If you were born before the 1980s, chances are you'll look back at this bold era through neon-tinted glasses. The unmistakable 80s aesthetic was big, bright and brash – qualities that were reflected in the decade's distinctive home décor, too.

From chintzy florals to sleek Miami Vice-style living rooms, this tour will take you on a nostalgic stroll down memory lane.

Click or scroll on to check out these sentimental 80s home trends that Gen X will remember fondly... 

Frilly sofas, swag-draped curtains, oversized bedspreads – we just couldn't get enough of that shabby chic floral vibe back in the 1980s.

Homeowners of that decade embraced co-ordinating prints across their upholstery and soft furnishings, often in busy patterns and loud floral motifs.

This bright bedroom featured in early 1980s style bible The Decorating Book by Mary Gilliatt. It contains several elements that were particularly popular in kids' bedrooms, including diagonal stripes and landscape motifs painted onto the floor and walls.

Most obviously, it's also packed full of primary colours, which was probably the biggest bedroom trend for young children – before they discovered cartoon-covered bedspreads or started plastering their walls with band posters, that is.

In an attempt to introduce grandeur into the home, classical Greek and Roman-style columns and even statues became popular.

Whether marble or plaster, structural or purely decorative, columns were employed everywhere from the kitchen to holding up the canopy on a four-poster bed!

Thanks to the social and economic changes of the 1980s, new money began pouring into the art market. Artists embraced bold colours and new mediums, and captured the spirit of the age with expressive – sometimes even aggressive – techniques.

Upwardly mobile professionals had cash to splash, and many spent it on artwork for their homes. From graffiti daubs and pop culture prints to neo-expressionist paintings and post-modernist posters, not to mention abstract sculptures, these pieces added edge to any modern room.

First popular during the early decades of the 20th century, wicker furniture made a big comeback in the 1980s. While rattan is the palm plant used for making baskets and furniture, wicker refers to the method of weaving it. They were a nice, natural antidote to some of the decade's slicker trends.

The craze even made its way into footwear, with wicker weave shoes popular with both men and women.

In a similar vein, dried flowers and foliage became popular and could be found everywhere from a neat wreath on the front door to large bunches dangling from the kitchen ceiling. 

While they looked and smelled lovely, they were a nightmare to keep dust and cobweb-free.

The only viable alternative to chintz, faded pastel patterns like this one adorned everything from soft furnishings to shell suit jackets. 

These gentle, muted tones acted as a soothing counterbalance to the aggressive neon colours and sharp 80s deco prints that were so popular outside the home.

Pine tongue and groove panelling were on walls everywhere during the 80s, paying homage to the cabin trend that exploded in the US during that decade and soon spread around the world.

The natural tones created a warm, rustic vibe, perfect for a family meal around this breakfast bar – another 80s staple. 

The 1980s was a golden age of cinema with some of the best films of all time shaping pop culture for decades to come. From Steven Spielberg's E.T. to the iconic 'Brat Pack' series The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink, teenagers in the 1980s had a hard time choosing what to rent from the video store.

It was also the decade where franchise toys really took off, and you can bet a Millennium Falcon model and a Gremlin doll would have been on every kid's wish list! At the very least you'd have a poster from your favourite flick on your bedroom wall like this one from the classic film Back to the Future, in a time-capsule house we spotted on Airbnb.

Flatpack furniture was invented in 1956, when an IKEA employee took the legs off a table so it could fit into a car. From there, it rocketed in popularity. By the 1980s, homeowners could simply stroll into a showroom, pick the kitchen of their dreams and drive off with it the very same day – instead of waiting weeks or months for a carpenter to build it from scratch.

This red and white colour combination was another 80s classic – we bet that rings some bells!

Mirrors were a hallmark of the 80s and the bigger the better. Ceilings, walls, cabinets – there wasn't a surface left untouched.

Remember the floor-to-ceiling mirrored wardrobes with sliding panels? They were super beneficial as they created the illusion of a brighter, larger room while offering plenty of storage space too. Perhaps it's time for them to make a comeback...

Glass blocks were so chic! Think back to glamorous 1980s TV shows like Miami Vice and Dallas, which had room sets filled with them. The decorative building material had form and function.

Glass block walls were used as permeable room dividers that allowed in plenty of natural light – they were particularly popular in bathrooms. 

While avocado green bathroom suites were big in the 1970s, pale pink and peach were very popular colours in the 80s. 

No longer purely utilitarian, bathrooms became soft, feminine spaces, featuring shaped sanitary wear, such as shell-shaped basins, floral wallpaper and corner baths – but more on those later.

The 80s were a boom time for technology in the home. Our houses were filled with big boxy record players, cassette players, VHS recorders and – if you were really lucky – a Commodore 64 computer.

Thank goodness we had all that matching wood furniture to house all our new gadgets! 

Chrome was the look of choice for young urban professionals everywhere, particularly when combined with slick leather. Throw in this black, white and red colour scheme and you've got the epitome of a chic city apartment.

Could you even call yourself a yuppie if you didn't have at least one elaborately shaped shiny metal chair?

No modern home was complete without a run of vertical blinds mounted in front of the patio doors. Made from durable vinyl and connected with plastic beads.

Paired with curvaceous rattan furniture and palm prints, the look was positively tropical. Check out the popcorn-effect ceiling here too!

Decorative brickwork was a fashionable feature on walls, fire-surrounds and kitchen breakfast bars everywhere. But rather than authentically exposed bricks, budget-friendly faux blocks, sometimes made from polyurethane, were glued onto surfaces instead.

Our love of smooth finishes and minimalism soon made this look obsolete.

A staple 80s kitchen look was undoubtedly cherry wood cabinets, which came in a variety of stains. They looked ultra-contemporary at the time, combined with marble worktops and oversized cooker hoods.

Colourful carpets were the go-to design choice if you wanted to make a statement in your home back in the day. 

Photographed here in the White House in 1981, President Ronald Regan and his wife Nancy perfectly epitomised the look with their fancy living room design. From the bright red carpet and bold matching chintz to the mahogany furniture set and old cradle phone, this sitting room is pure retro perfection.

Corner bathtubs were all the rage in the 80s. Add in a whirlpool function or Jacuzzi bubbles and you were living in high-end luxury with your own spa-style space – particularly when surrounded by pink marble, swathes of material and shiny gold fittings.

Wallpaper trends in the 80s were all about the decorative border, which added yet another layer to the era's typically busy schemes. Plus what a genius way of covering up any wallpaper mistakes. 

Don't banish this old-fashioned embellishment away in a time capsule just yet. Wallpaper borders are back in a big way, with brands reimagining these 80s staples for the modern decorator.

Memphis Design was a postmodernist movement that started in 1981 in Milan, Italy, spearheaded by a collective of designers. The bold decorative style was colourful, vibrant and angular, emphasising bold patterns, abstract designs and geometric shapes. 

The polarising movement was devoured by the young and hip, offering a counterpoint to the more conventional flowers and frills of the era.

Perhaps a step forward from classic chintz, floral prints turned homes into romantic retreats, made popular by the rise of flowers and every shade of pink.

The secret was to use the same pattern on curtains, wallpaper, lampshades, cushions and bed linen, in an enveloping coordinated scheme. Today we call that 'drenching'!

Every home needed an elegant wooden cabinet with glass-fronted doors to show off collections of dolls or ceramic ornaments. But one piece of mahogany-toned furniture was never enough.

Rooms were maxed out with matching sets with dining tables and chairs, dressers, coffee tables, lamp stands and even picture frames, all in the same shade of rich cherry wood.

In keeping with the move towards sleek futurism, glass surfaces were fashionable in the 1980s too. Glazed coffee tables, TV units and dining tables were seen as glam and stylish additions to a living room.

This room has a lot of the big trends from the decade on show: big blousy floral wallpaper in strange pastel shades, dried flower arrangements on a pedestal and a brass statement decorative lamp.

New Romanticism heavily influenced 80s fashion, with ruff collars, flouncy sleeves and puffball skirts all dominating the latest looks.

Naturally, the trend spilled over into home décor and romantics everywhere filled their fairytale boudoirs with frills, ruffles and acres of ruched fabric.

The affluent 80s gave rise to more families with cash to splash – and they wanted to show it off! Subtlety went out of style and glam took its place, no doubt influenced by glitzy US soap operas like Dallas and Dynasty. 

Opulence and luxury were the buzzwords of the day. Marble, silk, satin and pastel shades dominated, with gold finishes to top off the look. For anyone who didn't have the cash for real marble, there was always the option of using marble-effect titles. 

Today, louvre designs are more commonly associated with Mediterranean villas and window shutters.

Inexpensive and offering handy ventilation through their slats, they were especially popular in the 80s, when louvre doors were used across fitted wardrobes, kitchen cabinetry and airing cupboards. 

The cottage or farmhouse kitchen was the height of elegance and sophistication in the 80s. 

This wholesome look was defined by Shaker cabinets, a large pine table, decorative china, chintz curtains and – if you were really lucky – a cast-iron range cooker that served as the heart of the home.

Glossy, glamorous and bold, black lacquer furniture fitted right in with several major 80s trends.

It lent itself well to the clean lines of 80s deco, proved the perfect contrast for Memphis design's vibrant colours and would have been perfectly at home in any modern glitzy mansion.

While flatpack furniture was more popular than ever, homeowners still enjoyed installing strangely complex bespoke cabinetry into their bedrooms, which may or may not have incorporated a space-saving Murphy bed, which folded up into the wall when not in use.

The matching burgundy walls and bed in this room were another 80s trademark style. Pairing well with pine, it brought a touch of nostalgia to a decade obsessed with affluence and fast-paced living.

Geometric patterns in bright, in-your-face colours were all the rage in the 1980s and most teenagers would have had a bold duvet set like this one we spotted on Airbnb – usually with a set of matching curtains. Graffiti-inspired designs were used for album covers, magazines and advertising, and this filtered down into soft furnishings.

The US boyband New Kids On The Block was one of the most popular groups at the time and had their faces plastered across everything from T-shirts to mugs and pillows, long before anyone had heard of Justin Bieber.

There's something wonderfully glamorous yet decidedly dated about the calla lily – possibly because it was the fresh flower of choice for yuppies and homemakers alike during this style-conscious decade.

The calla lily motif was also used in prints, patterns and as a motif for all sorts of homewares, from glass statement lamps to china dinner sets and framed paintings.

Porcelain figurines were a staple of 1980s home decor, with Spanish brand Lladró leading the trend. These delicate, handcrafted pieces graced mantelpieces and display cabinets worldwide, becoming must-have collectibles.

Lladró bestsellers were known for their pastel-coloured porcelain and intricate craftsmanship. They often depicted elegant women in flowing gowns, romantic couples, playful children and serene animals, all with a soft, glossy finish.

It wasn't all florals and frills in the 1980s. This upmarket masculine bedroom was designed by Ralph Lauren as part of his autumn Home Collection in 1986. 

Full of warm tones, richly polished wood, animal print and sumptuous fabrics, we can imagine this look would have been a big hit with 80s power players like Donald Trump.

Leave it to The Golden Girls to capture a host of 1980s design trends in one room. This hit US sitcom ran from 1985 to 1992 and perfectly sums up a decade of style for those who remember it.

The show's set designer recreated the popular country-style kitchen using wooden cabinets, brass jelly moulds and assorted china. They also added a tropical-print tablecloth and white cane furniture, which were very popular and nods to Miami, Florida, where the show was set.

It may have been a hit song for 80s band Spandau Ballet, but gold was also the colour of the moment. It's hardly surprising, considering the trend for brash, bold décor reflecting the decade's obsession with ambition and success.

This 1982 photo of country music legend Tammy Wynette in the bathroom of her home in Nashville, Tennessee proves just how decadent 80s decorating could be.

Naturally, home furniture was influenced by the art of the age. As a result, some lamps  – like this one – looked more like art installations.

This room is stuffed full of 80s trends, from black leather and chrome to a new hi-fi system sitting atop classical columns – not to mention the sultry studio portrait hanging on the wall.

While patterned wallpaper featuring fruits, vegetables, flowers and plants was around from the 1930s and earlier, it certainly had a place in a rustic country kitchen during the 1980s.

The tones favoured an autumnal palette, which would have complemented a dark wooden cabinet perfectly!

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