E68. Questionable design trends

In this episode of the Building Design, Prime Time Podcast Frank and Amelia take a trip down memory lane and reminisce about a variety of past questionable design trends, highlighting both their appeal and impracticality. They start by poking fun at outdated elements like old wallpaper, shag pile carpet climbing walls, and the use of asbestos, while reflecting on why these trends occured at the time and if they are likely to return.

The conversation shifts to furniture and home design features such as waterbeds, living room bars, and Chesterfield sofas, as well as less favourable trends like timber toilet seats and chandeliers adorned with cheap plastic and wallpaper. 

Frank and Amelia also reflect on materials like stone cladding and velour upholstery, considering how some trends, like faux stone, have improved in modern designs.

Despite the dated aspects of many of these trends, Frank and Amelia express an appreciation for the quality of vintage home design, especially in 1960s kitchens with their unique features like tiled benchtops as well as bright Laminex benchtops in bright orange and green.

An episode not to be missed! Be sure to subscribe and listen to the other exciting podcast episodes on Spotify!

About us
Prime Design is a building design company locally owned and operated in Tasmania since 2004.  Our goal is to share as much valuable information as possible about the process of building design, extensions, and more. We will talk about a different topic each week. To suggest a topic you would like us to talk about contact us at info@primedesigntas.com.au

Disclaimer
The information provided on this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, individual circumstances, or remedy. We strongly suggest you consult a qualified professional before taking any action based on the information provided in this podcast. The views, opinions, and information provided in this podcast are those of the hosts do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organisation, employer, or company. All content provided on this podcast is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind. We make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this podcast and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, or damages arising from its use. We reserve the right to change content or delete any information provided on this podcast at any time without prior notice.

Transcript

E68. Questionable Design Trends 

[INTRO] (0:08 - 0:24)

Hello and welcome to the Building Design Primetime podcast, focused on providing valuable information for anyone looking to undertake a new build or extension project. We'll share our tips, tricks and stories from a building designers perspective.

[Amelia] (0:26 - 2:02)

Welcome to the Building Design Primetime podcast. I'm your host Amelia and once again we're joined by the wonderful Frank Geskus. 

[Frank]

G'day Amelia, how do I get wonderful?

[Amelia]

Oh this week you can be wonderful, tomorrow you can be something else. 

[Frank]

Oh, thanks a lot. What discussion topic are we going to come up with today?

[Amelia]

Look, I think we're probably going to get pretty excited about this topic, because I thought we would have a little bit of a look down memory lane, a little bit of reminiscing about all the questionable design trends that are out there. 

[Frank]

Or has been. 

[Amelia]

Or has been, probably coming back some of them.

[Frank]

Oh yes, Mission Brown, that was something that came back a bit there, wasn't it? 

[Amelia]

Mission Brown, who wants that? 

[Frank]

That was a classic through the 70s, the old Mission Brown, Mission Brown everything. And VJ lining with radiata pine panelling. 

[Amelia]

Yes, I have seen that before as well. 

[Frank]
Yeah, my parents made it a feature in their rumpus room. 

[Amelia]

Yes, I've seen it in a few houses. I mean, to be fair, it lasts a pretty long time that stuff. 

[Frank]

Oh, it's so hard wearing, but man it dates.

[Amelia]

Yeah, exactly. 

[Frank]

Oh, bathrooms put with VJ pine lining. Yes, I've got the radiata pine, VJ lining in the bathroom.

[Amelia]

Yes. 

[Frank]

The whole thing. 

[Amelia]

Yes.

[Frank]

Ceiling, walls, the lot. 

[Amelia]

Yep. 

[Frank]

And replace the tiles underneath your bath.

[Amelia]

Yes, and I've even seen it around a spa bath and all that sort of stuff too. 

[Frank]

Yeah, probably Western Red Cedar that one. 

[Amelia]

Probably.

[Frank] (2:02 - 2:03)

I hope so anyway.

[Frank] (2:05 - 5:31)

Yeah, it's amazing how they date.

[Amelia]

 Yeah, they do. Definitely.

[Frank]

Talk about, oh, ranch wall panelling. 
 
 

[Amelia]

What's that? 

[Frank]

That's like, you get these sheets and it's like a laminated timber finish and they've got random grooves, vertical grooves, and they're just walls to replace your plaster.

[Amelia]

Okay.

[Frank]

It was a thing in the 70s. 

[Amelia]

Yeah, okay.

[Frank]

I found it at Bunnings. 

[Amelia]

Really? 

[Frank]

Seriously.

[Amelia]

Who would want that stuff? 

[Frank]

Well, my parents have got a, well, my mum now, have got a cabin down at Bicheno, now a one bedroom thing built in the probably 80s, and the whole thing's lined with ranch panelling. 

[Amelia]

Really?

[Frank]

Yeah.

[Amelia]

It was probably cheap back then too. 

[Frank]
Oh, but it's not only that. You can treat it like rubbish and it's fine. 

[Amelia]

Yep, hard wearing. 

[Frank]

It's so hard wearing compared to plaster.

[Amelia]

Yep. 

[Frank]

I've seen some interesting stuff. My favourite, and I've shared this with you, carpet in your toilet, around the toilet, not tiles, not vinyl, carpet with a high pile.

[Amelia]

Yeah, there's something really wrong about that. 

[Frank]

And at the time we were renting this place and my young kid, young Jared, was learning how to use the toilet and aim straight, and yeah, well, you had to clean the carpet pretty regularly. 

[Amelia]

Oh, I reckon.

[Frank]

Oh. And in the ensuite as well though.

[Amelia]

In the ensuite?

[Frank]

Yeah, kid you not. 

[Amelia]

Wow.

[Frank]

That was bonkers.

[Amelia]

What about tiled bench tops? This is one of my pet hates, and I know you're kind of a fan of it. You think it's cool?

[Frank]

I'm not a fan. I get it. When you look at a total complete design of the stuff they, you know, over the years, it works. Yeah, I get the tile splash back, the tile bench. Yeah, I understand it's maybe not as hygienic or as easy to clean, but there's a lot of, Look, we still see them on renos that we go to old houses and they're still there and they're still fine. 

[Amelia]

They look good, like they're hard wearing, but I just think there's something really gross about having, you know, last week's pizza stuck in your grout.

[Frank]

It's like having it stuck in your teeth, isn't it? 

[Amelia]

There's just something really gross about it. 

[Frank]

Oh, you spill something on there and it's in the grout.

[Amelia]

Oh, there's nothing worse. And you can probably stain the grout as well. That probably doesn't last all that well either.

[Frank]

When they did that old stuff, it was done very well, to be fair. But I'm amazed at how long some of these have lasted. It was a bit like, what was it, the Robin Hood range hoods.

And they were like a hand-beaten copper range hood. 

[Amelia]

Really? I don't think I've seen them.

[Frank]

Yeah, I've seen them in a few places. I love them because of these cool curved shapes. And they're just very unique.

You don't have that stuff anymore.

[Amelia]

It sounds like it would suit one of those kind of industrial type designs. 

[Frank]

But they were with the tile benchtops and the mission brown grey laminate.

[Amelia]

Interesting. 

[Frank]

Yeah. Again, it was a thing back then. And there's all sorts of ideas. People get creative and sometimes it takes off and sometimes it just stops for good reason. 

[Amelia]

To be fair, though, half of it comes around in a cycle and it's back again.

[Frank]

I don't think the carpet around the toilet's ever going to come back.

[Amelia]

Oh, I don't think that should come back, to be fair. 

[Frank]

But it used to be carpet in kitchens. You'd get these kitchen carpets and they were a super low pile. And I remember my uncle and auntie had it in their place. Yeah. Easy to clean. 

[Amelia]

Really? 

[Frank]

Yeah. I can't remember what the product was, but it was a really super low pile. I remember as a kid the stuff was indestructible. 

[Amelia]

Interesting.

[Frank]

Yeah. 

[Amelia]

I thought they mostly used like vinyl. Yeah.

[Frank] (5:32 - 5:33)

Like lino.

[Amelia] (5:33 - 6:09)

Lino, yeah. 

[Frank]

Gee, lino's made a big comeback. 

[Amelia]

It has, hasn't it?

[Frank]

It's good. Oh, remember spas were a thing through the 80s and 90s? 

[Amelia]

Yes.

[Frank]

Everyone had a spa, a corner spa, in the beige or peach colour. 

[Amelia]

Oh, yes. Yes.

[Frank]

And sometimes it was extra luxurious. You had steps going up to it. And that shagpile carpet going up there. And they were just magnificent, some of these things. I loved it.

[Amelia]

Yeah.

[Frank]

I used to go out and laugh when you walk out with your wet feet and soggy carpet. 

[Amelia]

It was probably nice to step onto.

[Frank] (6:09 - 6:10)

Yeah.

[Frank](6:10 - 6:43)

But the amount of people that had spas and they barely used it. 

[Amelia]

Yeah, that's a good point actually. 

[Frank]

Yeah, a lot of them we’d rip out, no one wants them. Now we want to have these new cool baths, these standalone baths. 

[Amelia]

And you can get them as a spa these days too. 

 [Frank]

Yeah, you can too. Yeah. But you're not a fan of these baths, are you? These standalone baths.

[Amelia]

I've got one in my house. 

[Frank]

You've got one? 

[Amelia]

Yeah.

[Frank]

I thought you weren't a fan of them. 

[Amelia]

No, I don't mind them. I thought they weren't comfy. I'm that person that went through the whole shop, took my shoes off and tried all the baths. 

[Frank]

I'm glad it was just the shoes.

[Amelia] (6:43 - 6:43)

Just the shoes. Just the shoes, yeah.

[Frank] (6:44 - 10:40)

So you're the guy, or girl, going into this shop and trying every one of these baths.

[Amelia]

I did, yeah. Some of them are not very comfortable. The angle that you kind of lay back, it doesn't really support you very well. 

[Frank]

I've just got this mental picture of Nick's just shaking his head.

[Amelia]

Oh no, he did it too. 

[Frank]

Oh, okay. He was there. Okay, fair enough. 

[Amelia]

You're allowed to. The shop person said it was okay. We just had to take our shoes off. 

[Frank]

Take your belt off as well in case you scratch it. What about the paint effects? Sometimes we have feature walls. We've got one in our room that we're in right now, but you only might have a feature wall. But remember, and you're a big fan of this, you absolutely love the sponge effect.

[Amelia]

Oh no, no, no. Back in the day, I think I might have been 12 or 13 when Mum decided she would paint one of the walls in this lovely terracotta sponge effect. 

[Frank]

People could do it at home.

[Amelia]

That's it. It was cost effective and you could do it yourself, sometimes with a plastic bag. 

[Frank]

Yeah, yeah. I remember doing it my first time. I had no money, but a plastic bag was cheap. Did you put a wall freeze on to separate? So you might have part of it sponged and part of it separated. 

[Amelia]

Oh no, we weren't that trendy. 

[Frank]

Oh, okay. 

[Amelia]

No. 

[Frank]

But it was cool people being creative. 

[Amelia]

Yes.

[Frank]

I think it was also the texture paints that came later. Yes. The texture paints on the wall with the crisscross.

[Amelia]

Yes, that was another popular one. 

[Frank]

Yeah, a bit of a pain to fix to get a nice smooth finish afterwards. Oh, I remember one, and it was putting a black effect on the ceiling. So you put a gloss white finish and they used a blowtorch to put black scorch marks. Not burn it, just like a soot mark on there, and then they sealed it.

[Amelia]

Really?

[Frank]

And you had these wicked little patterns on there. 

[Amelia]

I don't remember that.

[Frank]

No, okay.

[Amelia]

Is that before my time? 

[Frank]

I believe it would be, yes. But, you know, as much as you don't like some of this stuff, people are being creative.

[Amelia]

Oh, definitely, and it's each to their own. You know, there's no right or wrong here. These are just trends that have happened over the course of time.

[Frank]

Yeah, exactly, you know. You thought it was a good idea. It's a bit like, I don't know, sometimes people go a bit too stark, like just pure white kitchens, pure white walls, and on a very minimalistic kitchen, you know, and some people love that.

Good on them, but I personally find it quite cold. 

[Amelia]

Yeah, very kind of surgical and not a very warm. 

[Frank]

Probably smells of bleach.

[Amelia]

Probably smells of bleach, exactly, yeah. 

[Frank]

But then you've got other people who love that country look, and there's just shit everywhere. You know, you've got trinkets and stuff and ladders hanging off the ceiling, hanging their pots and bits of lavender bushes and stuff like that, and they love it.

[Amelia]

Yep. 

[Frank]

A bit hard to dust. 

[Amelia]

Yes, that's very true, especially with those, and here's another pet hate, those cupboards that don't go all the way to the ceiling.

[Frank]

You've got to hang up with that, haven't you? 

[Amelia]

Oh, I do. Who wants to go and clean the top of their cupboards every month? Oh. Not me. 

[Frank]

Oh, I totally agree.

[Amelia]

Just put them all the way to the ceiling. 

[Frank]

Yep, yep, totally. What else? There's some pretty outlandish things people have tried. 
 
 

[Amelia]

What about the brick archway? 

[Frank]

Brick or plaster.

[Amelia]

Yeah, true, although the plaster, like that's kind of coming back, the archways and curves and everything. 

[Frank]

Yeah, it's a different form. Curves have certainly come back full stop in design, and some of it looks wicked if you get the proportions right.

[Amelia]

Oh, yeah. 

[Frank]

Wow. Curved roofs, done badly.

[Amelia]

Really? Have we designed some of those? 

[Frank]

I don't believe so. I'm not a fan of curved roofs. I've only seen a handful that I really, really like, but, like, just you've got a square box and you just put a curved roof on it. It looks filthy, especially with no eaves.

[Amelia]

Yeah, you've got to hang up on that. You like eaves. 

[Frank] (10:40 - 10:40)

I've got a hang up. I love eaves.

[Frank] (10:41 - 11:44)

I love the overhang. That's just me, you know. I'll still, yeah, we'll still design without it, but I just like having the overhang on it. It just gives, but there's other times you get this real chiseled look and you get the flashings to look, and it's a lot of work to get it right. It's a bit like the Scandi barn look, and you've got this pure shape and you've got the hidden gutter, the box gutter hidden in there. Even though I don't like, you know, I don't like box gutters, but we did one for a builder in Hobart and we designed the box gutter, got all the overflows, and it looks super clean and trick.

And even getting all the tin to melt so the ribs in the tin like flowed over from the roof down to the wall. 

[Amelia]

Wow. 

[Frank]

Yeah, there was a lot of work, but gee, it looks good.

[Amelia]

Goes to show what a really good builder can do. 

[Frank]

Well, we worked with them heavily on that and how to detail it, but I think their roofer would have torn their hair out. 

[Amelia]

I reckon. Very fiddly.
 
 

[Frank]

Yeah. 

[Amelia]

What about the colour beige? Do you remember everything used to be beige? 

[Frank]

The beige, the bone, the white, the ivory?

[Amelia]

Yes, all of that.

[Frank]

You don't know where that's from, do you? 

[Amelia]

No, I don't.

[Amelia] (11:44 - 11:45)

Should I?

[Frank] (11:46 - 12:19)

Twelfth man. 

[Amelia]

Okay. What century does that come from?

[Frank]

Oh, come on. Okay, maybe I'm showing my age and you older Australians would know all about that. You know, Tangles, Richie Beno, the beige, the white, the bone, the white, the ivory. Yeah, that was his jackets he used to wear presenting the cricket for Channel Nine. 

[Amelia]

Oh, okay. 
 
 

[Frank]

Yes, and Max Tangles, Maxie Walker. Yes, so this guy impersonated all these guys. 

[Amelia]

Ah, wearing all those colours. 

[Frank]

Anyway, I better not go down that rabbit hole.

[Amelia] (12:20 - 12:20)

Okay.

[Frank] (12:20 - 15:07)

But he was awesome. But yes, yes, you're not a fan of beige, are you? 

[Amelia]

No, not a beige person.

[Frank]

White's the favourite thing now, isn't it? 

[Amelia]

Do you think so? 

[Frank]

Oh, yeah.

[Amelia]

I don't know. I'm sure Taleah would have something to say about that. 

[Frank]

Yeah, true, true. But sometimes if you want to clean something up, just make it all white, it just looks fresh again. It looks fresh. 

[Amelia]

True, true.

[Frank]
And then you use your furniture and features and what not. But look, I'm a limited, I'm a simple type of guy, and there's plenty of colour consultants and interior designers that can do a much better job, and they come with some great ideas. 

[Amelia]

Oh, definitely.

[Frank]

Oh, here's one. Putting a TV above your gas or wood heater. 

[Amelia]

That doesn't sound like a very smart idea.

[Frank]

So you have a fireplace, wood box, gas put in, and you put the TV above without a mantel. Super clean. 

[Amelia]

Yeah, just don't let it overheat.

[Frank]

Yep, I've seen a few of those.

[Amelia]

I was going to say, it's a really dumb spot. 

[Frank]

Cooks the TV.

[Amelia]

I reckon. 

[Frank]

Yes. So, anyway, it looks nice, but not much good for your TV. Floral patterns. 

[Amelia]

Oh, yes, back in the day. 

[Frank]

Floral everything.

[Amelia]

Floral curtains. 

[Frank]

Matching wallpaper. 

[Amelia]

Yes, wallpaper. Carpet. Did they do carpet? 

[Frank]

The carpet was matching colour.

[Amelia]

Yeah. 

[Frank]

Look, we're talking about a particular house that we did some work on, or we checked down, I should say, for someone, and it was just amazing, this one room, the amount of floral. You had to put your sunglasses on.

It was pretty ape.
 
 

[Amelia]

Just intense.

[Frank]

It was intense. It was crazy. You know, it's also what people are happy with as well. We can all be critical of people's ideas, but at least they're having ideas and they're not boring.

[Amelia]

Let's face it. I mean, we sort of like to change things up every probably 15, 20 years anyway. 

[Frank]

Some people do. Some people are content with their lot, you know, how things are, because it's not cheap to update kitchens and bathrooms. 

[Amelia]

Yeah, true, true. 
 
 

[Frank]

So, you know, we talk about all bad ideas and stuff, and it was a good idea at the time, and as a designer, I like to listen to the customer. What do you want? How do you want it? Show me your images and whatnot. And to get a better understanding, so when we're designing something for them, you understand, so then you're pushing it in the right direction. 

[Amelia]

Sure. 

[Frank]

You know, because there's so many ways of doing stuff, so many ideas, so many styles, colours, features, all sorts of stuff, but I never would put carpet in my ensuite.

[Amelia]

No, I have to agree with you there. That's kind of gross. 

[Frank]
Yeah, and there's some questionable things like that. 

[Amelia]

What are those bricks have come back in that have the holes in them? I don't know. 

[Frank]

Oh, the breeze blocks.

[Amelia]

Yes. They were, like, huge in the 70s.

[Frank]

And 60s.

[Amelia] (15:07 - 15:08)

Yeah.

[Frank] (15:08 - 17:10)

And now they've made a massive comeback. 

[Amelia]

Yeah, they're super popular now. 

[Frank]

They are in the right context, and to be fair, they've done a really good job showing how they can be used in a really effective way.  But they're going to date.

[Amelia]

Oh, I think they are. 

[Frank]

It'll go through that cycle again. How we view that going forward is going to be really interesting. It's like vertical stack block. There's some houses that have done purely out of concrete block because they're grey, these particular ones.

I really did like it, but they wanted their house to be externally grey concrete. 

[Amelia]

Okay. 
 
 

[Frank]

I'm not a fan.

[Amelia]

It's very unique. 

[Frank]

Yeah, but considering you can get any all range of colours and recycled glass and all sorts of blocks, there's a lot more interesting stuff out there. 

[Amelia]

Yeah.

[Frank]

Again, personal preference. 
 
 

[Amelia]

Oh, 100%.  So I guess it's kind of thinking about, as well, how do you plan for a new house and considering are you worried about things dating over time? Do you try and stick to something more classic or do you just go for it and just do what you want? 

[Frank]

I would always say do what you want. For the simple reason it's about you. It's your house, your castle. You do what you want. Bugger everyone else, what they think. Ultimately, you have to be happy with your house, with the extensions, with your choices. Yeah, okay. You might regret some of them. Who doesn't? There's no such thing as a perfect house, perfect extension, whatever. But if you work with someone that can listen and then show you options and ideas, that's a really good way to go about.

You don't want to work with someone who's going to dominate their own ideas on you. 

[Amelia]

No, that's exactly right. 

 [Frank]

Your castle, your idea. You want a window in a certain position and how it's done, yep, certainly work your way through that. You want to have a deck that has an inbuilt spa, barbecue built in, outdoor cupboard, and an umbrella that folds out from the side. Well, yeah, go for it.

Do whatever. And your designer or architect's job is to make sure that it complies. 

[Amelia]

Yes.

[Frank]

And holds together. And same to the colours. It's your colour choices.

[Amelia] (17:10 - 17:11)

It's your choice.

[Frank] (17:11 - 18:10)

Your palette. I've seen some absolute things that I really don't like and they ask for my opinion. It says, yeah, okay, I'm not a fan. But are you happy with it? 

[Amelia]

Yeah. 

[Frank]

Your castle.

[Amelia]

Exactly. 

[Frank]

I think they sometimes get lost on people's thinking. If you're asking for other people's opinions, that means you're not sure on your opinion.

[Amelia]

Yeah, that's really true. 

[Frank]

I've seen that too many times really even on the design layouts and they're showing their plans to other people and they're influenced by other people, by their ideas, how they would like their house to function. 

[Amelia]

Yep.

[Frank]

And to be fair, it started their business. 

[Amelia]

No, that's exactly right. 

[Frank]

Unless they're constructive, you're kind of neutral, but that's hard to do.

Everyone's got an opinion. 

[Amelia]

Exactly. 

[Frank]

But the best advice I could give, and I've had plenty of other designers, architects say similar things, is just grab your plans. If you're self-doubting or not, put them in the drawer, walk away for a couple of weeks. Don't think about it. Come back.

[Amelia]

We have done a podcast on that before.

[Frank] (18:10 - 18:11)

Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

[Frank] (18:11 - 19:09)

And then come back to it and then look at it with fresh set of eyes. You've got to look at it objectively as best you can. It's a huge emotional thing doing either renos, extensions, or designing a new home.

You see some of these trends, it's great. And there's so much stuff online. 

[Amelia]

Oh, there's loads. Loads of stuff.

[Frank]

Because I'm looking at stuff now, you know, and oh, there's your tiled splashbacks. 

[Amelia]

Oh, we had a good old giggle about a few of them before we started.

[Frank]

Yeah. Oh, sorry. I forgot one.

[Amelia]

What did you forget? 

[Frank]

And it's kind of my favourite but not my favourite. 

[Amelia]

Okay.

[Frank]

I noticed this trend in a lot of display homes on the mainland. We're in Tasmania, go over to Melbourne, Sydney. I love going to display homes.

And they have these things where you've got the master bedroom and you've got the ensuite, but there's no wall between the ensuite. So you can lie in bed and watch someone use the loo. 

[Amelia]

Yeah, there's nothing attractive about that at all.

[Frank] (19:09 - 19:10)

No privacy. No.

[Frank](19:10 - 21:34)

There's nothing attractive about that. Yeah, I've never understood that. 

[Amelia]

No, I don't think I'll be designing my house like that.

[Frank]

Frosted glass, I get all that.

[Amelia]

Yeah, it is a bit strange. 

[Frank]

But I also get what they do because that makes the space look so much bigger.

[Amelia]

It does. 

[Frank]

But I did do a house many, many years ago, really early in my career. We did an extension, master bedroom, and it was an open bathroom. So this was one room, big ensuite, big open shower, no glass, no nothing. 

[Amelia]

Wow. 

[Frank]

It was a big wet area. It was huge. You couldn't do that nowadays and had just clear glass. There was no privacy glass, no frost.

[Amelia]

Wow. 
 
 

[Frank]

And they built this courtyard, which was full of, because it was on the southern side, a lot of plants that could deal with lack of sun, moisture like ferns and stuff like that. Yep, and you had a toilet sitting there, middle of nowhere.

There was just no hiding anything. 

[Amelia]

Wow. 

[Frank]

It was very eye-opening, that one. But yeah, you could look straight out into the courtyard. Yeah. Oh, my favourite done with a designer mate we used to share an office, you walk up to the front door down the side fence, you go from the front of the boundary, you're walking up, you see this big frosted glass, no big deal.

But then you realise it's the shower wall. 

[Amelia]

Oh, really? 

Yep, so you get the silhouette when someone's in there with a line on, so you can see it from the street.

[Amelia]

Oh, no, that's bad. 

[Frank]

Well, someone liked it.

[Amelia]

Clearly the neighbour probably liked it.

[Frank]

Well, all the people walking past, but clearly when it's frosted, you only saw an outline. 

[Amelia]

Yeah, but it's still weird. 

[Frank]

Yeah, it is weird.

[Frank]

It's still weird. 

[Frank]

That's a weird design trend. Oh, what about sunken lounges?

[Amelia]

Oh, yeah.

[Frank]

Around the fireplace? 

[Amelia]

Yeah.

 [Frank]

I've got fond memories as a kid with those. Have you? I reckon they're cool.

[Amelia]

They kind of are cool. 

[Frank]

Kinda reminds you of a fire pit? That's inside.

[Amelia]

Yeah, I like them. 

[Frank]

I thought it was great, just very unique. There's nothing like sitting around a fire, but you do it inside.

[Amelia]

Yeah, exactly. 

[Frank]

So, I've got to be guilty of this one. When I renovated the first house, I put the hot plates in the oven inside a fireplace.

[Amelia]

Oh, okay. 

[Frank]

It was an old 1910 house. 

[Amelia]

Oh, yes.

[Frank]

And I had a wood heater, ripped it all out, pulled out part of the hearth, and then built the joinery, and we put it inside the fireplace. 

[Amelia]

Cool. 

[Frank]

Looks cool, looks amazing. You try to clean the damn brickwork. I had to put so many coatings of boncrete on there.

[Amelia] (21:35 - 21:35)

Wow.

[Frank] (21:35 - 22:06)

So, it was actually used to clean. It was hard. Old lime mortar, it was hard to clean.

Not a great idea. 

[Amelia]

Oh, dear. 

[Frank]

But it looked cool. Oh, here's one. This is from a maintenance point of view. Black or really dark paint over timber or cement sheet or on doors.

[Amelia]
Okay. 

[Frank]

Our sun's pretty intense in Australia. 

[Amelia]

Yes. 

[Frank]

And man, it heats up, and it will buckle, blister. It will damage the substrate. 

[Amelia]

Yeah.

[Frank]

We had it on a commercial project. Monument. The whole thing was monument.

[Amelia] (22:07 - 22:07)

Yes, yes.

[Frank] (22:07 - 22:38)

Monument roof, monument walls, monument doors. Anyway, we had these solid core doors, wrapped it in monument colour bond sheeting for security purposes. They replaced this door three times.

The thing buckled out of shape. 

[Amelia]

Really? 

[Frank]

Yep. Should have made it steel. But it was just one of those things. So don't do dark colours on doors. They just bend and buckle, and yeah. Once you've got direct sunlight on it. And man, they get hot.

[Frank]

Oh, black concrete.

[Amelia]

Is that a thing? I don't remember black concrete.

[Frank]

Well, or really dark grey.

[Frank] (22:38 - 22:38)

I've got a dark grey at my place.

[Amelia] (22:38 - 23:36)

Yeah, I've seen dark grey. 

[Frank]

I didn't go the darkest, but I went dark. I cannot walk in there bare feet during summer.

[Amelia]

Oh, it would be so hot. 

[Frank]

You could fry an egg on that thing. I reckon. That's not a design trick. That's just practical. 

[Amelia]

True, true.

[Frank]

There's all sorts of weird stuff that you see they thought, well, it wasn't a bad idea, but yeah. As soon as someone else buys it. Like a pool. Now, this might sound weird to some people on the mainland, but in Tasmania, our climate's a little bit different. But we still put a lot of in-ground pools in. 

[Amelia]

Yes.

[Frank]

But to some people, they see it as more as a liability. It's like a 50-50, love it or you hate it, having an outdoor pool in Tasmania. 

[Amelia]

Oh, I guess a lot of people have built decks over the top of them and all kinds of stuff.

[Frank]

Yeah, we've done that. Fill them with sand and put pavers on top. 

[Amelia]

Yeah.

[Frank]

You know, it's not a design idea, but it's just practical to see whether people like it or not. Good to see wallpapers coming back. Because some of the old wallpaper was pretty special.

[Amelia]

Oh, that was bad. 

[Frank]

Yeah, but that was, again, the style and the design, wasn't it? 

[Amelia] (23:36 - 23:37)

I don't know, I think it was wrong.

[Amelia] (23:37 - 24:32)

Whoever came up with... It's just ugly. Especially in those horrible brown tones.

[Frank]

Yeah, that was... Yeah, the mocha colours and... Yeah, yeah.

[Amelia]

Yeah. What else? What are we missing?

[Frank]

I don't know. I'm sure some people could share some ideas with us. Yeah, I'm sure they could.

[Amelia]

Using asbestos for everything. 

[Frank]

That was kind of... I shouldn't laugh about that.

[Amelia]

Not a design trend, but just obviously it was just what people used back in the day. 

[Frank]

Oh, because they thought it was safe. They thought smoking was good for your health. Yeah. What about... Well, this is just furniture. When's the last time we saw a waterbed? 

[Amelia]

Oh, yeah. That was a thing, wasn't it?

[Frank]

It was huge. I remember mates of mine earlier today, they loved it. They thought it was great. Oh, you know what? The early stone cladding.

[Amelia] (24:32 - 24:32)

Yeah, right.

[Frank] (24:32 - 25:16)

So there's fakie stone cladding and you get up within like five metres and go, that's fake. 

[Amelia]

Looks gross.

[Frank]

Gross, but there's new ones now that are really, really good.

[Amelia]

Oh, you can't tell the difference. 

[Frank]

It's very good. Oh, carpet up the walls. That was a thing in the 70s. Seriously. 

[Amelia]

That sounds heinous.

[Frank]

So you remember the old shag pile? 

[Amelia]

Yeah. 

[Frank]

Well, you keep it running up one of the walls, it's a future wall of carpet.

[Amelia]

Oh, yuck. How do you clean that? 

[Frank]

I don't know. Run a vacuum cleaner up it? I don't know. 

[Amelia]

That's horrendous. Who would want that? 

[Frank]

I've seen it. 

[Amelia]

Oh, yuck.

[Frank]

You know one that I miss? Some people wouldn't like this. The living room bar.

So in your living room, you've got a bar. 

[Amelia]

Yeah, okay. I think I have seen this.

[Frank] (25:16 - 25:17)

Not in your rumpus room.

[Amelia] (25:17 - 26:32)

Yeah. Like in a formal living room? Yeah.

[Frank]

Yeah, 

[Amelia]
Yeah. My grandparents had that in their house. 

[Frank]

Why don’t we have that anymore?

[Amelia]

I don't know. I don't know. 

[Frank]

We certainly drink enough.

[Amelia]

Yeah, yeah. And that was in a sunken lounge room too. 

[Frank]

Oh, was it really?

[Amelia]

Yeah, it was a formal lounge room. 

[Frank]

They went all out. 

[Amelia]

It was very cool. Yeah, and they had Chesterfields, the whole biz. Yeah, it was amazing. Yeah.

[Frank]

I love a good Chesterfield. They feel amazing. Beaded curtains.

[Amelia]

Oh, yuck. 

[Frank]

Well, strong opinion there. Oh, the thing, the colours during the 80s, tangerine and lime.

[Amelia]

Really? 

[Frank]

On Laminex. 

[Amelia]

That was, oh yeah, Laminex, yeah.

I had... 
 
 

[Frank]

Some of the furniture.
 
 

[Amelia]

So before we renovated the kitchen in our current house, that had this lovely bright orange Laminex benchtop, all faded.

[Frank]

Oh, faded? 

[Amelia]

Yeah, it wasn't great. 

[Frank]

Okay.

[Amelia]

So the house was built in the 60s, but yeah, lovely orange benchtop. And then to go with it, and this came with the house too, these lovely suede green stools. 

[Frank]

You're kidding me.

[Amelia]

No 

[Frank]

Were they like that dark, like lush? 

[Amelia]

Like, no, not suede, like velour.

[Frank] (26:33 - 26:33)

Velour?

[Amelia] (26:33 - 26:36)

Green velour. 

[Frank]

And it was like an emerald?

[Amelia] (26:36 - 26:36)

Yeah.

[Amelia](26:36 - 27:24)

Oh, yeah, yeah, emerald colour. Yeah, the cat's like sitting on them now. 

[Frank]

Yep, that's all it's good for.

[Amelia]

Yep, pretty much. 

[Frank]

The old timber toilet seats. 

[Amelia]

Oh, yes.

 [Frank]

That was a fail. Oh, I'm going to throw one out, and this is going to be a bit controversial. Sure.

Rendered everything. 

[Amelia]

Oh, yeah, that was very... The 90s, yes.

[Frank]

The rendered everything. 

 [Amelia]

Everyone was doing their whole house.

[Frank]

It's just rendered. And now it all looks cracked and rubbish. 

[Amelia]

Yep. 

[Frank]

Oh, yeah. Another one through the 70s was the faux Spanish villa look. 

[Amelia]

Oh, yes, very... 

[Frank]

So you had the curves, and then you had the cement with, like, it was put on tight radiuses.

[Amelia]

Yes, it was textured. 

[Frank]

It was textured. Yep. You know, you'd cut your shirt on it if you walked past.

[Amelia] (27:24 - 27:24)

Yes.

[Frank] (27:25 - 29:59)

It was all white cement, big vaulted ceilings. There's one actually out at Riverside. Sorry, we're in Launceston, Tasmania.

So I'm out of Riverside. That's where I live. I walk past this place.

It's actually for sale. And I reckon they converted this old post-war 50s house, and the whole front of it's got these big white curved front walls sitting on top of this veranda. 

[Amelia]

Wow.

[Frank]

And I'm going, oh, man, this is a bad throwback. That's a bad idea. 

[Amelia]

I wonder if it's still original inside.

[Frank]

You can see the photos online, and I had a bit of a sticky peak at it, as you do, and go, oh, man, this is like they did it, and they haven't changed a thing since. I must say, I love going into really well-designed original homes. I just love that originality of them, and I don't want to change them, like beautiful 60s kitchens.

The benchtops are small. They've got the overhead cupboards. They've got glass sliding, and they're on angles, and they've got chrome pipe supports.

[Amelia]

Yes. 

[Frank]

And there's something beautiful about the design of those. 

[Amelia]

And the quality of some of the – 

[Frank]

It's still there.

[Amelia]

Yeah, the timber and stuff they used back then was just beautiful. 

[Frank]

It was all Tas Oak. 

[Amelia]

Oh, yeah, nice stuff.

[Frank]

Solid Tas Oak kitchens. Yeah. But the bench space were a bit limiting because they used the kitchen table.

So things have changed a lot in that regard, and now man-made stone tops with too much silica is a bad thing. So, yeah, now everyone, including some people I know, just don't want to deal with stone tops or anything like that, which was like you listen too much to the media there, in so far as if you run equipment’s used, it's not a problem. Yeah.

[Amelia]

Here's another good one for you, chandeliers. 

[Frank]

What's wrong with a chandelier? 

[Amelia]

They were just so big back in the day. Like I know even in my house we have in the bedrooms these chandelier-looking – Yeah. 

[Frank]

In your bedroom? 
 
 

[Amelia]

Yeah.

[Frank]

Your current bedroom, you've got chandeliers?

[Amelia]

Well, not big ones, but they're like – 

[Frank]

Oh, little, any big ones? 

[Amelia]

Little, like, yeah, and they've got these cheap-looking fake plastic bits hanging off them.

[Frank]

Oh, yes, but you had the different – Not the proper ones. You had the plastic ones, you had the glass ones. 

[Amelia]

Oh, yeah, and then you've got the glass ones.

[Frank]

Yeah, they were a thing, weren't they? They were a thing. That was like, yeah, imagine dusting that.

[Amelia]

Yeah. 

[Frank]

Trying to keep it clean and sparkly. 

[Amelia]

Yeah, yeah, and then you had in the cabinetry, this is probably 60s, 70s, you had like the knobs that were the like purple or pink or, you know, like the clear...

[Frank]

Oh, yeah, coloured glass made to cut like crystal. 

[Amelia]

Yeah. 
 
 

[Frank]

Yes.

[Amelia]

They were very popular. 

[Frank]

Oh, they were great, weren't they? Oh, man.

[Amelia]

Gotta love all that stuff. The louvre doors. 

[Frank]

Oh, the louvre doors

[Amelia]

Yeah. For everything

[Frank]

Oh of course, wardrobes and everything 

[Amelia]

I mean they hold up really well to be fair like..

[Frank]

I think you can still buy them. 

[Amelia]

Really?

[Frank]

Yeah pretty sure you can

[Amelia]

Yeah, right

[Frank]

Well if you need to fix one

[Amelia]

Oh I think I’ll be getting rid of ours, I’m not a massive fan. They won’t be in the new house. 

[Frank]

Yes, yes. But also some of the design trends when it’s all for looks, they don’t have the thermal properties.  

[Amelia]

Oh, definitely, especially if they’re from the 70’s or something. 

[Frank]

Like I remember my Mum and Dad’s old place they lived in there for 55, ah 54 years and they had these ginormous windows and it’s 3mm plate glass 

[Amelia]

Yep ours are the same.  Really thin. 

[Frank]

You know, huge and you can’t replace them.  

[Amelia]

No

[Frank]

It’s not safe. 

[Amelia]

Yep 

[Frank]

But gee you get a nice clear outlook 

[Amelia]

Well at a certain angle sometimes they’re a bit ripley.  

[Frank]

Yeah well that’s time. Time does that to them. But we do it now, people like to have those big picture windows, big, ours are now double glazed 

[Amelia]

Yes. 

[Frank]

Double glazed, but some of these things are huge

[Amelia]

Yep

[Frank]

The trend hasn’t changed a lot, having a nice view out your window, you know just unencumbered without any transoms 

[Amelia]

Yeah. Here’s a question for you before we start wrapping up because we’ve been talking for nearly 40 minutes now 

[Frank]

Oh man! 

[Amelia]

I know. I’m going to have to chop this up. 

[Frank]

On bad ideas. 

[Amelia]

Have you had anyone come in and want something and thought why would you want that, it was popular in the 70’s? Any design trends that you thought were really questionable 

[Frank]

I’ve never actually thought that. To be honest I try not to judge peoples ideas. Like I said it’s their castle. 

[Amelia]

Oh I don’t mean in a judgemental way. I just mean

[Frank]

You can’t help but be judgemental though. 

[Amelia]

Yeah true.

[Frank]

You know, some of them, I’ve had a couple of questionable ones and I thought really? You want to do that? And you question them says alternatives nope I’m adamant on this well that’s fine.  

[Amelia]

Yep

[Frank]

I try not to be judgemental 

[Amelia]

Yep

[Frank]

I try and understand, I mean you need to understand where people are coming from.  To then how can I help you get what you want? Because some people just love a certain style, a look you know or memories of it. 

[Amelia]

Yeah, maybe it’s a reminder of something for them.  

[Frank]

I’m into cars, car culture, okay. And it’s not dissimilar to that, where some people love going retro or grabbing something modern and making it look retro and there’s some questionable ideas of what people do.  

[Amelia]

Yep

[Frank]

And you go all over the world and I presume this is in the bike scene, it’s in so many different things, you know people are into. It’s what you love, that really gets you excited, stick to it.  

[Amelia]

Oh definitely. 

[Frank]

You know in the car culture, everyone’s judgey there as well, but then you appreciate the work that gets involved and that’s how I think we got to look at, It’s like how people like to decorate their homes, as long as they love love it.

[Amelia]

Yes, it’s unique to what they want.  

[Frank]

Oh I’ve seen some amazing yellow rooms and green rooms and yep the good thing about paint 

[Amelia]

You can change it. 

[Frank]

You can change it. 

[Amelia]

Yep

[Frank]

You know I think that’s a great thing.  You gotta look at, if you don’t like it repaint it again.  

[Amelia]

Exactly

[Frank]

That’s a bit harder to do with some of the products we use on the outside of the house. That’s why I love painted brick 

[Amelia]

Yeah that’s kinda come back 

[Frank]

Not everyone love it.  

[Amelia]

No not everyone.  

[Frank]

Some people hate it.  Like seriously you can turn a house that looks pretty ordinary and give it an update with colour. Weatherboard houses, Old weatherboard houses, you can completely transform the look of them with the colours.  

[Amelia]

Oh definitely, they come up really good.  

[Frank]

Oh amazing. Even just a good clean sometimes, make them pop again. 

[Amelia]

Yeah, yep. Alright well I guess there’s no real take home points. I guess I want to…

[Frank]

Well I think there is. 

[Amelia]

Oh okay. 

[Frank]

If you like something 

[Amelia]

Go with it

[Frank]

Go with it. 

[Amelia]

Yeah. 

[Frank]

Don’t feel you’re going to get judged or anything, if you feel you’re going to get judged by someone doing design, interiors, exteriors…whatever tell them to bugga off 

[Amelia]

Yep. 

[Frank]

Find someone who wants to listen and help you.  That’s my takeaway. Your choice your way.  

[Amelia]

Exactly. I’d be keen to hear what other people’s thoughts are and what trends would you like to see come back, what have we forgotten?

[Frank]

Or never see again

[Amelia]

Or never see again, exactly

[Frank]

Like acid wash jeans, with rips in them. 

[Amelia]

Oh no. No let’s just stop there

[Frank]

I love that scene

[Amelia]

Nooooo

[Frank]

Back in the day

[Amelia]

Back in the day…no. Alright we’re going to wrap it up there before it gets any worse. Thanks for listening to the building Design, Prime Time Podcast, we’ll catch you next time. 

[Frank]

Catch ya’s later. 

[OUTRO]

You’re listening to the Building Design, Prime Time Podcast.