Is Mid-Century Modern on Its Way Out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Same!

[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.

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.

Okay so you're saying it started to come back a little earlier than PP, and I know my in-laws never got rid of theirs, but the fact is there was a significant period when the pendulum swung in the other direction. The people who rediscovered MCM, whether antique or reproduction, are aging out of peak furniture buying years, so yes it is falling out of favor again.

[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.

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.

Okay so you're saying it started to come back a little earlier than PP, and I know my in-laws never got rid of theirs, but the fact is there was a significant period when the pendulum swung in the other direction. The people who rediscovered MCM, whether antique or reproduction, are aging out of peak furniture buying years, so yes it is falling out of favor again.

The reason is probably that those cities have more mid century house in posh neighborhoods because those cities had growth in that period. If you’re living in an amazing mid-century house outside Chicago, you buy MCM furniture for it. If you’re living in a historic townhouse in Alexandria, you buy antiques for it.

[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.

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.

Okay so you're saying it started to come back a little earlier than PP, and I know my in-laws never got rid of theirs, but the fact is there was a significant period when the pendulum swung in the other direction. The people who rediscovered MCM, whether antique or reproduction, are aging out of peak furniture buying years, so yes it is falling out of favor again.

It's falling out of favor with the masses. Both mass produced and mass purchased. I'm not the PP, but I agree with her (him?). There are other styles that are timeless, neither fully "in" nor "out".



This is a room from ca. 1927. Most of this furniture can still be purchased today. In fact, I have several of these pieces. My grandfather's living room was decorated like this--he was born in 1906. Granted, he was German, but this furniture is around today. You'll recognize some of these if you take a look.

https://www.elledecor.com/it/best-of/a25559881/bauhaus-design-famous-pieces/

[Anonymous]

Buy the stuff that you really love, regardless of its style or its trendiness. Even if it doesn’t all “match” if you love it all, being in your home will make you happy. If it goes out of style, if you love it, it won’t matter. It will still make you happy. Don’t care so much about what you’re “supposed” to do or have, and being in your house will make you happy.

[Anonymous]

Yeah. It’s been on its way out for over 60 years. Sponge painting your kitchen is all the rage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah. It’s been on its way out for over 60 years. Sponge painting your kitchen is all the rage.

My kitchen is sponge painted c 2000 and I love it hahahaha

[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/

The last link is vapid, nonsensical and poorly-written. MCM is not my personal favorite, but almost all of this person's objections could apply to anything currently in style, some of them are completely irrelevant to MCM, and others are repeats of previous objections. A mess.

[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.

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.

Okay so you're saying it started to come back a little earlier than PP, and I know my in-laws never got rid of theirs, but the fact is there was a significant period when the pendulum swung in the other direction. The people who rediscovered MCM, whether antique or reproduction, are aging out of peak furniture buying years, so yes it is falling out of favor again.

Oh, I agree with this. In fact, that was my point. It was a “new” trend 25 years ago. In the 90’s, my MCM collector relative was thrilled to take my Mom’s MCM wedding china (which she deeply regretted) off of her hands. I was just had to laugh about pp being so adamant about how “No one. I RePeaT, nO OnE.” was collecting MCM in the 90’s. In fact, when I hear folks talking about doing their whole house in MCM on here, I think — is that still a thing? I do think the mass production of reproductions was the beginning of the end.

In the end, I agree that a lot depends on the style of your house and that there are individual pieces that are classic. I also believe that whatever the style, it can usually be adapted to look “fresher.” There was a house posted on the real estate forum the other day that was a fairly minimalist version of “country” (which usually engenders only scorn) and it was amazing how many people admitted that they liked it (there were, of course, haters, too). So, anything is possible.

[Anonymous]

Try not to look like Mad Men or The Jetsons.

[Anonymous]

Would you describe Room and Board or Crate and Barrel as MCM? I think some of the furniture looks good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you describe Room and Board or Crate and Barrel as MCM? I think some of the furniture looks good.

I would describe R&B ten years ago as MCM, but today their upholstery is getting bigger, their prints more staid. Their trying to walk the line and move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

Okay so you're saying it started to come back a little earlier than PP, and I know my in-laws never got rid of theirs, but the fact is there was a significant period when the pendulum swung in the other direction. The people who rediscovered MCM, whether antique or reproduction, are aging out of peak furniture buying years, so yes it is falling out of favor again.

It's falling out of favor with the masses. Both mass produced and mass purchased. I'm not the PP, but I agree with her (him?). There are other styles that are timeless, neither fully "in" nor "out".



This is a room from ca. 1927. Most of this furniture can still be purchased today. In fact, I have several of these pieces. My grandfather's living room was decorated like this--he was born in 1906. Granted, he was German, but this furniture is around today. You'll recognize some of these if you take a look.

https://www.elledecor.com/it/best-of/a25559881/bauhaus-design-famous-pieces/

I think I’m one of the PPs and agree, love the modern furnishings of the 20s. Would love to buy a small modern house from the era and some Josef Frank reproduction furnishings (both are too expensive). Many of the MCM pieces were already through backs to the twenties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

Okay so you're saying it started to come back a little earlier than PP, and I know my in-laws never got rid of theirs, but the fact is there was a significant period when the pendulum swung in the other direction. The people who rediscovered MCM, whether antique or reproduction, are aging out of peak furniture buying years, so yes it is falling out of favor again.

It's falling out of favor with the masses. Both mass produced and mass purchased. I'm not the PP, but I agree with her (him?). There are other styles that are timeless, neither fully "in" nor "out".



This is a room from ca. 1927. Most of this furniture can still be purchased today. In fact, I have several of these pieces. My grandfather's living room was decorated like this--he was born in 1906. Granted, he was German, but this furniture is around today. You'll recognize some of these if you take a look.

https://www.elledecor.com/it/best-of/a25559881/bauhaus-design-famous-pieces/

I think I’m one of the PPs and agree, love the modern furnishings of the 20s. Would love to buy a small modern house from the era and some Josef Frank reproduction furnishings (both are too expensive). Many of the MCM pieces were already through backs to the twenties.

Yeah that’s why it’s called mid-century MODERN.

[Anonymous]

Those Josef Albers nesting tables….swoon.