Posts Tagged ‘Modern Furniture’

Contemporary Wood Furniture- Style Plus Function!



With all the haste and rush in their lifestyle, people today prefer furniture that is simple and functional. They want furniture that could be used in ‘not so delicate’ manner because time is very less to spend on maintaining furniture. However, people have also become more aesthetic, so they don’t want to compromise on the beauty aspect of any furniture! What’s the result then? It’s the evolution of contemporary wood furniture which is functional and stylish too!

Simple Cuts and Shapes: People today want to spend more time with their families at home- in a very informal way. The trend for casual living has led the modern furniture to become multi-functional with clean uncluttered lines. People are turning towards durable materials and so wood furniture tops the list. Light woods dominate the modern furniture of today- oak, cherry, and birch being the most popular woods, with rattan and bamboo increasingly getting popular due to the growing preference for eco-friendly furniture. http://crafts-textiles-guide.blogspot.com/2009/09/eco-friendly-wood-furniture-go-green.html However, simplicity doesn’t mar beauty. Style is still maintained through varnished solid fronts combined with veneered bodies and stainless steel. Other materials that are combined with wood to make it trendy include aluminum and boldly colored fiberglass and satin glass.

Incorporated Gadgets: A wooden sofa is not only a seating option now! Multi-media applications are liberally applied to the wooden furniture. Flat loudspeakers are being incorporated into slim, spacious sofas, covered in dark trendy upholstery fabrics. LED lighting technology can be seen on wooden coffee tables. And what more? These lights change depending on the mood required! The modern furniture has all got futuristic!

4 Characteristics That Define Mid-century Modern Furniture





The dramatic relevance of mid-century modern design continues to take a foremost role in today’s design inspiration.? While there are many furniture pieces that claim to be “mid-century modern,” there are several defining characteristics that capture the essence of this era of modernism.?

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The lovely lines!

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The most outstanding feature of mid-century modern furniture is the clean, lovely lines.? As a sharp contrast to the furniture that pre-dated the 1950s, mid-century modern designers found beauty in lines that were sleek, uncluttered, and clean.? Smooth lines epitomized the modernity these designers wished to emulate.

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Mid-century modern furniture is easily spotted by its streamlined appearance.? Using clean lines to create sculptural elements, the simplicity of the line design is what makes mid-century modern furniture continue to be relevant in today’s homes.? Those who earn the credit of defining these streamlined lines are designers like Charles Eames, Euro Saarinen, Anne Jacobsen, and Miles van der Rone.

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Prevalence of teak

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Along with the infusion of man-made materials, including fiberglass, was a tremendous affection for teak wood in mid-century modern design.? With the large Danish influence on modernism, the wood’s warmth and strength was embraced by a WWII-tattered world looking to find serenity.? In addition, from a design perspective, teak provided an excellent backdrop and accent to the interesting colors and textures prevalent in mid-century modern design.

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Rainbow of colors and textures

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Bursting onto the scenes of mid-century modern inspiration was a plethora of unique textures and colors.? By emphasizing the contemporary outlook of the home, mid-century modern design wanted to forget the past, but rather emphasize the hope (of a peaceful world) that the future held.? Thus, mid-century modern design saw a great plethora of colors and textures that were mixed together in great creativity.

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A quintessential example of the mixture of colors and textures are presented in the two most popular mid-century modern furniture pieces today: the Eero Saarinen womb chair and the Eames fiberglass chairs.? Seen today, as well as in modernism magazines from the mid-century, the yellow Knoll womb chair was beautiful paired with the red Herman Miller chair made of fiberglass.? White furniture was also used frequently, as well as white accents, to create that clean, smooth look that tied together all the textures and colors.

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Use of cutting-edge materials (at least, for that era)

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Turning the traditional woods on its head, mid-century modern design introduced the mass appeal of man-made materials that were not previously found in furniture.? Plastic becomes an important element of mid-century modern furniture, including Bakelite on table tops, along with Plexiglass and Lucite.? A classic example of the use of nontraditional materials is Eames’ LAR Low-Low armchair made of fiberglass, as well as the tulip armchair by Saarinen.

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The tremendous popularity of mid-century modern design in today’s interiors is indicative of the timeless appeal of great designers like Herman Miller, Eames, and Saarinen.? 60 years later, people are paying top dollar for authentic, valuable mid-century modern furniture pieces.