Couches from Each Decade

vintageadbrowser.com, furniture ads of the 1980s

My latest hypothesis on classic verses trendy decorating has to do with purchase price.  Most people--decorators, young marrieds, new moves, wealthy, etc.--expect to pay hundreds of dollars for their couch.  This can be the most expensive thing we buy for a living/family room.  I'm betting that the more expensive the item with decorating, the more trendy it will be.  And we don't realize this.  We think that we are buying something safe because it looks like the couch in all the ads, what our friends/family bought, what we saw on the latest decorating show.  And we have probably seen it for a few years (we think) and this means it is a solid purchase.  But take a look at house styles neighborhood by neighborhood, decade by decade.  Or flooring choices decade by decade . . .

Here are some more couch ads from each decade:

 

retrorenovation.com, 1976 Kroehler ad

www.flickr.com, MidCenury Ads, 1960s

adspast.com, 1950s Kroehler ad

retrorenovation.com, 1949

imagestate.com, 1930s advertisement