Is Mid-Century Modern on Its Way Out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The best way to not make your house look “dated” is to start with the house itself. What does it look like? What is the architectural style? You certainly don’t need to “match” that or make it a period home but if your house IS a mid-century modern house, that style will continue to look at home there.

Imo the most “timeless” style is Rich People Vaguely English Country which is “timeless” mostly because a lot of those English houses stay the same for many decades and because rich Americans never tire of imitating them. So it’s more about staying power than “timelessness.” And because to do it well, you’re going to have antiques and such from several periods and so things are “dated” to many periods and you have a nice mix. Whether the Chippendale is from Great-grandmother or last week at Christie’s. Southerners do the more fun version of this but I think Connecticut has the best ones.

I highly recommend NOT looking at design blogs and sites. They’re often terrible. People make fun of the haughty magazine editor stereotype but those betches were saving us from ourselves. So look at magazines, old magazines.

Agreed on all accounts. Rich People Vaguely English Country is a much more flexible style than many think. It can age gracefully and be updated for each generation. It can be formal and informal, often in the same room.

I have respect for MCM and admire aspects of it, but it's hard to argue that it's timeless given that before, say, 2005, it was considered very ugly and dated and old fashioned. No one was talking MCM in the 1980s and 1990s. No one. I repeat, no one. However, many of its simple pieces are almost classical in form and will have a place in the future.

[Anonymous]

Like skinny jeans and all-white kitchens, that ubiquitous MCM look is now dated.

Doesn't mean you can't get some MCM pieces, but that Joybird/Article/Mad Men look has given way to some softer lines.

It's been heading "out" for a couple of years, as I understand

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/is-mid-century-modern-over-36670131

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/mid-century-modern-design-still-popular-263750

https://www.ebohemians.com/hate-mid-century-modern-furniture/

[Anonymous]

I hope so, I hate it and I hate that it's been dominating furniture/decor choices for so long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best way to not make your house look “dated” is to start with the house itself. What does it look like? What is the architectural style? You certainly don’t need to “match” that or make it a period home but if your house IS a mid-century modern house, that style will continue to look at home there.

Imo the most “timeless” style is Rich People Vaguely English Country which is “timeless” mostly because a lot of those English houses stay the same for many decades and because rich Americans never tire of imitating them. So it’s more about staying power than “timelessness.” And because to do it well, you’re going to have antiques and such from several periods and so things are “dated” to many periods and you have a nice mix. Whether the Chippendale is from Great-grandmother or last week at Christie’s. Southerners do the more fun version of this but I think Connecticut has the best ones.

I highly recommend NOT looking at design blogs and sites. They’re often terrible. People make fun of the haughty magazine editor stereotype but those betches were saving us from ourselves. So look at magazines, old magazines.

Agreed on all accounts. Rich People Vaguely English Country is a much more flexible style than many think. It can age gracefully and be updated for each generation. It can be formal and informal, often in the same room.

I have respect for MCM and admire aspects of it, but it's hard to argue that it's timeless given that before, say, 2005, it was considered very ugly and dated and old fashioned. No one was talking MCM in the 1980s and 1990s. No one. I repeat, no one. However, many of its simple pieces are almost classical in form and will have a place in the future.

This is hilarious. I get what you are saying. Also, I think that style is kind of ugly and would never in a million years do it. And WHO CARES. That is my personal preference. You go rich people english country all day, every day.

I wish more people had a more confident point of view. Why is it so many people's goal to just do something that wouldn't possibly offend anyone's taste?

I just think this board gives kind of terrible advice most of the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best way to not make your house look “dated” is to start with the house itself. What does it look like? What is the architectural style? You certainly don’t need to “match” that or make it a period home but if your house IS a mid-century modern house, that style will continue to look at home there.

Imo the most “timeless” style is Rich People Vaguely English Country which is “timeless” mostly because a lot of those English houses stay the same for many decades and because rich Americans never tire of imitating them. So it’s more about staying power than “timelessness.” And because to do it well, you’re going to have antiques and such from several periods and so things are “dated” to many periods and you have a nice mix. Whether the Chippendale is from Great-grandmother or last week at Christie’s. Southerners do the more fun version of this but I think Connecticut has the best ones.

I highly recommend NOT looking at design blogs and sites. They’re often terrible. People make fun of the haughty magazine editor stereotype but those betches were saving us from ourselves. So look at magazines, old magazines.

Agreed on all accounts. Rich People Vaguely English Country is a much more flexible style than many think. It can age gracefully and be updated for each generation. It can be formal and informal, often in the same room.

I have respect for MCM and admire aspects of it, but it's hard to argue that it's timeless given that before, say, 2005, it was considered very ugly and dated and old fashioned. No one was talking MCM in the 1980s and 1990s. No one. I repeat, no one. However, many of its simple pieces are almost classical in form and will have a place in the future.

This is hilarious. I get what you are saying. Also, I think that style is kind of ugly and would never in a million years do it. And WHO CARES. That is my personal preference. You go rich people english country all day, every day.

I wish more people had a more confident point of view. Why is it so many people's goal to just do something that wouldn't possibly offend anyone's taste?

I just think this board gives kind of terrible advice most of the time.

Yeah most of the advice here is very fear-based. The "what will my neighbor think if I get this couch" sort of thing.

You should see the fashion board...

[Anonymous]

What magazines should I buy to look at RPVEC style? I am genuinely curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like MCM because it reminds me of my grandparents, and oddly enough visiting my mom at work (government issue furniture). I also like furniture that is on legs because we have a smaller space, it opens it up a both visually.

The trick with anything is to blend styles just a bit. Use what you love and not what’s on trend. So if you like MCM, mix in a few pieces but vary the theme. Like a retro wallpaper with lots of period art might look intense, or amazing….or rockabilly.

I'm the same, but that tells you the age of my grandparents, and me. People decorating their first home today, had younger grandparents. This is just how trends come about. MCM was completely out of style when my parents were starting out, and now it's second wave is fading, for the same reasons. I agree with all the other advice: buy what you like, not too much of one thing, match the style of the home, but trends are worth noting, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But what YOU like, not what is trendy. 10 years ago I decorated my home in what is now called “grandmillennial” style. It wasn’t trendy then, it was just a lot of classic furniture for a young person. But I got great furniture off Craigslist.

Now I get to be trendy.

+100 Did I write this? Never stopped loving chintz and brown furniture

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best way to not make your house look “dated” is to start with the house itself. What does it look like? What is the architectural style? You certainly don’t need to “match” that or make it a period home but if your house IS a mid-century modern house, that style will continue to look at home there.

Imo the most “timeless” style is Rich People Vaguely English Country which is “timeless” mostly because a lot of those English houses stay the same for many decades and because rich Americans never tire of imitating them. So it’s more about staying power than “timelessness.” And because to do it well, you’re going to have antiques and such from several periods and so things are “dated” to many periods and you have a nice mix. Whether the Chippendale is from Great-grandmother or last week at Christie’s. Southerners do the more fun version of this but I think Connecticut has the best ones.

I highly recommend NOT looking at design blogs and sites. They’re often terrible. People make fun of the haughty magazine editor stereotype but those betches were saving us from ourselves. So look at magazines, old magazines.

Agreed on all accounts. Rich People Vaguely English Country is a much more flexible style than many think. It can age gracefully and be updated for each generation. It can be formal and informal, often in the same room.

I have respect for MCM and admire aspects of it, but it's hard to argue that it's timeless given that before, say, 2005, it was considered very ugly and dated and old fashioned. No one was talking MCM in the 1980s and 1990s. No one. I repeat, no one. However, many of its simple pieces are almost classical in form and will have a place in the future.

This is hilarious. I get what you are saying. Also, I think that style is kind of ugly and would never in a million years do it. And WHO CARES. That is my personal preference. You go rich people english country all day, every day.

I wish more people had a more confident point of view. Why is it so many people's goal to just do something that wouldn't possibly offend anyone's taste?

I just think this board gives kind of terrible advice most of the time.

Yeah most of the advice here is very fear-based. The "what will my neighbor think if I get this couch" sort of thing.

You should see the fashion board...

Yeah a lot of threads go down this rabbit hole of a bunch of people confidently asserting what is dated, the qualities that will mark your house or your furniture or kitchen or bathroom as the dreaded "certain point in time". And then I picture the OP slinking off and doing something incredibly basic and boring out of fear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What magazines should I buy to look at RPVEC style? I am genuinely curious.

Isn't this just photos of the royal family's homes? Which I personally don't like. But if that's "timeless" then great for those people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like skinny jeans and all-white kitchens, that ubiquitous MCM look is now dated.

Doesn't mean you can't get some MCM pieces, but that Joybird/Article/Mad Men look has given way to some softer lines.

It's been heading "out" for a couple of years, as I understand

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/is-mid-century-modern-over-36670131

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/mid-century-modern-design-still-popular-263750

https://www.ebohemians.com/hate-mid-century-modern-furniture/

From the last one, I agree with this:
It’s Overdone.

Mid Century Furniture styles have been reinvented in a thousands of different ways by high and low companies. Let me tell you, there just doesn’t seem to be enough diversity to keep reliving it! How many low back square sofas with stick legs can we tolerate?
____

I get what everyone is saying about buy what you like, but what is the buzz about the next trend? I’m curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best way to not make your house look “dated” is to start with the house itself. What does it look like? What is the architectural style? You certainly don’t need to “match” that or make it a period home but if your house IS a mid-century modern house, that style will continue to look at home there.

Imo the most “timeless” style is Rich People Vaguely English Country which is “timeless” mostly because a lot of those English houses stay the same for many decades and because rich Americans never tire of imitating them. So it’s more about staying power than “timelessness.” And because to do it well, you’re going to have antiques and such from several periods and so things are “dated” to many periods and you have a nice mix. Whether the Chippendale is from Great-grandmother or last week at Christie’s. Southerners do the more fun version of this but I think Connecticut has the best ones.

I highly recommend NOT looking at design blogs and sites. They’re often terrible. People make fun of the haughty magazine editor stereotype but those betches were saving us from ourselves. So look at magazines, old magazines.

Agreed on all accounts. Rich People Vaguely English Country is a much more flexible style than many think. It can age gracefully and be updated for each generation. It can be formal and informal, often in the same room.

I have respect for MCM and admire aspects of it, but it's hard to argue that it's timeless given that before, say, 2005, it was considered very ugly and dated and old fashioned. No one was talking MCM in the 1980s and 1990s. No one. I repeat, no one. However, many of its simple pieces are almost classical in form and will have a place in the future.

This is hilarious. I get what you are saying. Also, I think that style is kind of ugly and would never in a million years do it. And WHO CARES. That is my personal preference. You go rich people english country all day, every day.

I wish more people had a more confident point of view. Why is it so many people's goal to just do something that wouldn't possibly offend anyone's taste?

I just think this board gives kind of terrible advice most of the time.

The argument was that the "rich people vaguely English country" has a certain staying power that's allowed the look to flourish across the generations while other styles come and go. You may not like it, you may strongly prefer other styles, but it's hard to argue that it isn't a classic timeless look because of all decorative styles it's the one that's lasted the longest.

Very few of us have strongly unique tastes that are unaffected by how other people view them, if anything, all of us respond to styles and looks in ways that are strongly impacted by how they are received by other people. It's human. That's why people follow styles and do wonder what's fashionable and what's not. I do agree it can go too far and some people should have more confidence to go for what they like and not what other people dictate is fashionable. But we can and do learn from styles and fads and trends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What magazines should I buy to look at RPVEC style? I am genuinely curious.

Veranda

Garden & Gun or Southern Living for the Southern version

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best way to not make your house look “dated” is to start with the house itself. What does it look like? What is the architectural style? You certainly don’t need to “match” that or make it a period home but if your house IS a mid-century modern house, that style will continue to look at home there.

Imo the most “timeless” style is Rich People Vaguely English Country which is “timeless” mostly because a lot of those English houses stay the same for many decades and because rich Americans never tire of imitating them. So it’s more about staying power than “timelessness.” And because to do it well, you’re going to have antiques and such from several periods and so things are “dated” to many periods and you have a nice mix. Whether the Chippendale is from Great-grandmother or last week at Christie’s. Southerners do the more fun version of this but I think Connecticut has the best ones.

I highly recommend NOT looking at design blogs and sites. They’re often terrible. People make fun of the haughty magazine editor stereotype but those betches were saving us from ourselves. So look at magazines, old magazines.

Agreed on all accounts. Rich People Vaguely English Country is a much more flexible style than many think. It can age gracefully and be updated for each generation. It can be formal and informal, often in the same room.

I have respect for MCM and admire aspects of it, but it's hard to argue that it's timeless given that before, say, 2005, it was considered very ugly and dated and old fashioned. No one was talking MCM in the 1980s and 1990s. No one. I repeat, no one. However, many of its simple pieces are almost classical in form and will have a place in the future.

Agree that MCM was “out” for a long time, but your time line is incorrect (why is it that the people who are the most adamant are usually wrong?). I have a very design-conscious family member who was collecting MCM in the 90’s. They lived in a city in “flyover” country, though. Even at that time, there were dealers that specialized in MCM there, and prices were already going up. Interior fashion trends do not start on the East Coast. The people are too conservative.

When I moved to DC, I was struck by how homogeneous the design choices were. I remember talking to antique dealers who were thrilled to meet someone who would consider something other than Early American or Georgian furniture. They usually had more interesting things stashed in their storage rooms that they couldn’t resist buying, but that they knew wouldn’t sell. Obviously, the predominant style has changed, over time, but DC still tends to be “conservative” with regard to interior design. Go look at the real estate page. Any house that shows flashes of personality and doesn’t have the bog-standard “accepted” interior design is excoriated. So, I don’t blame OP for wanting to crowdsource to find out what the DC interior design standard is these days.

[Anonymous]

I am of the opinion as with clothes if you don’t go the extreme of a particular style then you will be fine. I like the California coastal version of MCM.. more relaxed less Mad Men as an example.