An East Yorkshire man has meticulously transformed his house into a spectacular 1970s time capsule.
Ryan Nicholson, 31, dedicated 25 days to revamping the living room of his new-build home in the Goole area into an authentic reminder of the ‘decade style forgot’.
His lounge now boasts an ode to the era with orange and brown motif wallpaper, peppered with lava lamps along with classic artwork and gadgets of the time.
Ryan unearthed gems from various sources including Facebook Marketplace, boot sales, and a local antiques dealer, ringing up a total of merely £500 for the makeover, not counting the cost of his Hi-Fi.
He said: “It was a new build so it was just a bare shell, no carpets or blinds or anything like that, it just had a kitchen and stuff like that.
“It took quite a while of saving to get to this position, but I’m quite pleased with what I managed to accomplish.”
The electronics buff explained his lifelong passion, saying: “I’ve always been drawn to old electronics, that’s always been one of my big interests, I’ve been into this stuff since I was nine years old.
“Back then I was in to old gramophones and stuff like that, now it’s gone more towards 60s and 70s era, so a bit later.”
Despite being born two decades after the 70s, Ryan is thoroughly enamoured by the era’s charm. Yet he cleverly fuses the past with the present, including a state-of-the-art Hi-Fi system for recording music streamed online.
Ryan elaborated on his unique audio setup, saying: “You can record on to audio cassette, 8-track, or Sony Elcaset which is a really rare format developed by Sony in the late 70s.
“Tapes are so difficult to find now, my machine came with 15 blanks so I was quite lucky, but they go for like £60 each on eBay now – prices since Covid have gone ridiculous.”
Yet, not all of Ryan’s retro finds have broken the bank, as he managed to snag some bargains.
“The sofa was £50, the sideboard was £25 and the corner unit was £50, I haven’t spent a lot on the furniture,” he said.
His parents, having experienced the 70s first hand, find his fascination a bit odd.
Ryan said: “My mum and dad think I’m a bit nuts, really, because they obviously lived through the 70s. A few people have called it ‘the decade that style forgot’.
“Since it’s been done, because I had the vision in my head of what it was going to look like, they said it looks a lot better than they imagined, it actually looks really smart.”
Ryan acknowledges his taste might not be universally appealing.
“It’s not to everyone’s taste, I know that”, he said. “A few people have said it looks like Del Boy’s apartment in Only Fools And Horses, but I really like it.”
With his living room complete, he has set his sights on the kitchen for his next project.
He said: “The kitchen is a brand new kitchen, I don’t really want to mess with it yet. When I get the funds I’d like to get a vintage kitchen, or something that looks a bit vintage. At the minute it’s millennial grey, as I call it.
“A 70s kitchen, you still had your microwave and stuff like that, it’s more just an aesthetics thing really, I quite like greens, oranges, and browns earthy colours. I’m not really into greys and whites.”