Welcome back to Let’s All Decorate, a series examining the design trends and tribulations of years past. We’ve examined everything from 90s country geese to the early-DIY era sponge painting craze to your grandma’s house (yes, yours), but today we’re going to take it outside. Memorial Day is in the books and summer 2016 is unofficially here. For a lot of us that means planting our gardens, cleaning off the outdoor furniture and hanging hammocks. In the 1970s it meant all of that too, but everything was just a little bit uglier.
I don’t know why, but the 1970s just scream summer with me. Maybe it was my childhood obsession with Now and Then, or maybe it’s the bold, loud prints and colors of the era. Whatever it is, I can just see 1970s homeowners wearing polyester outfits, trying to gussy up their decks and patios before their swinging cocktail party. Plus, a lot of the 70s styles lived on in my relatives’ houses throughout my very 90s childhood, so all of this looks more than a little familiar.
Are you ready? Queue up your favorite 8-track, slip on your finest caftan, and start seeing the world through Harvest Gold-colored glasses. It’s 1975, let’s all decorate our porches and patios!
Pick A Color Scheme And Go With It. Really, Really Go With It.
Do you like yellow? Orange? Pea green? Throw it on everything! Those are your only color options, sorry!
My fav is the Big Bird pelt on the floor.
On one hand that’s a kind of cute, Liberty print-looking fabric. On the other hand, it is on everything up to and including the walls. BTW the woman looks like she’s posing for a picture, but the man is just looking at her.
Baby diarrhea. That’s the color of the background. Baby. Diarrhea.
April Showers Bring Macrame Flowers?
If you lived through the 70s, you probably had a cousin or sister-in-law make you one of these for Christmas. If you lived through the 80s or 90s, it was probably still in your parents’ house.
Were you born between 1972 and 1979? You may have been conceived on this macrame monster, CONGRATS.
Crimson Crystal Beads To Beckon
It is almost like instead of design books, 1970s homeowners were going off of the lyrics to Joni Mitchell’s Chelsea Morning. I love her but it’s true.
Make Yourself Comfortable. If At All Possible.
The good thing is that by the 1970s, outdoor-friendly materials had come a long way! The bad thing is they were still plastic-y and uncomfortable. You’d probably stock up a few of these bad boys:
If you were born before 1990, you probably put a foot through one of these at some point.
And who could forget your skin sticking to these strips of woven plastic?
Then there were these not-at-all-soft, rain-resistant cushions.
Invite All Your 70s Friends Over!
You don’t decorate a porch or patio for yourself alone. Time to throw a bash for all your 70s friends!
Cookies + Sangria 
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