Bygone Kitchen Decor Trends

Photo of a vintage ceramic frog with an oversized open mouth that was used to hold Brillo pads back in the day.

When I was growing up there were things you used to see in pretty much everyone’s kitchen. Exhibit A is pictured above. These ceramic frogs (and they were always frogs) had oversized open mouths and would be positioned beside the kitchen sink to hold a Brillo pad. We had one by our sink and if you are around my age you probably had one by your sink as well. I find it interesting that we collectively decided that a kitchen wasn’t really complete without a ceramic frog, and then also somewhere along the line collectively decided that we no longer needed these ceramic pals.

I’m sure there are still some out there, but they are nowhere near as ubiquitous as they were when I was growing up. We certainly don’t have one, though he would look quite at home in our 1970s kitchen. Maybe coated frying pans and ceramic cookware meant people use Brillo a lot less, and no longer have a need for these frogs.

Less functional, but no less ubiquitous were those wooden plaques with a bunch of macaroni and beans glued to them. I couldn’t find a picture of them anywhere on the internet, but my guess is if you look through old family photos, particularly ones snapped in kitchens you’ll be able to spot one of these decor pieces in the background. They would be made of a block of wood that was somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 by 7 inches. Usually they were separated into a collage of panes with strands of dry spaghetti serving as the dividers. Other pieces of dry macaroni and dry beans would be glued into the different panes along with maybe some dried flowers and then there would also be a decorative decoupaged paper ornament like a flower or butterfly that was likely cut out of a greeting card or magazine. The whole thing would be shellacked over with a thick yellowish layer of varnish. Then often a ribbon would be glued around the outer edges.

These macaroni plaques were found in so many kitchens, and in fact I have a memory of making one as a craft project in my third grade class. Still, I can’t help but wondering why these were so universal. My guess is they went out of fashion around the time the oversized bottles of decorative olive oil with the herbs in them came into fashion.

This makes me wonder what are the inexplicable kitchen decor trends of our current era? I have to admit I’m so out of touch with what’s cool that I have no idea. Also, see that bit about our 1970s kitchen above. Maybe the days of everyone having the same things in their kitchen are a thing of the past, and today folks are more about being unique and individual with their kitchen decorating. Those of you who visit more kitchens than I do, what’s the thing that everyone seems to have in their kitchen, that today’s youth will be writing about forty some years from now?

— Alissa