Mid Century Modern style has made a massive comeback, but did it actually ever leave. The appeal that it has always carried stemming from a sense of the nostalgic yet a hint at a future full of great possibility.
The period began following World War II. Folks were celebrating an increase in the economy with new homes being built and many becoming first-time homeowners.
Homes were smaller and furniture needed to be functional but minimal, not like the bulky counterparts of the golden era.
The Mid Century Modern Style grew out of examples from Bauhaus and Danish. Designers were exposed to a vast array of different materials thanks to technological advances.
Designers used the materials in their raw form. Rather than hide the plastic chair or the steel table, they celebrated it. Distinctive features of this furniture consisted of clean lines, geometric forms, minimal ornamentation, and functionality. There would be the combination at times of traditional, e.g. wood, versus non traditional, e.g. Lucite materials.
Each and every room in a mid century modern home had a purpose. If something placed in that room was not serving any need, it had to go. Furniture pieces were multipurpose. They could stack, fold even nest.
The colors for this design went from the olives and neutrals in the earlier years to the bold bright colors in later years and also with blacks and whites in the mix.
If you want to decorate your home in the MCM style and not have it be ‘dated’ necessarily, it is best to pick a few staple pieces for each room e.g. a sofa for the living room, and then choose other styles to work around it that will compliment it. It’s perfectly fine and cool to mix and match styles.
The designers in MCM times didn’t stray from the style, though they did mix and match textures, materials, and colors and forms. Among the very talented were Herman Miller, George Nelson, Charles and Ray Eames, Edward Wormley (and so many more) who are still being followed to this day. Their pieces are sought after and reproductions are inspired by them.
Many of the exact pieces created in 1950 continue to be created today through companies, e.g. Knoll, some being more popular now than they were years ago.
The young generation today are, again living in smaller places requiring minimal pieces with greater functionality, and this furniture serves that purpose. Plus, it is absolutely gorgeous. Am I right!?
(Harry Bertoia, Arne Jacobsen, Eileen Gray, Isamu Nosuchi, Verner Panton, Jens Risom)