Furniture and decorative items from the mid-1900s are among the fastest sellers at ReHouse Architectural Salvage, 469 W. Ridge Road.

Desks, dressers, chairs, table lamps, ceiling lamps. “Anytime I get anything like that, it does not stay,” store owner Sally Kamprath said.

Mid-century modern credenzas and sideboards continue to be in demand at Abode, 50 State St., Pittsford, said owner Ariane Krenichyn.

The business got its start 10 years ago in Rochester’s South Wedge by selling restored pieces from the era (roughly 1945 to 1965) and new ones done in the same style. “That is still kind of our focus,” she said.

However, items that evoke other decades, notably the 1980s, are becoming increasingly popular.

“All around the country, interior designers are translating over-the-top ’80s décor trends, like bright, bold colors, fluted surfaces, brass, and tropical prints into their newest projects,” marthastewart.com reported last year.

Homeowners here aren’t going full “Miami Vice.” They might not even label what they’re looking for as ’80s-inspired, but they want to incorporate more color and texture into their surroundings, Krenichyn said.

“I would say we started seeing it toward the official end of COVID,” she said.

After being isolated in their homes, “I think people were ready for something new, something with a little more spontaneity.”

Laura Seymour of Irondequoit, who eight years ago founded her own interior design firm, Hitch + Cord, agrees.

As the pandemic played out, “Everybody was like, ‘My house is so boring. Like, I need help.’ So, people were a little more open to going bolder,” she said.

Kelly Vankerkhove, also of Irondequoit and the owner of KJ Interiors/Furniture, whose services include custom upgrading and updating vintage furniture with new paint, fresh finishes and hardware, said her business “exploded” during the public health crisis.

Plus, said Seymour, “I feel like for so long we went through that phase of everything being gray. Gray floors, gray walls, gray everything. And people are finally starting to embrace color a little more.”

What’s become ‘super-popular’ again?

If you were around for the dawn of MTV, in addition to the United Colors of Benetton, you remember the russets, the deep hunter greens, the dark burgundy shades and that ubiquitous pinky-purple mauve.

Those hues are showing up again in décor. “But they’re updated,” said Krenichyn, a Fairport resident. “We see mauve, but it’s a kind of gentler version of it. The deep greens are more emerald than hunter. So, it’s slightly updated versions of those saturated jewel tone colors.”

For the past couple of years, Vankerkhove has been using them a lot in her work. “Green is the new black,” she said. “Deep, saturated green. I’ve been doing a lot of emerald greens. Emerald greens and Navy blue.”

Deep teal, too, as in the case of vintage console cabinet to which she also added new hardware, new legs and natural cane webbing.

And after a period of angular mid century-style sofas dominating the furniture market, many people are returning to softer, more curved, more comfortable seating, Krenichyn said.

Said Seymour, “In the past two years, curved-back sofas have become super-popular again.”

Eye-catching accents completes any interior design project

Besides furniture, quirky accent pieces are quick movers at Abode, Krenichyn said.

“Our bestsellers are these vases in the shape of animals,” she said.

Brass, so big in the ’80s, is finding fans again. Abode has been selling a lot of brass planters in the shape of scarabs, or Egyptian beetles.

Another ’80s staple having a moment: wallpaper.

“Wallpaper has been making a huge resurgence,” Seymour said. “It’s come such a long way. What’s great now is that it’s peel and stick, so people aren’t stuck with it for the next 20 years. I am a huge wallpaper lover, personally. I can change my wallpaper every six months if I want to, and the variety of patterns is just amazing.”

She’s a big fan of the ’80s aesthetic in general — and the ’70s. Among her own treasured home furnishings is a purple chair shaped like a giant hand.

“For the most part, Rochester is a little more reserved when it comes to home décor, so I feel like I definitely have a more unique home,” she said.

Vankerkhove said some of the people she works with “still really like clean, classic and neutral — something that can stand the test of time.”

But Seymour said if she can convince a client to add wallpaper or to buy one funky chair, “That’s a win for me. I just love it.”

Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments. Send story tips to [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @MarciaGreenwood.