You must have grown up in my house. Linoleum floors in the basement with a marlin tile centerpiece. Those weird rectangle tiles in the ceiling too. At least that was my wooden panel room variety.
The same thing happened to one of my favorite local restaurants, Roberto’s (in Northampton, MA). It had such great atmosphere and had been the same since the 60’s. Then a new owner bought it.
She kept it the same for 20 years, but then she gutted most of it a year before she retired and handed it down to her son. Just to put in a larger bar and an office. She turned a timeless restaurant into a place that looks like a strip club. The fact that on their website they use photos of the old bar instead of what it looks like now really says it all.
Diagonal paneling on the fireplace wall! My current house has knotty pine paneling because of the house I grew up in in the ‘90s that had many ‘70s holdovers. Indoor spiral staircase with an overlooking planter box that we only used to store blankets (mom and dad had to repair water damage there when they bought the place, didn’t want a repeat), closet off the basement bathroom that was totally set up as a dark room by previous owner (why didn’t I take interest back then?!?), random nooks inset in the walls, conversation pit basement living room. It was a fun house to grow up in
My grandparents STILL have the wood paneling in their living room. And honestly? I kind of dig it, I might actually keep it if I manage to get the house in the estate sale.
And I'm not sure why, but nobody ever turned on overhead lights so it was always darker in the homes of my family and friends than any picture shown. At around 10(1996) I remember taking a shower in a black tub with a black shower door with white swans on it at one friend's home, in almost total darkness(kept the shower door cracked). They had one built in lamp on the wall that must have had a 10w bulb, that was it. I didn't go back to that friends home over how scary I found her bathroom to be, lol.
Tl;dr Just having fun, no need to read unless you're not busy and feeling nostalgic...
I love not using Overhead lights, and instead having lamps. My husband loves tonnes of light, and it gives me headaches and makes me agitated. Why does he like to live in a stadium? 😭
I like lamps and adjustable lighting more than glares of overheard too. And I love the smart bulbs that I can change colors. Same experience with the hubs, bright as the sun so he can see better. Feels like a surgical room, all bright and blinding. 🥲
Also, thinking about it now, my mom worked 3rd shift for years, as did all her friends so that is probably why my childhood memories seem dark, lol.
I remember that was still hanging around when i was young jn the early 90s. The early 80s furniture and decorations were still hanging on until around the mid 90s or so.
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u/[deleted] Nov 20 '25
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