Do you remember the ’70’s?  Looking back, all I can picture is brown, brown and more brown!  The “natural” look inspired the popularity of earth tones, which mixed with the leftover “mod” influence of the sixties to create entire suburbs-worth of splashy brown, orange and gold floral homes.  Every shade was tinted with a bit of brown, so yellows were more mustardy, oranges were more burnt sienna, reds were more maroon and even gold was burnished and muted.

In addition, a cosmopolitan type of decor swept the nation, bringing in colonial Spanish influences like red velvets, wrought iron, and elaborate scrollwork.  Items from overseas (or that looked like they were international) were quite in vogue, and sophisticated households used them liberally to accent their rooms.

While the 1970’s decor has not been gone long enough to be ripe for a revival, it is certainly easy to acquire affordable pieces now in preparation for that inevitable resurgence.  If you decide to decorate your home in a 1970’s Christmas theme, pull out all the amber glassware you can find, and mix it with burnished gold and deep red accents.  Try to include some sparkle to counteract all that muted brown-ness!  Candles do a wonderful job bringing life to darker shades.

Comb the attic, the basement and the local garage sales — it won’t be long before everyone will be looking for 1970’s things again!