‘Abbott Elementary’ Goes Retro with Plastic on the Sofa and Animal Print Pillows in Melissa’s House (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Selome Hailu Retro plastic couch covers are finally getting their due in 21st century pop culture. Beyond getting referenced on a Beyoncé album, the tacky-yet-lovable accent appears in “Abbott Elementary” Season 2 Episode 4, “The Principal’s Office,” when Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) invites Janine (Quinta Brunson) over for a cooking lesson.

It’s the series’ first major look at a character’s domestic life, and in an Italian American household in South Philly, a large, welcoming sofa had to be the centerpiece.  “It’s the first thing I asked for,” Walter says about the plastic on the couch, seen here in first look images that Variety can exclusively reveal. “Well, first I asked for plastic on the lampshades, but people might not understand that.

An older generation thing.” “She’s got a fab ‘80s couch, big rolled arms, but we kept it in a neutral, ivory tone,” says set decorator Cherie Day Ledwith. “But we had to go for it and put that plastic on there.

It says a lot.” About the patterns on the pillows that adorn the sofa and the rug beneath it, she adds, “If you see what she wears, she’s got that side of her that lends itself to animal prints.