How to Decorate a Mid Century Modern Home

Even after many decades, Mid-century Modern Interior Design continues to inspire designers today. The style emerged in the 20th century, and it is still one of the most popular design styles out there: Mid-century. It promotes interiors that are not only functional, but also open and uncluttered.                                                                                                                                                

This gorgeous, streamlined aesthetic actually has some of its roots in Bauhaus style and Scandinavian design. These designs share similarities because they were developed in the 1940s to 1960s. The designs heavily influenced each other. True mid-century modern designs are timeless, which explains why so many pieces that were designed decades ago are still being manufactured and sold today.                                                                                                                   

There are many ways to bring the mid-century modern look into your home. The key is to choose the right type of furniture, materials, and colors that were popular during that time. There are also specific iconic pieces from the mid-century era that will be sure to bring the style into your home.  

The mid-century modern design style is known for its clean lines, simple shapes, and the use of certain materials and organic elements. Because Mid-Century is highly focusing on functionality, there are little to no unnecessary decors to be found. Designs were not only made to be practical and long-lasting, but they were also sculptural and nice to look at. This design is the ideal combination of form and function.  

Mid-century modern style sofas or couches have clean, sleek, straight lines and are often elevated off the ground with tapered legs. The overall shape is often more rectangular. Common styles for the sofa’s backing were tight backs and tufted backs. Because the shapes are so rectangular and sculptural, you may want to make it appear little cozier by adding throw pillows to soften the look.  

Accent chairs have many of the same characteristics mentioned for sofas, but you will see more of those organic curves introduced. For dining chairs, solid wood is usually what we see. However, some other common mid-century looks are combinations of materials like wood and marble, wood and glass, glossy plastic and metal.

Mid-century furniture often has angled legs. An example is tapered peg legs, which sometimes have brass caps. Another example is hairpin legs.                                                                                                               

If you prefer not to invest in larger pieces of furniture, there are some smaller decor items that you can incorporate to your space to get the mid-century modern vibe. Elevated plant stands, bar carts, magazine racks, mirrors, and some mid-century modern style light fixtures are some examples of these smaller pieces of decor.

Popular mid-century modern colors include warm yellows and reds, muted greens, earthy browns, teal, and pastels like light pink and baby blue.                                                                                          

There are many ways to incorporate Mid-Century Modern colors into the current century. If you’re not into the sudden pops of color, then try combining wood, mid-century shaped furniture with colors and materials like leather, brass accents, soft greens, tans, and whites for an earthy, mid-century inspired room. Bring it all to life with some fresh pops of greenery from outdoors. If you’re feeling daring, create a neutral base and integrate the midcentury look into your room through a bright pop of color.                                                                                                    

It’s not enough to get just any style furniture in a bright color, though. In order to get an authentic look, the shape of your furniture must be mid-century. If you want to use a mix of midcentury colors in your room but still keep things contemporary, another option is to use jewel tones. Try weaving in colors like emerald and mauve, along with rich colors like sapphire and mustard.  

The scarce materials after the World Wars forced designers of the time to explore the use of new materials and new methods of construction. This led to the creation of beautiful, organic shapes using new materials like fiber glass, plastic, and plywood. Wood is a common element in Mid-century Modern Design, and it often serves as a backdrop to bold pops of color. The use of wood accents in mid-century home decor comes from the Scandinavian influence and their love for natural materials. While the Scandinavians kept things a little bit more rustic and natural, mid-century designers like to combine things like plastic and wood or metal and wood. This creates a lot of really interesting contrasting combinations in materials.  

If you’re looking for some specific ways to bring the mid-century style into your home, here are a few ideas to get you going. The first way is to use a bold accent piece. Instead of decking out your whole room, just get one piece and make it the focal point of your room and decorate the rest around that. An example is getting a couch in a bold color. A second way is to update your lighting fixtures. Lighting can be a massive statement in a room. So, for a big impact, you can try to acquire mid-century style pendant lights and floor lamps and incorporate them into your space. Another idea is to create a wood accent wall. Wood was very abundant in mid-century homes. You could try making a mid-toned to dark toned wood panel wall in one of your rooms. Next, add a bold, graphic piece of art. You can make it yourself or you can buy it. Then, incorporate geometric elements. Mid-century designs are known for their geometric forms which often repeat themselves into patterns. So, you could try incorporating that into some of your decor.  

You could try removing your window treatments. Mid-century homes were big on using big picture windows and glass and allowing a lot of light to spill into the home. So, you could try removing your drapes or blinds to just let all the light in. This idea only applies if you don’t have to be concerned about your privacy and people being able to see inside of your home. Homes with gates, fences, and tall shrubbery might be able to get away with it.