WILL OUR SENSE OF STYLE AGE BETTER THAN THESE EXAMPLES?

Do You Remember These 10 Long-Gone Home-Decor Nightmares?

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Judging the past in hindsight might be a bit unfair but, sometimes, it can be fun. If you’ve ever guessed the age of a photograph or a movie by the furniture and decor showcased in it, then you might know what we are talking about.

Each decade has its own fads and passing styles of home decor. And while some of these aesthetic statements might seem tasteful even today, many documented instances did not age so well. The following list offers some of these unfortunate examples for your perusal and, let’s be honest, amusement.

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Having your walls feel as soft and warm as your thick floor carpet might seem like a good idea for about a second. But any person with a minimum sense of practicality will understand the issues that would come with such a decision.

In the 1970s, however, carpet was just about everywhere. When people ran out of floor space to carpet, they started putting it on the walls. The aim was to create a comforting, homey feel, but as people everywhere discovered, it was a nightmare to clean. It was disastrous to vacuum as the wool fibers would get stuck inside the cleaners.

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Sleeping on water, lulled by the rolling waves beneath you, in your own bedroom, was a thing. Never mind the fact that water beds weighed over a thousand pounds on average, and filling them up included bringing in a hose from the backyard. Or the nightmare that ensued if they spring a leak. For some reason, people liked them.

Fortunately, these days, sleeping atop a rubber sack filled with H20 has gone the way of pet rocks, platform shoes, and TV antennas.

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Carpeting everything seems to be the '60s motto. And yes, this included bathrooms. Toilet lids, seats, those mini rugs that hugged the base of the toilet, you name it, it was all covered in spectacularly unhygienic, germ-catching rugs.

Yes, it can be comfy and not as cold as tile or linoleum on bare feet. But that is not enough reason to transform your bathroom into a sanitary trap, a hub for mold, mildew, and toxic spores.

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Bathroom sinks, toilets, bidets, and bathtubs are usually bought and installed together in a home. And, for some obscure aesthetic reason, back in the ’70s, avocado was a very popular color choice for these elements.

Maybe it had something to do with Art Nouveau and the whole "back to nature" thing of the early 20th century? We don’t really know. But luckily, this also has gone the way of the Dodo.

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Dripping walls and rugged ceilings, as if you were living in a grotto, were wildly popular in the ‘60s and ‘70s. And the complicated process of removing such ghastly features has made them survive to these days in many places.

To be fair, these types of ceilings were said to offer better acoustics and sound absorption, but dust and dirt cling to the rough and uneven surface, making it a nightmare to clean.

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Curtain-matching window valances were all the rage back in the day. Heavy drapery and darker ambiances were very much appreciated until the ‘90s but not so much today, when light is paramount.

The ‘70s and ‘80s family sitcoms that revolved around a central living room or kitchen where most of the events took place were swarmed with these types of fabric. Lucky for us, not anymore.

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Glass bricks were once a ubiquitous feature in not just banks and modern dentist waiting rooms but, for some reason, also in family homes. The excuse was allowing light in without losing privacy but, really?

Whether in the form of windows or shower screens, these glass blocks were used as room separators in the 1980s and '90s. Since then, we've found more efficient ways to keep spaces light.

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Having inflatable furniture in your home is akin to using patio furniture in your living room. But worse, since patio furniture will not explode if met with a needle. If you remember those neon inflatable chairs and sofas teenagers loved in the ‘90s, you know what we are talking about.

The noise, the heat, the color, the smell, the shape. Just about everything about this seemingly practical solution to home decor was truly horrible.

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Wicker furniture was a popular choice among people who thought it would be great to live every day as if in a holiday resort. It was a staple of groovy 1970s interior design, usually accompanied by beaded curtains, wall-to-wall carpeting, and plenty of macrame.

Downsides? It breaks easily, it creates debris as it loses its fibers, it makes a screechy noise, and, let's face it, it looks like something out of a Stephen King novel.

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Never mind the nightmare of looking for round sheets. There is a reason why beds are square, and it has to do with the human body shape. Whoever invented round beds must have slept alone for his or her entire existence since having to share one of these contraptions with somebody else is nothing short of, again, a nightmare.

Lucky for us, round beds are long gone, at least in most of the civilized world.

PUT ON YOUR BLUE SUEDE SHOES!

Are You An Elvis Fan? Remember Ten Iconic Moments Of The King’s Life!

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What can be said about Elvis Presley that hasn’t been said already? Few lives have left a mark as indelible in modern world culture as his has. His musical talent and on-screen charisma will never be equaled, and still, hundreds of Elvis impersonators happily continue to try to imitate the King’s dulcet tones.

We have selected ten pivotal moments in Elvis’ life that both pay tribute to an iconic musician’s career and help us understand the human side of this Rock & Roll legend. Enjoy!

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Let’s start from the very beginning, in the city of Tupelo, Mississippi. On January 8, 1946, an eleven-year-old Elvis received his very first guitar as a birthday gift. While some accounts say that he was expecting a different gift like a bicycle or a rifle, Elvis quickly took a liking to it. He started taking his guitar daily to school, and classmates and family described him as "crazy about music."

Elvis was an avid fan of a radio show hosted by local country singer Mississippi Slim and frequently visited him at the radio station. Slim took him under his wing and, by the time Elvis was 12, he scheduled two performances on his show. While his shyness got the better of him on the first try, Elvis’ voice was broadcast on Slim’s show for the first time.

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We’ll skip forward a little bit, up to 1954. Fresh out of high school, Elvis recorded his very first demos at Sun Records. Although much didn’t come out of these recordings, they made Elvis appear on the radar of his first management agency, Hank Snow Attractions. In 1956, Elvis recorded his first album, titled Elvis Presley, which quickly reached number 1 on Billboard's pop album chart.

1956 would prove to be a pivotal year for Elvis since it would mark his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. This was a troublesome performance for many reasons: Sullivan was recovering from a car accident he suffered and Elvis had to be recorded in Los Angeles since he was working on filming Love Me Tender. Nevertheless, the show was a huge success, attracting the highest ratings for any television variety show.

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If you ever happen to stop by the city of Fort Smith, Arkansas, there’s a very peculiar attraction that you might want to visit if you are a true Elvis fan: On March 25, 1958, Elvis Presley received his first buzz cut in this city, the day after he enlisted on the U.S. Army. To this date, the good people of Fort Smith remember this moment on Elvis Haircut Day (yes, that’s the name of an actual holiday), held every year around March 25th at the Camp Chaffee Barbershop Museum.

Elvis served in the Army between 1958 and 1960, reaching the rank of sergeant. Though he was offered the chance to serve under the Special Services Unit (on which he would perform for the troops), Elvis decided to enlist as a regular soldier, where he was deployed to Germany. This move helped him earn the respect of hundreds of people who were previously horrified by his rock & roll music.

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Since we’ve been mostly focusing on the King’s music career, let’s take a second to reminisce on Elvis’ many acting credits. Inspired by legendary actors like James Dean and Marlon Brando, Elvis made his film debut in 1956, playing the youngest of the Reno brothers in the western Love Me Tender. While the movie was named after Elvis’ iconic song, this was the first and only time in his career in which he didn’t receive top billing.

What followed that first role was a fruitful career that included over 30 films and numerous appearances on television shows. Some of his most unforgettable roles include inmate Vince Everett in Jailhouse Rock, private Tulsa McLean in G.I. Blues, and gambler Lucky Jackson in Viva Las Vegas, considered by fans and critics alike to be his best film.

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It was during his time in Germany with the military that Elvis met his future wife, Priscilla Beaulieu, who would soon be known by the world as Priscilla Presley. The couple stayed together until their divorce in 1973, and they had one daughter, Lisa Marie Presley.

In 1957, Elvis unveiled one of the other biggest loves in his life: "Graceland", his mansion in Memphis. While nowadays Graceland is nothing short of a cultural icon, becoming the first rock-related site to be declared a National Historic Landmark, at the time it symbolized Elvis’ jump into an international superstar.

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Elvis is mostly associated with Vegas due to the above-mentioned film Viva Las Vegas, remembered for the remarkable chemistry between the King and Swedish-American actress Ann-Margret. However, Elvis’ relationship with "Sin City" goes above and beyond that: Priscilla and Elvis got married in Las Vegas, he filmed two of his most successful films in this city, and, on two separate occasions thirteen years apart, the King was offered lucrative residencies to play on iconic hotels in the Las Vegas Strip.

Elvis' first residency was when he was 21 years old, in 1956. This series of shows is not remembered as a huge success: Elvis was particularly popular among younger audiences, and the more conservative guests of the New Frontier Hotel didn’t take too kindly to his energetic music. However, in 1969, the King returned to Las Vegas for a residency in the International Hotel. Although Elvis was initially nervous to perform again after his previous experience, these shows were a huge success, and the hotel signed him for an extremely lucrative five-year deal to perform every February and August.

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We’ll take a little break to delve into Elvis’ goofier side and showcase a few of his quirkier anecdotes. Let’s start with the King’s contribution to the culinary world. Any self-respecting diner will know what to serve you if you order an "Elvis" sandwich: a peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich. This odd delicacy is credited both as being invented by the King and as his favorite sandwich.

These hearty sandwiches must have been the perfect fuel for another of Elvis’ hobbies: karate. While stationed in Germany, he started training in this martial art, which he continued to do for decades. Elvis reached a seventh-degree black belt and even opened his very own training center, called the "Tennessee Karate Institute."

Let’s end this interlude with one of Elvis's most famous companions. He was known for his love of animals and cared for many animals during his life, including pet horses, birds, and dogs. Among these pets, one of these animals shines as the strangest of the King’s furry friends: Scatter, the pet chimpanzee, who could be usually found perched on Elvis’ shoulder, or dressed in various funny outfits.

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Just like with Las Vegas, Elvis’ love for Hawaii is very well documented. His first concerts at the old Honolulu Stadium, held in November 1957, mark the start of the love story between Elvis and "the Aloha State." He frequently traveled to Hawaii to perform or to film: three of his movies (Blue Hawaiʻi, Girls! Girls! Girls! and Paradise, Hawaiian Style) were all filmed on the islands.

However, Elvis and his family also visited Hawaii to vacation and relax on its otherworldly beaches. According to biographers, he took inspiration from the island to redecorate the den at Graceland, now known as "The Jungle Room." If you ever happen to stop by the Neal S. Blaisdell Center, a place where Elvis performed the iconic "Aloha from Hawaii" concert in 1973, you will come across a real-life bronze statue of the King in his legendary singing pose.

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Let’s talk about a meeting that no one saw coming. In December 1970, while on a trip to Washington, D.C., Elvis visited the 37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon. The totally impromptu meeting took place in the Oval Office itself and ended in an iconic photo of Elvis and Nixon shaking hands.

The story of this meeting is as bizarre as the encounter itself. Elvis traveled to our nation’s capital with his collection of guns and police badges, on which he felt that a badge from the federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs would fit perfectly. Apparently, Elvis arranged the meeting through a Nixon aide (who was himself an avid Elvis fan), and he arrived at the White House wearing a purple velvet suit and gold belt buckle. He presented Nixon with an even flashier gift: a Colt .45 pistol, mounted in a display case.

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We’ll end this article on a bittersweet note. June 26 is a noteworthy date for all Elvis fans: it was both the date on which he was first called back to Sun Records in 1954 and the first night he spent at Graceland, in 1957. And, perhaps more significantly, June 26 1977 was the night of the King’s final performance, held at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

Hopefully, we were able to showcase the many highlights of the life of this timeless American artist, so telling the story behind Elvis’ last concert seems a fitting conclusion to this list. While reception to the concert itself was mixed, most fans were deeply moved by what they thought was a comeback from a terrible year. The King said his last words of goodbye ("We'll meet you again, God bless, adios") and, just like that, the final pages of the story of an artist who changed the world forever were written. Elvis had left the building.