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
Julie you are absolutely right! So glad you found your style and your happy place. Thank you so much for reading and have a wonderful day! 🙂
I found this article somehow, even though I LOVE most MCM. Lol Design is subjective, and there is no style that is for everyone, so your points are fair. For years I tried to be “in style,” and wasn’t happy. I discovered it’s because I am tacky, and tacky makes me happy. 🤣 So now I am embracing my mid century, tacky loving taste (or lack there of 🤣,) and while I FULLY understand many people will look at it and say “WTH!?😳,” I smile every time I walk into a room filled with color and tacky mid century treasures! They’re not all “MCM” as much as kitschy, TBH, but oh how it makes me smile. I guess what I’m saying is, some of us just don’t care what is “in style,” and that should be the ultimate goal, IMO. Whatever makes YOU smile. Clearly, for you, it is NOT mid century, and that’s perfectly fine. ❤️
I don’t think she has to modify her opinion, as she us entitled to that. Furthermore that is exactly the point being made, conformity of everything such as ugly furniture, points of view, and oh be careful of what you say, as it may offend. As for affordability, how about buying one nice piece of furniture at a time. I save for everything I want instead of instant gratification. I agree that mid century is uncomfortable looking and to sit upon. Time for more traditional, comfortable and graceful looking interiors.
Thanks for the comment Liz, just my opinion, my husband wrote an article about why he loves MCM furniture as well.
Hah! I don’t think my search engine did a good job for me–I actually like mid-century modern and found this article when looking for people who like me hated Craftsman style.
Seems like your bigger point is that current MCM style is too mass produced and cheap, and yet modeled on an elite aesthetic, thereby achieving a paradoxical status of being too common and yet not accessible enough. Like so many things, with mass production it no longer holds the original appeal or the qualities that made it special.
Fair enough, I’ve never been able to afford things before they went mass-production so I can’t say I feel surprised or hurt by this observation lol.
My only suggestion if you decide to edit or update–your main point is valid. I don’t think there’s a need for broad generalizations about people who buy it. Some of us just really like sliding glass doors and I don’t think there’s some social or generational reason. It’s just who we are, questionable taste and all.
S, you are so right about the virtues of MCM. Of course, the aims of organic clean lines and minimalism seem to be there, but yes MCM furniture falls short of its promises. I think you are right: comfort makes the difference. Thanks for your comment.
Chrissy, I am so glad you dislike Mid Century Modern Furniture as well. I, too am a millennial, so I guess we are not alone. Your comment about selling your mid-century desk made me laugh out loud. Also, vintage Drexel French Provincial furniture is a great investment, so I am glad you are going against the grain and finding quality used furniture at thrift stores and garage sales. No doubt it will prove to be a great investment. Best, Rachel
I literally Google’d “who else hates MCM furniture” because I needed to not feel so alone, and found your post. Only note- I’m a millennial- we’re not all fart-huffing MCM gushing sheep. I just sold an inherited danish desk that I hated to a MCM dealer and the guy wouldn’t stop talking about how great the stuff was. Like, read the room, I’m selling it cuz I hate it. I’m keeping my solid wood furniture like my vintage Drexel french-provincial dressers. It’s taken me all my 20’s and countless garage sales and thrift store to get the quality old stuff, but when you see the new garbage out there, I’m glad I kept hunting for the good stuff.
I grew up in part in a town in a 1950’s time warp wrapped in WWII green, and invaded by turquoise and the very creepiest oranges that have ever been found. MCM seems to me to reach out towards a number of things only to fall short, sitting in the diner halfway to something great, where quality goes to a creaky death. I like minimal, I like sophisticated, and I like a playful, funky chic as welcoming to pop artists as dutch master painters. I also love the idea of dropping down into a seating area, or approaching the use of any furniture from an unexpected perspective that makes the every day necessity an experience. But somehow, MCM, while putting the proverbial bow in its hair to nod at all these virtuous things, manages to add the dress that makes them seem a satire.
I am a big fan of organic lines in architecture and design, and biomimicry, and I get so sad looking at MCM in part because Frank Lloyd Wright had in his creations the seeds of two movements, organic architecture, and brutalist architecture, and MCM pushed his legacy towards brutalism, swallowing a good few decades we all could have spent revolutionizing our living spaces towards the organic. Now we are finally making inroads into using new, grown construction material, chasing the expression of those organic lines and truths, and each time the impetus seems to have to come from the food industry, and not the builders or designers that set the tone for architectural norms, (with one or two notable exceptions). It is disappointing to say the least.
Still, what makes MCM such a no go with me, at the end of the day, is a distinct lack of comfort. Quality furniture of minimalist design has a number of virtues: Its is easy to clean, light on its feet, and a showcase of craftsmanship, design, and focus, as there is nowhere left to hide. Still, a few of these qualities can be missing, and comfort will absolutely save the inherent value of a piece, or damn it in its absence. MCM eschews comfort as an antithesis to it’s entire aesthetic, and that is the line it crosses to become a true abomination. How can I look at most chairs in the style, and not see the visceral ghost of a boy with a permanent hunch and two left feet, failing to hide his agony, or his growing misogyny, and latent racism, being bullied by older, harder, and more narrow minded men in the room? If I were to become a person who started looking like my sofa… The places my mind goes to be haunted, I’m grateful to imagine a world of other furniture to own. Maybe a nice fainting couch, or a nice futon? All I can say is that there are seasons of American Horror Story I find impossible to get through purely due to the MCM design of the set.
Agreed Tim, Our favorites are fine antiques and traditional style furniture.