It is safe to say that if you bought Mid-Century Modern furniture years ago that you purchased well. These designs emerged roughly from the 40’s to the late 60’s and are still with us today. The furniture of the Mid-Century era was architect designed furniture and recognizable by clean lines and flat surfaces. The buildings inspired by this movement were made to bring the outdoors in and provide light filled open airy spaces. Mid-century modern was the birth of less is more and ergonomic furniture designed to fit the human form. Many things emerged from these eras that are still recognizable today. Let’s take a peek into the dining room of the Begonia Model from last week to see how the teak furniture pays homage to a movement that greatly impacted society and design, somewhere in the heart of The Villages.
• Scan design and the use of Teak
The simplicity of the Scandinavian designs allowed teak to shine as a very popular choice of wood. To this day Scan Design still sells similar pieces that are pictured in the dining room in their classic teak collection. This furniture stands the test of time because it still looks good, the designs are still relevant and the furniture is highly functional. If you own mid- Century Modern you are still stylish!
• Open Your Mind to the Possibilities
When you move from a house with delineated spaces to a home with an open concept, it can be tempting to place all the furniture similar to the way it was in your former home. The homeowners had a modular teak bookcase and display cabinet set that was from their old living room placed in the new living room when they moved in. However, as you saw last week we could not keep the large cabinet in the living room and open the space. I suggested that we move the large wall unit into the dining room to serve as a storage unit and useful cabinet. Once the cabinet was moved into place it complemented the table and made the focal wall pop.
• Larger Items and Less
Prior to the large cabinet being placed into the dining room; the dining room had three small pieces of furniture in place. However, the smaller furniture looked dis-jointed and unimpressive. I like to use larger items and less of them as a rule and I think this dining room before and after are a great example of the concept.
We added a leaf to the dining table to balance it against the larger cabinet system. Finally, we moved the antique china chest into the hallway to the laundry room. The scale of the hallway wall was much more appropriate for the size of the antique china hutch and that is a great wall to showcase items of honor. The dining room only holds the cabinet and the table so there is room to move around and get in and out of the chairs with ease.
• Large Rug
Now that the space had started to take shape it needed a rug and it needed a big rug. The homeowners chose a large 9’by 12’ rug with an abstract pattern that complemented all the colors in their home. The ample rug will allow chairs to be pulled out without having to clip the edge.
• Large mirror
The homeowners decided to buy the Grand Palais mirror that mimics a Palladian window. They needed two of the mirrors for the Begonia model because I always suggest that we hang one in the dining room and one in the kitchenette. Once the mirrors are hung into place they reflect off of each other creating more light in the space. I really love to do this in a Begonia because the kitchen only has one small window. When the mirrors are hung they look like windows. The homeowners did search out other mirrors to use instead but a mirror that large is expensive. We could not find anything that was as large as the Grand Palais and so well priced. I like mixing the traditional look of the mirror with the mid-century modern look because the mirror does look like a window and you would not chose you windows most of the time unless you were building the house custom.
• Lighting
The chandelier was chosen at the time the house was built and I like the way it complements the mid- century furniture.
• Accessories and Art
We did not feel the need to inundate the space with accessories so we used what the homeowner had and we did not use much. The look does not call for lots of stuff so remember to keep it simple when doing mid-century modern design.
P.S. –Attention all club presidents! We give free decorating seminars. It is lots of fun and very informative. Call and schedule your club today. Also, we are on-line check out our web-site at www.ruthdyer.com and you can always e-mail us at ruth@finishingtouchfl.com or Call Ruth your full service decorator at 352-804-2056.
After Pics Below