House interiors

[Vivienne14]

This drawing of the interior of a 1930s house shows some typical features (although not all of these would be in one room).



I lived in one from the 1950s, by which time some of the features had gone, but many I remember. I especially remember the fireplace. It seemed (to me as a young child) that the mantelpiece was very high, With it’s dark stained wood it was very imposing. Mum cluttered the top with pieces of brass. I remember a couple of brass goblets and a mini brass bell.

In one room the fireplace had green tiles (which my mum detested having lived through the common WW2 green paint decor) and in the other room it had red tiles, much nicer and warm in colour. Until we had gas fires installed in the 1960s this was the main focus of the room on winter evenings. Memories of crowding around the red tiled fireplace in the back room (the green tiled front room one was rarely lit) stay permanent in my memory. And that memory is always of a bright fire in the hearth, a cup of Ovaltine in a ‘moon face’ mug and the lights off. (Mainly because my dad was a skinflint and would save electric whenever he could. Although today he’d be regarded as a first rate energy efficiency ambassador ! )

The only dado rails we had were in the hall. By the 1960s these had been decorated with a bamboo design wallpaper above the rail and below was a thick textured, beige leather effect paper. A conscious shift from the original 1930s introduced by my mum who loved to try modern trends.

We had picture rails. In the front room a porthole,-style brass mirror was hung on a chain. The mirror had an odd effect when you looked into it. Think it was convex. Also hung from the rail was a French cafe scene picture and one of the Austrian alps, very common in the sixties.

The picture rail in the back room had nothing hanging from it except when mum did the ironing. This proved useful for hanging ironed shirts on until put away. And because there were too few plugs in the house (despite having a father who was an electrical engineer) she sometimes connected the iron up to the light bulb fitting. Horrifying, but it’s true. I also remember, more often than not, rooms where light bulbs were out of action for some time before they were replaced. Something I now have an over exaggerated reaction to when one stops working today !

I don’t remember any wood panelling, but I do remember wooden parquet floor around the edges of the room and hall, infilled with carpet. Having relations in the carpet trade in Yorkshire, we were never short of carpet. Mum eventually succumbed to removing the parquet and had fully fitted carpets laid.

We had bay windows. The upstairs one constantly leaked. Dad was forever up a ladder trying to fix it. He wouldn’t stretch to employing a professional to fix it. The windows were Crittall, which in those days were dreadful, they rotted around the frames from the condensation, then frosted in winter - pretty patterns appeared on the glass but it was very cold, because we only had one fire lit.

The kitchen, a box, had the minimal in it. No fridge or washing machine (well you’d be hard pushed to get either in there. But it did have a pantry (using the space under the stairs), with a side window to let in air. You couldn’t call it a kitchen, and certainly not by today’s standards.

So the drawing has rekindled a few good memories. But the reality is the houses weren’t always well built, and certainly not cozy. Well in my experience they weren’t. Viv.

 

[Astoness]

some nice memories there viv...the only thing i can identify with in that drawing is the 1930s fireplace which would have been put in our house some 80 years after it was built...

lyn

 

[Bob Davis]

This drawing of the interior of a 1930s house shows some typical features (although not all of these would be in one room).

View attachment 150906

I lived in one from the 1950s, by which time some of the features had gone, but many I remember. I especially remember the fireplace. It seemed (to me as a young child) that the mantelpiece was very high, With it’s dark stained wood it was very imposing. Mum cluttered the top with prices of brass. I remember a couple of brass goblets and a mini brass bell.

In one room the fireplace had green tiles (which my mum detested having lived through the common WW2 green paint decor) and in the other room it had red tiles, much nicer and warm in colour. Until we had gas fires installed in the 1960s this was the main focus of the room on winter evenings. Memories of crowding around the red tiled fireplace in the back room (the green tiled front room one was rarely lit) stay permanent in my memory. And that memory is always of a bright fire in the hearth, a cup of Ovaltine in a ‘moon face’ mug and the lights off. (Mainly because my dad was a skinflint and would save electric whenever he could. Although today he’d be regarded as a first rate energy efficiency ambassador ! )

The only dado rails we had were in the hall. By the 1960s these had been decorated with a bamboo design wallpaper above the rail and below was a thick textured, beige leather effect paper. A conscious shift from the original 1930s introduced by my mum who loved to try modern trends.

We had picture rails. In the front room a porthole,-style brass mirror was hung on a chain. The mirror had an odd effect when you looked into it. Think it was convex. Also hung from the rail was a French cafe scene picture and one of the Austrian alps, very common in the sixties.

The picture rail in the back room had nothing hanging from it except when mum did the ironing. This proved useful for hanging ironed shirts on until put away. And because there were too few plugs in the house (despite having a father who was an electrical engineer) she sometimes connected the iron up to the light bulb fitting. Horrifying, but it’s true. I also remember, more often than not, rooms where light bulbs were out of action for some time before they were replaced. Something I now have an over exaggerated reaction to when one stops working today !

I don’t remember any wood panelling, but I do remember wooden parquet floor around the edges of the room and hall, infilled with carpet. Having relations in the carpet trade in Yorkshire, we were never short of carpet. Mum eventually succumbed to removing the parquet and had fully fitted carpets laid.

We had bay windows. The upstairs one constantly leaked. Dad was forever up a ladder trying to fix it. He wouldn’t stretch employing a professional to fix it. The windows were Crittall, which in those days dreadful, they rotted around the frames from the condensation, then frosted in winter - pretty patterns appeared on the glass but it was very cold, because we only had one fire lit.

The kitchen, a box, had the minimal in it. No fridge or washing machine (well you’d be hard pushed to get either in there. But it did have a pantry (using the space under the stairs), with a side window to let in air. You couldn’t call it a kitchen, and certainly not by today’s standards.

So the drawing has rekindled a few good memories. But the reality is the houses weren’t always well built, and certainly not cozy. Well in my experience they weren’t. Viv.

Some memories there, our house was built 1939 and the picture rail, small kitchen, electric wall fires in the bedroom bay windows and leaded lights and cold, certainly not cosy
Bob

 

[mw0njm.]

This drawing of the interior of a 1930s house shows some typical features (although not all of these would be in one room).

View attachment 150906

i still have one of them fireplaces,and hearth but i re tiled it 3 yrs ago.

 

[oldMohawk]

Many of the features similar to those of the house I lived in as a child although the tiles on our fireplaces were a sort of mottled orange colour. We had a pantry with a large stone slab under which my sister and me were sleeping when a bomb crashed through our roof ... a story I've mentioned a few times in other threads ...

 

[I Am Nico]

This drawing of the interior of a 1930s house shows some typical features (although not all of these would be in one room).

View attachment 150906

I lived in one from the 1950s, by which time some of the features had gone, but many I remember. I especially remember the fireplace. It seemed (to me as a young child) that the mantelpiece was very high, With it’s dark stained wood it was very imposing. Mum cluttered the top with prices of brass. I remember a couple of brass goblets and a mini brass bell.

In one room the fireplace had green tiles (which my mum detested having lived through the common WW2 green paint decor) and in the other room it had red tiles, much nicer and warm in colour. Until we had gas fires installed in the 1960s this was the main focus of the room on winter evenings. Memories of crowding around the red tiled fireplace in the back room (the green tiled front room one was rarely lit) stay permanent in my memory. And that memory is always of a bright fire in the hearth, a cup of Ovaltine in a ‘moon face’ mug and the lights off. (Mainly because my dad was a skinflint and would save electric whenever he could. Although today he’d be regarded as a first rate energy efficiency ambassador ! )

The only dado rails we had were in the hall. By the 1960s these had been decorated with a bamboo design wallpaper above the rail and below was a thick textured, beige leather effect paper. A conscious shift from the original 1930s introduced by my mum who loved to try modern trends.

We had picture rails. In the front room a porthole,-style brass mirror was hung on a chain. The mirror had an odd effect when you looked into it. Think it was convex. Also hung from the rail was a French cafe scene picture and one of the Austrian alps, very common in the sixties.

The picture rail in the back room had nothing hanging from it except when mum did the ironing. This proved useful for hanging ironed shirts on until put away. And because there were too few plugs in the house (despite having a father who was an electrical engineer) she sometimes connected the iron up to the light bulb fitting. Horrifying, but it’s true. I also remember, more often than not, rooms where light bulbs were out of action for some time before they were replaced. Something I now have an over exaggerated reaction to when one stops working today !

I don’t remember any wood panelling, but I do remember wooden parquet floor around the edges of the room and hall, infilled with carpet. Having relations in the carpet trade in Yorkshire, we were never short of carpet. Mum eventually succumbed to removing the parquet and had fully fitted carpets laid.

We had bay windows. The upstairs one constantly leaked. Dad was forever up a ladder trying to fix it. He wouldn’t stretch employing a professional to fix it. The windows were Crittall, which in those days dreadful, they rotted around the frames from the condensation, then frosted in winter - pretty patterns appeared on the glass but it was very cold, because we only had one fire lit.

The kitchen, a box, had the minimal in it. No fridge or washing machine (well you’d be hard pushed to get either in there. But it did have a pantry (using the space under the stairs), with a side window to let in air. You couldn’t call it a kitchen, and certainly not by today’s standards.

So the drawing has rekindled a few good memories. But the reality is the houses weren’t always well built, and certainly not cozy. Well in my experience they weren’t. Viv.

Blummin Anne it's 'our 'ouse! Same era, except we had an oblong mirror with the corners cut off and a gliterry bit on the right hand side, but no Jacobean panelling. The woodwork was brown a sort of tan.The rattly door knobs small round and wooden. Kitchen woodwork was quite a dark green. Narrow sash window in the corner no leads. A dark room. Mum connected the bakelite hair drier to ours. It was brown. The Goblin hoover was brown with badger hair wooden brushes and a heavy chrome wand. Carpet sweeper was wooden too.

Mantlepiece in the front room had the corners missing to form a shelf each side and in the middle was a semi circular shelf with tiles a bit like a half moon all mottley brown. The Back room mantle piece was much higher with long mirrors down each side with a sort of long faded gold stripe down the middle. I used to made marks with my rubber ended arrow. I like the noise it made. Grate was brown with like oil slick in it. And there were sinister looking people's heads either side in it. A black companion set and a long extending toasting fork for pikelets and toast and an iron trivet we used as a door stop. Or a seat for teddy. A coal scuttle. We had one picture and 2 religious texts one was Serve The Lord With Gladness, my parents' wedding gifts. An oval drop leaf table very dark almost black with barley twist legs and a green chenille cloth. 4 odd dining chairs. Dad's bed chair in dark red. Half moon podged rug mum made. Brown cream and pink. Grey oil cloth with little coloured abstract triangles a bit like kites or bunting. The bung 'ole under the stairs where everything was bunged in.

Front room had a bay window. A chunky sideboard also stuffed full. A square indistinguishable coloured carpet and matching leather pouffé. Poofay we said. A three piece comfy red and cream metal studded leatherette suite. Home made lumpy cushions from old curtains and one bought one I liked. It was round and striped in vivid colours and black. A 3ft high whitish tubular corogated plastic or bakelite 3 legged light, with a rudimentary horse on it. No nick nacks. Two strange greyish fluted top vases. One tiny vase full of anything but flowers. Two Light blue opaque glass fruit bowls Often empty or with satsumas and sweeties at Christmas. Loads of ashtrays for dad, mum refused to empty made of baccy tins, fish paste pots anything. Dad's coloured glass spill jar.

A brownish hall runner I would run and slide on "you'll hurt yourself one day" then later when we had a dog he did the same. A big game. A big black telephone on a little shelf on the wall. It came with the house so mum took messages for someone.

Upstairs was freezing. Mum carried a big grey Flatley heater up to their bedroom from the kitchen every night and she raked the coals every morning downstairs. They had little empty fireplaces. One had a gas fire but dad said it was dangerous. I often smelled gas. O I thought I did. Dad had a bachelor wardrobe with interesting named shelves and a glass pull down, ties, socks, hats sundries etc. I had one with a long mirror all dark. A rough packing case with a metal edge for my toys. I ended up with a black Riddy's wardrobe.

The same box of a kitchen looking over the wall in to the next door's. A cream cooker with an eye level grill that used to catch fire. Belfast sink, a copper, grubby lidded bath mum wouldn't touch, her and dad used the slipper baths or tin baths in front of the fire.Very pretty curtains, bright yellow with multi colours modern flowers on. Mum hated nets so we never had any. The front hedge was let grow very high. Red tiled floor and an outside loo next to the coal 'ouse and the mangle on the yard.
Thanks for making me remember.

 

[sospiri]

Familiar to me too. The 1860's cottage we bought in Kings Heath had everything except for the Tudor pannelling and the cornice. The first thing to go was the picture rails, or dust gatherers as my mother called them to be replaced with a paper frieze. The dado was the usual t & g software panelling painted in the dark brown of the time. Almost a hundred years after it was built, we ripped the rest out - fireplace, dado, etc - and modern pastel shades used. That made the rooms so much lighter. Oh, and behind the mantelpiece we found a token from the Green Man in Sand Street.

Maurice

 

[Vivienne14]

Bob, yes I thought the houses usually had electric wall fires but I don’t remember any in our house. My dad bought the house in the mid-1940s, so they were probably the second residents. Maybe the wall fires were removed by the previous occupants. In any case we wouldn’t have been allowed to have them on. Plenty of blankets and eiderdowns were the order of the day in the 1950s. I know you had to brace yourself to get out of bed in winter.

Originally it was a two bedroomed house, with the master bedroom having an alcove. My parents had a ‘his and ‘hers’ wardrobe like Nico’s. The larger was in the main bedroom, in the alcove, with all the old baby paraphernalia stuffed behind it, including the silver cross pram ! When I was older, they decided to carve out a room for me by having a partition built, enclosing this alcove. It was (for once) professionally built by a builder two doors up from us. Nice at first but then it started to suffer with damp.

I remember my dad removing a chimney breast in the main bedroom too. The fireplaces downstairs were set at an angle, so he took the upstairs angled wall out. Don’t know what happened to fumes from the, by then, gas fire below !!! Doubt that it was checked by any professional.

Strange that the fireplaces downstairs were each set at an angle. Seems like a waste of space to me.
In the front room we had a mock Tudor dining table, chairs and sideboard. The chairs had tapestry cushion inserts. This was out of character for my mum, so I guess it was my dad’s choice. There was also a matching pair of red winged chairs.

I remember the bathroom was incredibly cold. Had to have a mini primus type lantern under the cold water pipe to keep it from freezing up. The copper water tank was housed in a big cupboard in the bathroom, which didn’t do much to raise the temperature. The water heated from the boiler behind the fire was never much help. It wasn’t until the tank was fitted with an emersion heater that it made a difference in there. (No water tank lagging of course). The floor had black and white lino square tiles. My mum tried to ‘upgrade’ it in the sixties with mustard coloured tumble twist bathroom mats and a window blind.

We’ve come a long way to improve personal comfort in the home since those days.

Viv.

 

[mw0njm.]

i moved into a house in 1970 after a old man died and there was a mirror on the wall just like that one, chains holding it up on a nail. i left it still hanging there
in 1990 when i move here.

 

[I Am Nico]

i moved into a house in 1970 after a old man died and there was a mirror on the wall just like that one, chains holding it up on a nail. i left it still hanging there
in 1990 when i move here.

We had a bathroom built on when I was tiny with a tall brown oil stove in it. And the copper and the lidded bath went. We had a small TV on a tall table with squeaky wheels. Then we got a modern TV and that went in the front room. With push buttons that made a noise.The ceiling lights were uplighters in glass on 3 chains. The upstairs curtains were nondescript colours too. I used to be in my parents room as we had lodgers, one at a time, there was a naval college somewhere. Then I moved in to the back bedroom. This house was probably built in the 20s. Then a house came up opposite my grandparents by the school and off we went, probably built during the war. With three bedrooms a proper front garden with a laburnum tree! A biggish rear garden, with a wooden garage, an outside loo as a bonus now, a cole 'ouse and a shed and a water butt, I loved that, a jitty where we could play and an upstairs bathroom! With a scary geyser. A modern telephone and another box kitchen a tad bigger, and draughty French Windows but all so bright.

 

[I Am Nico]

I remember the darkish green rugs hanging over the line and mum bashing them with a carpet beater. I tried I wasn't strong enough she must have been. We had a stripy dull green stair carpet with grippers but I think they slipped. We had a little gate at the top of the stairs. I sleep walked. We had a little vestibule with green and cream tiles and a very narrow hall. down a step in to the back room and down another in to the kitchen. Lots of dark green.

 

[rosie]

We had one small bay window the rest were sash. (They could slide up or down to open and had weights built into the frames). Red quarry tile floor in the kitchen. Dad had painted the kitchen that green when they were first married, with a black line round which apparently was his pride and joy. There were picture rails and one of those mirrors, highly dangerous above the fireplace but Nan always told me that I should roll myself in the hearthrug if I caught fire!!! I wish I had picture rails now in my house but they have been taken down. I think that leathery paper was Lincrusta? It had so many coats of paint, Mom was in that house for over 60 years.
rosie.

 

[Vivienne14]

That’s the stuff Rosie, Lincrusta ! Would never have remembered it. I think they paid quite a lot of money for it, well much more than for regular wallpaper. It was very thick paper with a leathery quality. Surprised it stayed pasted to the wall. Before it was hung my dad taught me how to plaster a wall. Think he was quite perceptive, as it’s a skill that’s come in quite handy from time to time. Viv.

 

[mw0njm.]

That’s the stuff Rosie, Lincrusta ! Would never have remembered it. I think they paid quite a lot of money for it, well much more than for regular wallpaper. It was very thick paper with a leathery quality. Surprised it stayed pasted to the wall. Before it was hung my dad taught me how to plaster a wall. Think he was quite perceptive, as it’s a skill that’s come in quite handy from time to time. Viv.

are you free after xmas viv

 

[Richard Dye]

This thread has bought back very many memories...........Some pleasant and some not so!

I think most of use had the same or similar situations. When I got older I painted the kitchen with oil based leaded paint (imagine the lead today). The paint took days to dry or seamed like that. We have the same fireplace in the kitchen with a boiler behind it for hot water. At one point the landlord put in an immersion heater to get hot water but you had to put a shilling in, we always seemed to run out of shillings when it was my turn to take a bath..........

Our kitchen sink was one of those big white porcelain one with the two taps sticking up. When I was about 17 I saved up and bought my mom a new sink unit with draining board and cabinets underneath. The installation by me was less than smooth after one night without a sink a neighbor came and helped me. Needless to say all of my best intentions went down the drain literally.

As they say we do not miss what we ever had!

 

[oldbrit]

One of the jobs that I had, working for William Bloye the sculptor in the 1950s was repairing WW2 bombing damage to the Cornices in stately homes in Birmingham. Plaster of Paris, broken and chipped very intricate work

 

[Vivienne14]

We had a Creda electric cooker in the sixties, with a low back panel, I think, with controls on it. We also had a new sink unit, it was white Formica with a red drawer and a side section with shelving. These were not from the 1930s, definitely 1950s/60s additions. No idea what would have been in there when the houses were first built. We had these taps. Don’t think I’ve ever seen them in any other house. We also had a smaller version on the bathroom sink too. On the kitchen taps we’d attach a rubber nozzle to swill the washing up. Blimey “swill” - not used that word in years.



We didn’t have a serving hatch, but some people in our road had one. Not sure if these were part of the original design, or whether people had created them, as I know they were popular in the late 1950s/60s.

Viv.

 

[mw0njm.]

in the kitchen we had a gas cooker a council boiler and a big brown sink,and a tin bath hanging on the wall. it was painted in white wash no bathroom or loo. we had to use a gazunda. of a night. the loo was down the rd,in a yard. and plenty of bed bugs.
WHAT A DUMP.

 

[sospiri]

Pete,

Those old brown sinks, shallower than the Butler & Belfast types, were ideal for keeping your newts, tiddlers and a bit of water weed in. You could quite often find them on bomb sites in my younger day.

Maurice

 

[mw0njm.]

Pete,

Those old brown sinks, shallower than the Butler & Belfast types, were ideal for keeping your newts, tiddlers and a bit of water weed in. You could quite often find them on bomb sites in my younger day.

Maurice

there are a lot of white about our Maurice but not so many brown now.most got smashed as they were not as strong.
our sink unit was house bricks lol
pic added

 

[Astoness]

i was born in my nans back to back house..until we moved it was mom.dad myself and brother in one room and nan in the other...in the tiny living room was the cooker..coal fire and table and chairs and a small scullery..no room for anything else...shared toilets up the yard...ive always objected to these houses being called slums as it gives the impression that the people who lived in them were not that particular but in most cases this could not be further from the truth..our nans house was spick and span from top to bottom and she had to be dragged out when demolision came ..she had lived in that house for 70 years and was never the same after leaving..my memories are only happy ones and i am proud to say i was born in a back to back house...

lyn

 

[mw0njm.]

i was born in my nans back to back house..until we moved it was mom.dad myself and brother in one room and nan in the other...in the tiny living room was the cooker..coal fire and table and chairs and a small scullery..no room for anything else...shared toilets up the yard...ive always objected to these houses being called slums as it gives the impression that the people who lived in them were not that particular but in most cases this could not be further from the truth..our nans house was spick and span from top to bottom and she had to be dragged out when demolision came ..she had lived in that house for 70 years and was never the same after leaving..my memories are only happy ones and i am proud to say i was born in a back to back house...

lyn

ours were back to back.it was not a slum it was spotless just a dump it was falling down. one night it did

 

[Morturn]

Viv, those taps were “Supataps” very popular in the 60’s -70’s, they looked very stylish. A right pain if they started dripping, they had this funny washer type filter arrangement.

I had almost forgotten they existed

 

[Vivienne14]

Would have been my mums choice of taps. Must have been part of her attempt to ‘makeover’ the house. Doubt she particularly liked the original 1930s style of the house.

Viv.

 

[devonjim]

We had a Creda electric cooker in the sixties, with a low back panel, I think, with controls on it. We also had a new sink unit, it was white Formica with a red drawer and a side section with shelving. These were not from the 1930s, definitely 1950s/60s additions. No idea what would have been in there when the houses were first built. We had these taps. Don’t think I’ve ever seen them in any other house. We also had a smaller version on the bathroom sink too. On the kitchen taps we’d attach a rubber nozzle to swill the washing up. Blimey “swill” - not used that word in years.

View attachment 150932

We didn’t have a serving hatch, but some people in our road had one. Not sure if these were part of the original design, or whether people had created them, as I know they were popular in the late 1950s/60s.

Viv.

I thought these taps looked a tad familiar but couldn't think why! Just come out of our present bathroom and there they were fitted to our current bath.

 

[Smudger]

Our house must have been posh. We had a bathroom with loo & an outside loo as well. We had one of those big black fires with an oven door. I remember buying some chicks & told to keep them warm so i put them in the oven. The one thing i hated about the house were those Bakelite switches, i used to get a tingly like shock. Still, they were mostly good memories, especially living just a hundred yards from Brookvale park & some lovely maidens living in our road !

 

[mw0njm.]

Our house must have been posh. We had a bathroom with loo & an outside loo as well. We had one of those big black fires with an oven door. I remember buying some chicks & told to keep them warm so i put them in the oven. The one thing i hated about the house were those Bakelite switches, i used to get a tingly like shock. Still, they were mostly good memories, especially living just a hundred yards from Brookvale park & some lovely maidens living in our road !

ooooooo

 

[sospiri]

That's the ones, Pete, and trying to find those new is not easy. All the variants of Butler & Belfast can be found new on the web, but they are very expensive. I can see my newts many years ago enjoying that old brownie. We used to bring them back from the clay pits at Greet, but sadly they've now lost that habitat.

Maurice

 

[mw0njm.]

We had a Creda electric cooker in the sixties, with a low back panel, I think, with controls on it. We also had a new sink unit, it was white Formica with a red drawer and a side section with shelving. These were not from the 1930s, definitely 1950s/60s additions. No idea what would have been in there when the houses were first built. We had these taps. Don’t think I’ve ever seen them in any other house. We also had a smaller version on the bathroom sink too. On the kitchen taps we’d attach a rubber nozzle to swill the washing up. Blimey “swill” - not used that word in years.

View attachment 150932

We didn’t have a serving hatch, but some people in our road had one. Not sure if these were part of the original design, or whether people had created them, as I know they were popular in the late 1950s/60s.

Viv.

there are some for sale on the www £50 if you want to do a make over Viv

 

[sospiri]

Lyn,

I was born at 2/15 Bartons Bank (in the same courtyard as Eric Gibson's grandparents) at my grandmother's house and that was spick and span, but with same shared outdoor loo and torn up newspaper, and a galvanised bath & copper boiler in the kitchen. Apart from a short spell in a tatty flat in Claremont Road, I was four when we had the offer of the bomb-damaged house in Knowle Road, Sparkhill. It wasn't until then that I knew any other kids of my age and then we had a great bomb site and the River Cole as our playground - I loved that.

Maurice