In the event that you were a child in the ’70s, you probably remember your mom — or even youself? — moving through an extreme macrame stage, with houseplants hanging out of knotted rope plant figurines throughout your house. While the look of a macrame vest or owl yells Brady Bunch, clever designers are seeing past all that, realizing that the interesting textures and contours that the craft may bring to a distance.

Here are 10 new ways to use macrame without making your home look like a Partridge Family set.

eBay

Vintage 1975 Macrame Instruction Book Mad About Macrame – $9.99

Not this: The macrame of the ’70s was about excess; people shooting classes could not appear to stop themselves and wound up with corners of their homes chock full of macrame planters.

This is not the macrame we are talking about today.

Seek out contemporary artists who are rediscovering this craft. Australian celebrity Pippa Taylor of ouch blossom made her first macrame hanger throughout high school in the ’80s, and many years after revisited the craft after spying a macrame hanging in a store.

Starting off with a very simple plant hanger, she soon started to create her own designs based on vintage magazines like the one in the first photograph. She also adds unexpected colors, yet another new approach to macrame.

“My strategy to macrame would be to use pure cotton string, which I hand dye, in a selection of colors,” Taylor explains. “I enjoy using the dip-dye technique for a contemporary look.”

Etsy

Wall Art PackA Screen Printed Wall Hanging with a by ouchflower – $141.10

Taylor collaborated with Kylie Hunt of Paravent Design, adding fringe to Hunt’s nuclear age-inspired screen-printed linen panel.

As for the tassel to the left? “My tassels came about from a need to do something with the left over twine from macrame making; I constantly like to upcycle the materials I use,” Taylor says. “So 1 day I left a tassel and that has become a favorite product in my store!” The tassels stand out independently and also make smashing garlands when grouped together.

Angela Flournoy

Pick for black plant figurines. The black string in a different bit by Taylor coordinates with the neutral palette of this midcentury backyard cottage.

Go large scale. Fibers artist Sally England specializes in large-scale modern macrame. Here she used thick cotton strings and large beads to craft this 7-foot-long bit for a Hawaiian residence.

England’s large wall hanging stands around the scale of a large sectional couch in the Ace Hotel in Portland, Oregon.

Rikki Snyder

Project Runway winner Gretchen Jones used macrame on a planter in her bohemian Brooklyn apartment, where her collections include lots of interesting fabrics, Southwestern objects as well as a God’s eye.

Watch the rest of this flat

Etsy

Hanging Candle Holder, Hanging Vase Holder by Leslie Palafox – $10

If you are more of a minimalist, then use restraint. Now’s new take on macrame includes more streamlined and easy plant hangers. A glass bowl further upgrades the minimalist look of these planters.

Logan Killen Interiors

Mix macrame with refined rooms. In this Nashville home, the natural-colored strings play other similar textures in the home …

Logan Killen Interiors

… while incorporating one amazing touch to the elegant dining room.

Search for hipster inspiration. The amazing interiors of The Ace Hotel and Swim Club in Palm Springs, California, made by Commune in 2009, were an integral player in bringing the trend. The large-scale rope installment in the lobby windows reunite to swinging ’70s design in a brand new way.

Smalltown

Assorted Macrame Pot Hangings

Update your color. Now’s plant figurines come in many unexpected and lively colors, including bubble gum pink.

Natalie Myers

Use classic macrame as an honored throwback to the age. This vintage piece plays off the jute rug within this laid-back California bedroom.

Horchow

Jamie Young Macrame Jute Chandelier – $565

Search for macrame-inspired products from contemporary designers. This fixture from Jamie Young is made of jute in a gorgeous macrame-inspired design.

Unicahome

Cappellini Knotted Chair From Marcel Wanders – $3,890

A knotted chair by Marcel Wanders is practical artwork and will be the stunning conversation piece in any furniture layout, and is turning into a contemporary icon.

Yay or nay? Are you prepared to bring back the macrame or would you fear letting in 1 piece means your home will soon be overtaken by dangling plants? Tell us in the Comments section, and if you have any macrame going on at home, please talk about a picture.

See related