wood
Image credit: Sandi Vincent
Quasi space station bathrooms
Image credit: Sandi Vincent
Relief wall treatments
Image credit: ouno design
Sewing rooms
Image credit: Pattern Junkie
Trompe l’oeil
Image credit: Sandi Vincent
Ultra modern chrome tubular steel
Image credit: Sandi Vincent
Vent hoods
Image credit: Sandi Vincent
Wall units
Image credit: Sandi Vincent
Xanthic yellow
Image credit: Naughty Secretary Club
Yellow, avocado and orange
Image credit: Sandi Vincent
Zebra rugs
Image credit: ouno design