Home Styles and Décor Of The 1960s

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A typical 1960s home style.

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Hello! I'm Mr. Ed

Blog Created: 5-9-2025

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As the 1960s rolled around, home interiors changed somewhat from the previous decade. As I remember, the 1950s was the period where home décor and design made it's biggest change. Before the '50s, homes were more plain and comfortable. During the 1950s, designs took on a more radical look. It was called, Mid Century Modern". The Early American style came into play and the modern look also became popular.

Modern styles of the day were very plain and straight. There were no styling curves. Early American tried to take from the pioneer look but I don't remember seeing any pioneer's homes that even came close.

The 1960s held over the '50s look but we added more such as chains, ropes, crazy artworks and the ever popular for the times...shag rugs. These carpets were a real pain to try to vacuum. A few more inventions were added to the mix that we really didn't need but made life more exciting. TV went colorized so everyone could now see the eye color of their favorite celebrities. The microwave oven was invented to make mom's job a bit easier and faster. The telephone took on a whole new look such as the Princess phone for that little princess' bedroom. In the '50s, teen girls had a record player in their bedrooms. But the 1960s saw the telephone as the major necessity.

Princess telephone.

The 1960s were good for home design. Everything seemed to get more colorful. Artworks for the wall became weirder and crazier. The Picasso period had begun. Home workshops were all the rage. Recreation rooms were the norm and sun rooms became everyone's desire.

In the 1960s, jobs were plentiful and paychecks were good. So folks bought and bought. They bought new furniture, appliances, cars and all sorts of toys. I think the 1960s was the period that had the most stuff. I grew up during the '50s and '60s. I know I had plenty of stuff. I believe that the 1960s was the decade for TV dinners ate on TV trays. It seemed that every home I visited at that time had a set of TV trays in a corner of the living room somewhere. And the TV dinners were not the best, but they were tasty. However, there was never enough food in them.

The 1960s was a violent decade as two Kennedys and Martin Luther King were assassinated during those ten years. At our home, it was a sad decade as well. My father died in 1967 of cancer and my mother followed him in 1970. My grandfather also died of a heart attack in 1968.

Music in the '60s changed as well. Rock and Roll took on a whole new dimension. Records were selling like hotcakes. In the later part of the decade, cassette tapes became the music item everyone wanted. Home stereo systems grew in popularity.

As I remember, yard cookouts became much more practiced in the '60s. Also, it was a time when home fireworks displays took place and the hospital emergency rooms became more busy with those who lost fingers while setting off those back yard fire crackers.

But all in all, the 1960s was an exciting time in America. And home designs were pretty darn cool. On this blog we go back and see how life was lived in those comfortable, colorful and convinent homes with all that purple and orange shag carpeting. To take a term that we used during the period, it was "groovy, man!".

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Colonial.

Split Level.

Traditional Modern.

Mid-Century Modern.

Fireplaces came back into style but the free-standing fireplace was the way to go.

Early American style was a popular choice. My mother loved it.

The modern style was all straight lines and thinner padding.

The TV set was still the center focus of the room.

Colors got more bold.

The sunken sitting area was made famous in the Beatles movie, "Help!"

Some areas took on the appearance of a hospital waiting room.

Some of the wall art pieces drew from art, style and, just pain ugly crap!

Kitchens were colorful as well. These included several of the colors made popular back in t he 1950s such as light blue, yellow, green, red, copper and the good old standard white.

Sometimes the cook dressed in the style of the room.

Actress/singer, Doris Day told American housewives what they should have to make the perfect kitchen.

Some kitchens were just plain wood.

When we moved into our present home, We had one of these stoves.

In the '60s, pink was still a kitchen color.

Actually, nothing changed much in the bathroom from the 1950s to the '60s.

Pink was also a famous bathroom color. I remember my grandparents had a pink bathroom.

Bright, bold wallpaper was also getting it's dues.

French was a favorite style for a woman's bedroom.

Kid's bedroom with that ever-loving record player.

Things on a girl's nightstand would include her diary, radio and a box of tissues for when she had to break up with her boyfriend or watch the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. Hey! Where's the Princess phone?

The main dining room was still for formal dinners with friends. Most families ate all their meals at the breakfast room table.

A basement recreation room was like another living room. Except, this one you could mess up and not get yelled at for it.

The sun room was another fairly new area in the 1960s. Here you could read, play games or just visit with friends in the warmth of the sunlight or take in the night sky. But actually, in the '60s, without the advent of insulated windows yet, these rooms were way too hot in the summer to actually use.

Sun rooms provided a nice corner to sit and read on a Sunday afternoon. A good place to spend time also on rainy an/or snowy days.

Many home rec rooms and family rooms had a home bar. This was a good way to entertain family and friends but also worked well to keep your drinking at home and cut out that drunk driving charge with the police.

The den or study was the man's room of the house where he took care of business or simply relaxed in his quite time. This room could be simple or...

...it could be wild and crazy.

The family room was much like a rec room. It was the place that the family could relax and let their hair down. These rooms had the stereo system, recliners and a liquor cabinet in most homes.

More of the crap artworks were displayed in t he family room to show the resident's inner selves.

The home workshop was in the basement, garage or shed. Here is where dad fixed all the stuff that I broke.

He could fix, build or ruin anything.

This was at a time when most tools were affordable.

In the '60s, most garages were used to store the car.

Some garages were used as repair and restoration shop areas.

The "garage band" got it's start in the 1960s. These were local startup rock bands that would go on for a few months and then break up. But a few were pretty good and would go on to fame.

I think that the '60s was the first decade where people actually sat on their porches.

Because smoking was popular in the 1960s, ashtrays were a big deal then. And the ashtrays in most cases took on the style to fit in with any room's décor.

Fallout Shelters were still buried in the back yard. The Russians could attack at any moment so it was important to have a place close by where you could survive.

Screened in porches were a favorite place to spend summer evenings.

More of those little TV trays.

Two different size TV trays from my own personal collection.

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So, there you have it. The styles and designs of the typical 1960s homes. It was a time that will never return. But that's okay. I don't miss it anyway.

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