Ah, the 1980s, when every summer felt like a decade, nobody was glued to a screen, and Christmas was always snow-filled. Of course, rose-tinted glasses play a major role in any personal account of our formative years, but, compared to the decades which came after, the 1980s certainly seem to stand out aesthetically.

If you were never there, or just want to indulge in some major nostalgia, here is a fun list of ’80s standards found in every home of the era.

1. Ashtrays
2. VCR Player
3. Stereo Systems
4. Entertainment Center
5. Magazine Racks
6. Carpet, Carpet, and More Carpet
7. Cordless Phone
8. Wallpaper

Ashtrays

Yes, kids, back in the 1980s there’s a good chance that your parents grew up in smoke-filled households. In those days, buses, planes, restaurants, and cafes all featured smoking sections, but cigarettes were equally well enjoyed at home. Ashtrays came in all shapes and sizes, but any smoker’s house would contain, at the minimum, two or three dotted around the living room.

VCR Player

Those chunky VHS tapes actually originated in China in the mid-1970s, but it wasn’t until the 1980s, with standardized formats and cheaper units entering the market, that the VCR player became a home staple.

Those of a certain age will fondly remember Friday or Saturday night trips to Blockbuster Video to peruse the latest releases on the shelf. VCRs also allowed you to record programs from television. How many of you remember diligently scribbling on those white cassette labels the exact time on the tape when a certain program began?

Stereo Systems

Pre-internet, physical media was the only option if you wanted to enjoy hand-picked music on tap. At the start of the 1980s, vinyl was still the dominant format, and any music-loving home would have a stereo system capable of playing them. That meant a turntable connected to an amp, most likely with a tape deck and radio built in, and at least two sizable speakers through which to enjoy the sound.

By the end of the decade, Compact Discs, which first emerged in 1982, had toppled vinyl off its perch, and smaller CD players became available, displacing the stereo system’s crown.

Entertainment Center

This is a catch-all name for any large, wood or plastic unit with multiple shelves and one big space in which a television could comfortably sit. You needed all those shelves for extra bits and pieces such as the VCR player, possibly a stereo system, and plenty of storage for vinyl, tapes, and cassettes. This was cutting-edge, aspirational living back in the 1980s, and a good entertainment centre would be the envy of all visitors.

Magazine Racks

If you lived in the 1980s and wanted to read the news, you’d need to look in your physical newspaper, which was delivered to your doorstep daily (how many of you ’80s kids had part time jobs as newspaper deliverers?).

Those newspapers stacked up, and add to that television guides—the only way to know what was on when—consumer guides, and magazine concerning any and all subjects and hobbies of interest, and storage was paramount. The humble magazine rack, usually designed to stack periodicals vertically rather than flat, served a vital function in every house.

Carpet, Carpet, and More Carpet

With space exploration, an explosion of technological gadgets, and the rise of the yuppie, more was more on every front. The stripped back look, with bare floorboards, exposed ceiling beams, and natural materials, was yet to come. Carpet, although affordable, still represented luxury, and therefore was used to its fullest extent. Yes, even carpeted bathrooms were a thing (yuck). In a 1980s house, you would expect to find no square inch left un-covered.

Cordless Phone

To Gen Z kids, the idea of a world without mobile phones must seem fairly incomprehensible, but throughout the 1980s, this was everyday life. Every school kid knew their friend’s landline numbers by heart, and every adult had a notepad or file with every contact’s number noted down (if you changed your own number, you’d have to ring round to announce, or more likely mail out change-of-address cards).

As the sole means of telephone communication, the home phone was indispensable, and the advent of the cordless phone was a revelation. No longer did you have to stand in one place or make sure you were within earshot when waiting for an important call. The freedom to move up to a whopping 20 or 30 feet from the phone’s base unit felt incredible!

Wallpaper

Have a look around your home—how many walls are covered with paper? We’d be willing to bet not many. For multiple reasons, including cost, changes in taste, and environmental concerns, wallpaper felt out of favor from the 1990s onwards, but, you guessed it, in the 1980s wallpaper ruled! This isn’t to say bare or painted walls weren’t a thing, but wallpaper was a crucial fashion statement and an integral part of any home’s décor.