Mid Century Modern Furniture
I don’t want to begrudge anyone of the pleasure they get from Mid Century Modern furniture and decor. Certainly, there are many die-hard Mid Century Modern furniture fans out there. (If you are one, please consider reading my husbands take on MCM Furniture.) But many people walking into our furniture store over the years have asked, do you ever get any MCM furniture?
The answer is yes and no.
Over the years, we have sold a handful of Mid-Century Modern pieces. Honestly, these retro furniture pieces were kind of pretty in a weird way. (What can I say, we have great taste here at Bohemian’s.) 🙂
Overwhelmingly, though, I hate Mid Century Modern furniture. Here are my Top Nine Reasons why.
What is Midcentury Modern furniture?
Simply put, Mid Century Modern furniture is furniture produced roughly in the years from 1940’s until the 1960’s. Design wise, however, Mid Century furniture typically has simple lines and very little ornamentation. Typically, because it has no fuss, it is regarded as very functional furniture. New materials like plastic, resin and plywood found their way into Mid Century style furniture.
Now for the Reasons why I dislike it…
- It’s Pretentious.
- It’s Mass Produced.
- It’s Overdone.
- It’s not as comfortable as they say.
- The materials used are cheap!
- It’s Group Think on every Level.
- The Design Versatility is Questionable.
- It encourages minimalism.
- It reminds me that Millenials have no money, can’t think on their own and have to live in apartments to survive.
Mid Century Modern ironically started in the 1950’s and 1960’s with the idea of “bringing design to the masses.” Many of the original proponents of this modern design trend like Bauhaus and Le Corbusier (how pretentious are these names?) actually designed simpler furniture so that it could be accessible.
However, Mid Century furniture today is anything but accessible.
Instead, it seems MCM furniture name-dropping helps the upper crust feel self-important and stylish. They brag about their Miller chairs and Eames pieces as if God gave them a special place in Heaven for spending way too much money on ugly furniture.
Likewise, there is such snobbery that surrounds “original” pieces by famous Danish designers. To me, they look like simple prototypes for bad motel furniture. It’s as if Motel 6 decided to save money this year by making these plywood chairs for their lobby.
I love furniture. And I love factory produced furniture by Vintage makers. But Good Lord, high end factory pieces often take hours of workmanship to produce. A single Kittinger Clawfoot leg, for instance, can take several days for a craftsman to carve.
However, most MCM and MCM knock-offs are made by machine, and quickly. Indeed, the look of MCM furniture often echos this “machine aesthetic.” Stark, inorganic and cold, these mass produced pieces lack the handwork of other vintage furniture styles.
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?
As Michael Boodro (former Editor in chief of Elle Decor, of all places) says in this article from the New York Times, “Your eye does get bored. Twenty years ago, when midcentury was first being discovered, you could do a straight interior, and that was exciting. People want to go beyond the expected.”
Twenty years, people. There are really only a few things with that much staying power. Maybe Michael Jackson. And reggae. But it’s time for this overdone style statement to be over! RIP Mid Century Modern.
I don’t know about you, but the comfort level of MCM seems to be greatly over exaggerated. I see these little square dining chairs or low seated living room furniture with 1.5 inches of foam and I fail to feel the urge to snuggle up and watch a movie.
Give me a dated 1980’s rolled arm sofa over a 1960’s Danish nightmare any day!
Likewise, I feel the itchy mohair of many Mid Century Sofas to be less than ideal, which brings me to my next point…
Plywood, plastic, mohair, vinyl, fake wood! Tell me again why I should buy this thing for well over $1000? I guess the one thing that makes MCM attractive is that is generally not as heavy as fine furniture…?
I just don’t like conformity that much. The ubiquitousness and popularity of MCM just makes me uncomfortable.
I hear people say it all the time. “It’s just so versatile. You can put it anywhere and with everything.” This makes me say, “What the…?”
I get that some people find it “surprising” and “fresh” to “juxtapose” their Victorian house with “Mid Century Pieces” (sorry, that was a lot of air quotes!) but I frankly fail to see the design versatility. To me, a piece of Mid Century Modern sticks out like a sore thumb in nearly every setting.
Minimalism requires way too much purging and editing for me. I like to put all my pretty things around so that I feel life has a reason for living and that reason isn’t some sort of cruel joke. Sorry, minimalists. I don’t get it.
After all, this isn’t Moscow (yet), and I want some variety of color, rich patterns and glamorous accessories! (The layered Traditional look calls to me in a much deeper way.)
Sorry snowflakes (aka Millenials)! This one is a tough one. I feel that our generation could be the most susceptible to marketing schemes. And to me, Mid Century Modern Furniture is like the Emperor’s New Clothes. In many ways, furniture stores and online conglomerates (Wayfair, West Elm, etc) found a gullible market in order to further their agenda of selling cheap low-quality furniture for high prices.
Plus, they figure, we can screw a peg leg into a piece of sawdust (as long as it’s pre-drilled) after all those years of our pricey educations.
Furthermore, since we have no money or job prospects, living four to an apartment until our late 30’s seems like a great time to introduce this lightweight and small apartment-sized furniture to the masses. Dare I say, Ikea?
So that’s my little rant about Mid Century Modern Furniture!
What are your thoughts on this design trend? I would love to know whether you agree that it’s time for MCM to die or whether this truly is a classic here to stay!
Thanks for reading!
Rachel LaBoheme
Head Creative Director of Bohemian’s
Ha! Ellie your comment made me laugh! Thanks for that.
Kate, did you read Greg’s rebuttal to the rant? I think you may enjoy his take as well. He really feels the good MCM furniture (like the Eames chair) is comfortable. Thanks for reading and the comment!
Hello! I feel a lot of your claims about mid century furniture being low quality and uncomfortable are overstated. One can find low quality and uncomfortable furniture from many time periods and styles, and many mid century items *are* quite comfortable (see how many Eames office chair designs are still in production and are sought after because of their ergonomics) and well-made (nearly all mid century mass produced furniture is made to a higher standard than today’s mass produced furniture). While it might not fit in some homes, MCM is scaled well for smaller homes with simple lines as well as grander, more modern-style homes, and can work well for those who don’t want too much ornamentation but still want some character.
Honestly, I think you might need to learn more about furniture from that time period to make judgements (I mean, on an aesthetic level, you’re obviously 100% justified. Taste is personal and subjective!). I completely understand why a shop might not cater to this look, as all home décor and furnishing shops cater to a particular aesthetic and audience, but don’t yuck others’ yum! Like any classic design, there’s a reason many MCM pieces have been in continuous production since they were first produced.
As for your number 9, those criticisms are valid about *any* popular style of new furniture. It’s nearly all crap. I can’t stand cheap reproductions of anything, and that isn’t exclusive to faux MCM.
I think you aimed for satire but instead ended up with a rant.
I’m puzzled why people would want to make their home look like a 1965 house trailer.
Hi Donna! I personally would like the lighter to medium honey color of oak with your brass bed. It sure sounds like a lovely home. Thank you for writing! And yes, I hate when they bring in MCM in old homes on HGTV as well. 🙂
Hi there ! I just came across your article, I love it you are spot on!
One of my pet peeves is when people buy and old style home like colonial or Victorian and they bring in mid century decor I find this a lot on HGTV.. It drives me nuts! We built a center hall colonial farmhouse in 2006.. my formal living room and dining room is in line with 18th century reproduction.. My kitchen and family room are in line with early American primitive decor.
That said even tho my house is not Victorian I find myself wanting to do classic farmhouse in the upstairs area which has lot of Victorian influence like my grandparent and great grandparents photos and would like to change my daughters bedrooms leaning twords Victorian in style.. Here is my dilemma:
I wanted a brass bed in her room I found one for free is exactly like the American Doll ( Samatha original brass bed not their new one) it’s a very bright brass and would like to bring in a few pieces of antique oak furniture that we had inherited and had for years how ever the oak furniture doesn’t match in color the dresser is dark the bookcase medium and the quilt shelf is medium light.
What shade of oak goes well with bright brass?
I do not want Victorian overload but I do want a farmhouse feel that is historical. Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.
Thank you for your opinion and reading the article. It was meant as tongue and cheek and to provide a bit of humor to those who are sick of the MCM trends, which seem to be everywhere at the current moment! Best, Rachel LaBoheme
What a sh*tty article. So, what kind of furniture do you like? Medieval? Louis XV? Your reasons to hate MCM furniture are trivial and your arguments are not solid at all. I could give you a whole dissertation comparing MCM to the sh*t produced nowadays and that could last for hours. Especially when you talk about esthetics. Nothing new has been created since the Eames times so, stop there and be reasonable. MCM is the peak of human development. De desire of men of leaving WWII behind made them progress exponentially. Same in mode, design, architecture, nothing done today surpasses that era.
Thanks so much Helene.
You are hysterical, I totally agree. Every thing you said is sooooo…. true. I am so sickened by the excess of MCM furniture on the internet right now. I hated it when I was a young child growing up in the 60’s and I still hate it today. I have to laugh when it is called a style. There’s nothing stylish about it. Thanks for telling it like it is!