I’ve got nothing against funky home interiors. If anyone’s going to be averse to a bit of burnt orange and mustard cabinetry, it’s not likely to be me. Yet even I’m struggling with this vomit-hued lino flooring.
To be fair, the effect wouldn’t be quite so confronting if it wasn’t paired with a near-neon green breakfast bar, which clashes horribly with it. The salmon pink walls don’t exactly help matters, either. All things considered, this kitchen could do with a makeover. On its own, though, the floor colouring could very well be described as somewhere between ‘olive’ and ‘moss’, making it a feature rather than an abomination.
The thing we need to keep in mind is that someone signed off on all these kitchen renovations for Melbourne homes in the 1970s. Whether it was the designers, the developers or the homeowners themselves, the fact remains that at least one person believed this colour combo to be a good idea, and that can’t simply be swept under the shag carpet. This applies even if the opinion it was influenced by the fickle eye of Rogue Living editors, or whatever the ’70s equivalent of that publication may have been.
I mean, it’s not like things are so different nowadays. Home interior trends are bigger news than ever before, with everyone from garden stylists to laundry designers going all out on trend-driven details like ‘farmhouse style’ tapware, concealed sheds and black grout.
Point is, I now need to decide if I’m going to bring it all into line with today’s prevailing standards. There’s no doubt that this kitchen could be more aligned with my personal tastes, but it wouldn’t take much to make it so – really, just a colour update would serve the purpose. But if I am going to do a renovation, I have to decide if I’m going to push the look into the twenty first century or just leave at as…well, a straightforward, nice-looking kitchen not tied to any specific decorative era.