20 Great Midcentury Modern Interiors
The following rooms provide a modern take on what it is to live today in a midcentury modern home. Scroll to the bottom for links to articles that will transport you to what midcentury modern meant in the 1950s and 60s.
A vintage Molded Plywood Lounge Chair (LCW) by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller sits in front of built-in shelving in untreated hemlock.
Photo: Grant Harder
The living room sports a panoply of wood: Douglas fir for the ceiling, hemlock for the walls, and stained oak for the floor. The sofa is the Neo model by Bensen and the rug is vintage.
Photo: Grant Harder
A walnut-topped table and Womb chair, both by Eero Saarinen for Knoll, offer a cozy spot for reading.
Photo: Brian W. Ferry
A tub zone lined in redwood connects to the master bedroom, which is furnished with a vintage Sergio Rodrigues lounge chair and Voyage Immobile seats from Roche Bobois.
Photo: Mark Mahaney
A white brick wall provides visual and material contrast to warm wood elements throughout the home.
Marcel Breuer Hooper House II Den
Lambert pours wine in the kitchen, which is defined by a low concrete-block wall and serves as the home’s central core. The seating-area chairs are from Herman Miller.
Photo: Joe Pugliese
Speaking to his original design, architect Saul Zaik says, "We were really just building boxes with a bunch of windows but experimenting with how you integrated indoor and outdoor spaces." The house has seven different openings to the exterior, allowing different courtyard or patio settings for a range of outdoor activities, including seating for a gathering on the street-facing side. The Milfords hired Lilyvilla Gardens for the landscaping around the house, including variegated bluestone steps with thyme joints.
Photo: Grant Harder
Delighted with the result, they requested additional structures, including a pool house with a dining area that opens to the outdoors. Rising from the edge of the pool deck, a planted overhang shelters a gym and sauna below.
Photo: Mark Mahaney
The light fixtures, a string of dangling lights seen above the dining table, emulate what SHED Architects principal Thomas Schaer calls Zema’s "builderly" style: straightforward and unpretentious. The wooden screens, seen top right, are all-new to the house but follow Zema’s Japanese-inspired style.
Photo: Mark Woods
Ipe paneling and concrete floors continue into the living area, where a photograph by Scott McFarland hangs above the fireplace. Surrounding the dining table, by Riva 1920, are walnut chairs the couple found locally.
Photo: Noah Webb
"We’re trying to pretend this is our little ray of sunshine in the middle of Portland," says Jennifer, with Mattias and Moa (right), of the couple’s Eichleresque abode. The sofa is by Florence Knoll for Knoll.
Photo: John Clark
Elise Loehnen and Rob Fissmer bought their house, which dates to 1950, in 2012, furnishing the living room with a Jasper sofa by Room & Board, Laccio tables by Marcel Breuer, and a wool sisal rug from Madison Flooring and Design.
Photo: Spencer Lowell
Inside, a Herman Miller bench creates a small sitting area. A rich collection of artwork, amassed over the years by the Saleks' mother, Mahshad, is visible at every turn. The flooring throughout is a warm walnut.
The spacious living room, filled with vintage furnishings by Harry Bertoia, Paul McCobb, overlooks the heavily wooded site, which adjoins a protected watershed. Photo by: Jason Schmidt
The first commissioned work by
Buttrick pays homage to the home’s midcentury bones with an Eames "Sofa Compact." When asked to describe the interior aesthetic, the architect explained that it very much embodies most Eamesian principles of design.
Photo: J.D. Peterson
Dieter Rams’s modular 620 Chair Programme, from the 1960s, takes center stage in the Alford-Young family’s living room. The set is accompanied by Artemide’s classic Tolomeo floor lamp and a Portofino Bergère chair that was designed by Rodolfo Dordoni for Minotti. The rolling glass doors running the length of the room are from Fleetwood.
Photo: Brent Humphreys
The living room features two side chairs and an end table by Edward Wormley for Dunbar and a bronze screen designed by Harold Balazs.
More Dwell articles about midcentury modern design:
- Design Icon: Greta Grossman
- John Lautner's Desert Rose
- The Master of Midwest Modernism
- 10 Modern Icon Masterpieces
- Midcentury Architectural Giants
- Jewish Designers Influence on Midcentury Modern
- Unforgettable Midcentury Homes by Modern Masters
- Midcentury Illustrations
And finally a few of my favorite product picks from our sellers:
Published