Mid-Century Modern Furniture Design: 101

 

You’ve seen it everywhere, from Target to West Elm, to high-end design stores, Mid-Century Modern furniture made a comeback in the early aughts and has stuck around. While the interior design world tends to ebb and flow with trends slowly, this one seems to have ongoing staying power, so much so that even the NYTimes has wondered why it’s stuck around. It’s clear to us why; form and function come together in the most useful and aesthetically pleasing way in this modern furniture design style. 

Mid-century modern furniture design or MCM for short refers to the design sensibility that came of age in the middle of the 20th century, post-WWII America, and is rooted in functionality, simplicity, and clean lines. Interior designer, Amanda Thompson explains, "Homes were more linear, focused on maintaining a nuclear family unit and as such, the furniture design echoed this environment." MCM furniture while simple is always functional, blending efficient design with varied materials, textures, and colors. 

So what are some key characteristics of the mid-century modern style?

  1. Diverse: While you’ll often see a lot of natural wood used in MCM designs, other materials such as plastic, glass, metal, and glass are often incorporated.

  2. Simple: Clean lines are the governing principle here; ornate details are used sparingly if at all.

  3. Geometric: Designs reference basic shapes and create those ever-present clean lines and sleek edges.

  4. Functional: Form follows function but pieces are still aesthetically pleasing. The end use case is always top of mind for MCM-inspired designs.

  5. Organic: From natural materials like teak and oak being incorporated into designs to soft curves and sleek shapes of the piece itself. 

In the studio, whether designing for commercial or residential clients, we find ourselves continuously inspired by the underlying philosophy “based on solid principles of design and human needs, along with functionalism, respect for the environment, and solving the basic human desires for livability.” These characteristics naturally align with our company's core values and are another reason why we seek inspiration from MCM designers, like George Nakashima who we looked to model a recent design for a  live-edge wood table.

Now that you can spot some of the design elements of the mid-century modern design style, what are some of the most famous MCM furniture pieces you need to know about?

  1. The Eames Lounge Chair: One of the most popular mid-century modern furniture pieces by Charles and Ray Eames, this lounge chair was designed to be mass-produced and affordable. Following its release in 1956, it immediately inspired similar designs and has since gone on to be included in the MOMA archives. 

  2. The Florence Knoll Hairpin Stacking Table: After its introduction in 1948, it instantly became popular and is another affordable MCM furniture piece that has inspired many replicas. 

  3. Borge Mogensen’s Spanish Chair: We love this particular piece so much, we made a version of it ourselves. Inspired by a trip to Spain, it embraces a diverse use of materials and is as comfortable as it is beautiful. 

While we love mid-century modern furniture for its design sensibility and find ourselves constantly inspired by and incorporating the design characteristics into our work in the studio, it’s also easy to see why it’s remained so popular: it works in spaces of all sizes (proportionally it’s great for small rooms too), it plays well with others (other design styles, that is) and is meant to be utilized (it’s not just for looking at!). And if you’re worried about it going out of style, fear not, Gen Z has taken a liking to it too. 

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