When I went to decorate my apartment, my main goal was to have traditional furniture pieces with comfort in mind. That way when I want to adopt a new design trend, I can swap out a pillow or a throw blanket and quickly update the overall aesthetic. Lately, with the popularity of Mid-Century Modern furniture completely overhauling the interior decorating world, I was inspired when I saw the new design space at Anthropologie in PCM to start exploring combining Mid-Century Modern (MCM) touches to a traditional home. When you are considering this, there are a few simple design elements you can add to instantly update your place.
Go For Gold (Accents)
Traditional Mid-Century Modern furniture utilized a lot of brass accents. The modern interpretation of it is brushed or polished gold or rose gold. Try switching out your metal accents with gold ones instead. A subtle place to start would be with drawer pulls (these are great) and you can adopt a more bold statement with light fixtures (like this standing floor lamp), and coffee tables that combine marble tabletops and gold legs, like this one.
Angled Accent Furniture with Neutral Fabric
I love the thought of accent chairs to shake up your interior design. To avoid overwhelming your space, try to find Accent chairs with neutral fabric but that still have angled design elements. I love this chair because it’s neutral but encompasses the MCM spirit with it’s angular design and gold accented tips.
Pop of Pattern
Mid Century Modern furniture is not afraid of pattern and you’re bound to find a lot of pieces with some sort of geometric or abstract print or zesty color choice. Adding a printed throw pillow or a sharp colored throw blanket would be an easy way to shake up your traditional couch.
Very Velvet
Velvet is a great texture to add when you are trying to channel MCM style. The richness of the fabric adds that luxurious and futuristic aesthetic that was prevalent in the decor pieces of the 50’s. Adding a pop of velvet through an accent chair or ottoman is a great way to turn your traditional living room into an MCM haven.
The takeaway here is that it’s possible to combine traditional pieces with Mid Century Modern touches and still have a living space that isn’t overwhelmingly trendy! I am a huge fan of combining Mid Century Modern gold accent pieces to my home decor and I love adding Mid Century Modern lighting fixtures to help transform my space into something entirely unique, but still traditional and comfortable.
