The living room is where we put our feet up after a day at work, talk with our family, and get entertained. But as society changes, so do our habits and ways of living. RENTCafé, a website that provides self storage search services, looked at living room interior design trends through the decades from the 1950s to the present, a period which saw dramatic shifts in people’s lifestyles, salaries, expectations and entertainment options. Let’s take a look at the main trends that shaped the American living room over the last decades.
Large, spacious rooms made way for multi-functional design
After the Second World War, increased residential building meant that many people had more space to live in. In addition, more things seemed to become possible, with popular culture and technology leading the way.
The living room — its size, its function and its furniture — has mirrored society’s changes quite closely. With an increased need for flexibility, modular furniture and coffee tables quickly becoming popular in the 1950s. The 1960s saw a desire for individuality and egalitarianism, and furniture designs evolved, incorporating ideas from art movements such as Pop Art and Minimalism. There was continued use of wood in the 70s, but as favorites like rosewood became less available pine was used more from the 80s onward. Since then, ‘shabby chic’ has become a fashion, alongside more modernist designs.
TVs became key elements that gave way to new design schemes
One living room feature had a particularly interesting evolution during this period: The television appeared in the 50s and quickly became very popular. It developed from a tiny screen in a large cabinet, taking up floor space, to neater designs that could in some cases be portable, and it became cheaper as well. By the start of the new century, large plasma and LCD flat-screen TVs were becoming dominant — fixed to the wall, freeing up floor space. With the popularity of DVDs and streaming, they have now become part of entertainment centers.
The modern living room is the result of people’s shifting preferences towards having dedicated spaces for various activities
While one interior design trend from the 50s onward was for an open-plan style — creating larger living areas — another saw other rooms in the house repurposed to give residents even more leisure options. The ‘family room’ or ‘rumpus room’ was created mainly to give kids a place to play without disturbing their parents. The ‘den’ is often a cozy room set aside for a specific purpose, and perhaps also a specific family member. Nobody doubts the function of the ‘man cave,’ however! It evolved from a corner of the garage to a repurposed basement to a large space where the man of the house can entertain himself and his friends.
The increasing size of the average American residence has assisted these developments and, overall, this trend looks like it’s continuing. On the other hand, some people are currently needing to downsize so they can pay their bills, especially in expensive cities like New York, and they may be either selling their furniture or storing it until they can move back into a larger living space when economic circumstances improve. With all these factors at work, it will be interesting to see how the living room will look in a decade from now.
