Guess the Decade: Colorful Kitchen - The Answer

...but once again, the AT readers called it correctly! it is from the 90's. Who knew that the stack of baskets would be such a big tip-off for the decade?

72 of you guessed the 90's correctly, with the 80's taking the second spot with 51 votes. The 50's, 70's and now pretty much tied for third with around 25 votes each, which was an unusual split. The 60's trailed with 18 votes and although it was the decade that the appliances in the kitchen date from, the 40's came in last with only 8 votes.

The source is House Beautiful. The clip accompanying the photo states "Nostalgia is not just a soft-focus memory for San Francisco designer Candra Scott," House Beautiful wrote of this throw-back kitchen in 1999. "It comes with a double oven, four burners, a broiler and a griddle, courtesy of the vintage O'Keefe & Meritt stove. Nothing postdates the 1940s, including the roomy Frigidaire." Scott said of the room, "I wanted it to feel like Grandma's kitchen—only more fun."

As always, our favorite part of the game are your very astute comments on the original post:

This was a tough one, and I could make a case for almost any decade. The stacked baskets seem very 90s, but nothing else says "today" or even 10 years ago. Maybe the "head" vase. - madsarah

Those baskets definitely scream 90's. But I might guess 60's. - cassielynn

The gigantic clock makes me think 90s. - graefix

Are those zinc countertops or stainless steel? Hard to tell but all the collectable stuff makes me think 90s rather than vintage. I feel like my grandma would've thought a classy kitchen in the 40s and 50s would be more formal. - caw261

There's an odd combination of old & formal (the china in the cabinets) and old & cutesy (the fridge) and more recent (the lanterns, baskets). There's a strong cost-plus/pier one vibe to those asian/basket element, which is what says 90's to me. This stuff is too cliche now to featured prominently in a fancy mag. - fib

and finally...we're impressed with Arroyo's organization:

I have 22 years of magazine clips organized in binders (yes, I know I'm insane). This particular image is in my 'kitchen' binder! There are a lot of fun details that you can't discern from the photo here... I won't give any more away. - Arroyo

Thanks to everyone for playing along!

Photo: House Beautiful

Oh, ya got me good!

posted by nazrd on March 4th 2009 at 5:42pm
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I totally did the stack of baskets thing in my house in the 90s, though I did it in my living room, not the kitchen. I stored my stash of yarn in them. It is a nice way to get a little extra storage. I love this kitchen.

posted by RoseCampion on March 4th 2009 at 7:12pm
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I was going to say something originally about the counters, but what caught my eye was the basket of lemons. I know it's propped up like she's making lemonade, but it's something I associate with the 90s. Photos from anything much older would have an old photography look to them that this doesn't. Arroyo's comment intrigued me and I actually went so far as to enlarge the picture to see if I could figure out any brands of food in the far cabinet. This is one of my favorite features on AT. I like to see which details really stand out to fellow commenters.

posted by K T G on March 4th 2009 at 8:01pm
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Hmm, I'd not have figured a recent kitchen would have older, less energy efficient appliances like that...

posted by Bex on March 4th 2009 at 8:26pm
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I was hoodwinked!

posted by suzy8track on March 4th 2009 at 9:30pm
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The paper lanterns made me think of the 90s. I loved me some lanterns like that in college!

posted by Ashabo on March 4th 2009 at 9:42pm
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Well I guessed 80's but I knew I would be wrong...lol

posted by greenfairytina on March 5th 2009 at 2:20am
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Totally knew this was the '90s, partly from the quality of the photograph itself. Beyond that, the colors were very trendy in the '90s, the whole mix of old and new elements was very '90s, the paper lanterns became very popular in the '90s, as did "retro" decorative elements like the giant clock. The clutter - especially the way it's arranged - also screams "this is the '90s!"

I didn't even see the stacked baskets - another dead giveaway.

It's interesting just how messy and dated it's starting to look, a little over a decade on. What is all of that crap, and does it really need to be out on display, covering every square inch and gathering greasy kitchen dust? And I am so over the sunny yellow and red "retro" color scheme, which just feels oddly oppressive. It's the avocado green of the '90s, only blander.

posted by sunspot42 on March 5th 2009 at 5:02am
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the abundance of vintage stuff is what gives it away... a kitchen from the 40s or 50s wouldn't have had all that "stuff"... that over-the-top country cottage look actually screams 90s

but there is something i like about it: it looks happy

posted by sunan on March 5th 2009 at 2:55pm
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well I guessed right... it came down to squaring the fridge and the counters -- I figured the fridge was an earlier-in-the-'90s decision, and the stainless counter a later one.

posted by mschatelaine on March 5th 2009 at 4:12pm
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