Oh, the St.Elmo pics are grrreat! One day I'll gather the courage to do something as beautiful as that. (Minus the neon graffiti, probably, but I don't know:)

The set for Ruthless People reminds me a lot of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown... only less soundstage-y.

"reached my majority" LOL. I've never heard anyone say this.

I find that the biggest difference between mainstream decor (for the "hoi polloi") and now is access. Back then, trying to find interesting, affordable furnishings was all but impossible, so many resorted to what was available: lacquer furniture with marshmallow-like upholstery. There was no IKEA, or Target. Most other styles were sadly, out of our reach.

Mark, you've done it again! Brilliant post! And each one of those movies and influences you mentioned were key... although I would have also added Miami Vice to the list, even though it was a tv show (and let's face it; those not into design were decorating along the lines of The Golden Girls).

(And thanks to The Hunger, I've had an almost life-long love of Schubert's Trio Sonata N° 2 in E flat Major... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFcGgmWStnM&feature=related)

Thanks for the memories!

I've never heard the phrase "reached my majority" either! I'm not even sure I can fully catch its meaning from the context here. But I *did* have a Memphis design poster in my bedroom in 1985...

Nothing from Wall Street???

I was also a big fan of Workbench in the 80s for more affordable Scandinavian designs in those pre-ikea days. Target did exist but only for those of us who lived in Minnesota.

pre-IKEA? The IKEA store opened in our city in 1979-1980...

I was obsessed with Jeannie Bueller's bedroom! I was terribly jealous that she had a phone IN HER ROOM.

I have seen little bits of Memphis Group (or style) popping up here and there in glossy publications over the last couple of years. A goofy chair here, a fugly little table there. I have even recently started seeing it in finer antique stores where owners attribute names and are asking big $$$. Personally I think it really was the UGLIEST movement in furniture's history (even uglier than the "furnishings" of the Inquisition for all of the garish obnoxious colors and patterns). Just curious: what does that AT community think about Post Modernism? Trend forecast: will Post Modernism make a comeback, and SHOULD it?

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has a new postmodernism exhibition. The Italian design group, Memphis, is featured in the show. Wish I could go see it.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/postmodernism/postmodernism-about-the-exhibition/

Actually, I still think that Mickey Rourke's apartment in in 9 1/2 weeks was really cool and minimalistic.

mschatelaine, I still haven't set foot in an IKEA store. There are no IKEA stores in Upstate/Central NY.

I was curious and looked up the history of ikea. Ikea's first American store opened in 1985 in Philadelphia. It's interesting how regional stores used to be, but how universal they are now.

"Reach your majority" means become an adult. (I've always taken it to mean 21 but I guess it could be 18.)

I agree with Miami Vice and definitely Heathers for 80s interiors.

Hope this is ok to ask...I've been mia for a bit which is common and when I come back I usually do a search on posters I am familiar with and enjoy their commentary - thorndale, homebody, blandwagon to name a few...and also bepsf. Did you change your name bepsf?

i think AT should do a mini profile on Mollie's (Kirstie Alley) apartment in Look Who's Talking 1. It's actually a very timeless looking in that she uses a lot of patterns and vintage stuff. True, the crappy 80s decor does pop up from time to time, but for the most part that apartment is awesome.

Workbench was great. Sorely missed. Glad someone else remembers :-)

Ahhh, the 80s. Pastels! Yikes. I had a pink and blue dhurry in my living room. The pastels looked a lot better on Tubbs and Crockett.

My 80s style icon movie is “Fatal Attraction.” Glenn Close’s apartment was so awesome. At the opposite end of the spectrum, you had the apartment and house where Michael Douglas lived with his family -- also great spaces. The latter probably represented what most people aspired to at that time.

Oh, and don't forget "American Gigolo." That whole dim interior thing, the Armani suits, the stripes of light from the blinds, all very influential on the style of the '80s.

It's interesting that this zinging Memphis style was running concurrently with the Laura Ashley country look. I think the Memphis style has more legs to make a comeback, possibly because it's so honest in its marriage of art and furniture. It doesn't pretend to be a frilly, flouncy antique teleported in from a 19th century cottage.

Also ta, flavoursplash!

You're right Blandwagon - forgot about how big Laura Ashley was then. I think more people actually used LA in real life design choices, whereas I became familiar with Memphis because of a local *museum* show they were in. I'm not even sure I ever really liked them, but did admire their focused aesthetic.

And thanks flavorsplash too! I have noticed bepsf's absence as well and am guessing (only because I have been tempted to do the same at times) that he committed AT hari-kari?! It is such an addiction to come here, that I could see the enticement to wipe the slate clean...

@homebody and flavorsplash - I look for bepsf too, and so I just did a quick search - plenty of results came up with others replying to his comments, but all his actual comments have been deleted.

I've just been wondering the same about bepsf... for the record, I believe bepsf was a "she".