Housing Trends: Then and Now

How far along have we gone when it comes to building houses? I can still remember my grandmother’s house in the suburbs almost 2 decades ago where her bathroom was located outside her house. It was a quaint little shed in the backyard. But things are different now. From a real estate agent’s POV, no one’s going to want to buy a house where the bathroom is located anywhere but inside the house. The housing elements that were considered a must-have 30 to 40 years ago are now considered old-fashioned or even counter-productive (especially when it comes to increasing your home’s value).

Imagine some of the features that made houses look trendy back in the 60’s and 70’s and imagine implementing these features into modern housing.  These features would instantaneously date your house to being built as far back as these housing trends were still popular, even though you just built your house this year.

Houses in the 1960s

Houses in the 1960s went for a more natural look by opting for a brown and orange décor along with their sunken living rooms or what’s known as “conversation pits”. This was what replaced parlours and sitting rooms, and gave people ideas on how to break free from traditional home designs.

Houses in the 1970s and 1980s

Fast forward to the 1970s and 1980s, houses back then had fully stocked bars for that modern look, along with some interesting add-ons like a pool table. Homes in these times were slowly starting to work with open rooms, or that rooms were now interconnected with one another via a network of doors. For example, the kitchen was no longer a confined area but instead connected to the living room or any focal point in the house where people could have a conversation.

Houses in the 1990s and 2000s

Going forward two decades after that, modern architecture and home designs started to work towards moving things outside the house. One worth mentioning is the kitchen. Some home designs opted for an outdoor kitchen wherein people could have a quaint little spot to cook outdoors without having to be bothered by moving things around. The backyard was a popular site for these outdoor kitchens and architects made sure that the site for the outdoor kitchen accommodated appliances like refrigerators and grillers.

People still appreciate the trends from the 60s up to the 90s, and even go as far as renovating their homes to make it look like they just bought a home that was built in the 1960s. Having a conversation pit was awesome then, and it still nowadays. Architects and home owners are now trying to work that old world charm into their homes through the design and renovation of their property.

If you’re looking for a house that’s got the old world charm, contact me and I’ll make sure to give you the help you need.