MID CENTURY STYLE
ON THE WAY OUT?
The short answer is No! The long answer is more complecated. This design style, with its modern contemproary feel is appealing for many reasons. Its simple, clean lined, refined, unadorned style is well balanced between beautiful form and modern function. It works well with modern open spaces. It was conceived during a time of manufacturing and material innovations. These innovations lead to a more economical way of producing goods with new materials not ever used before. Designers wanted to take advantage of this while rejecting the previous styles that were adorned with moldings and other features deemed nonfunctional and thus unnecessary. Because it is an uncluttered design style – an edited style where less is more – There are less element to play with. It is a bit more straight forward to understand and to pull off. But its stern minamalism is possibly its achilies heel! With the pandemic, people have been living, working and playing all at home. Creature comforts demand a softer version of mid century modern. Thus the trend is toward a more maximal, cluttered, softer version for everyday, continual use. Call it Bohemian Midcentury! By adding fabric, vegitation, patterns, colors, textures and well, just more “stuff” we soften the mid century look to give is a more lived in feel while still maintianing the design quality that we love! So mid century, while alive and well, but it is transforming!
Mid Century Modern Decor
Incorporating Bauhaus and Sandinavian design principles, Mid Century Style was popular from the early 1940s to the late 1960s.
Mid-Century Finds
When Searching for Mid-Century peices you’ll want to decide if you just want the look or if you want the real thing! There are lots of stores that have knock-off pieces made to look like items from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. You can find these items at higher end shops such as West Elm or low end shops like Project 62 from Target.
On the other hand, if it is the real thing that you are looking for, pricing ranges from the very high end designer shops like Design Within Reach and the many more economical locally run vintage shops. If you are into the thrill of the hunt, vintage shops are going to be your best bet for authentic pieces that won’t totally break your budget. Vintage shops will have a range of availability of pieces and pricing but generally they will be cheaper than the high end boutique stores.