Mid-Century Modern: Interiors, Furniture, Design Details (Conran Octopus Interiors) by Bradley Quinn

Mid-Century Modern explores the interior decor of this seminal decade, concentrating on all aspects of a home’s decoration-walls, flooring, surfaces, lighting, and, of course, furniture. Case studies examine beautiful present-day homes that exhibit mid-century style in an exemplary way, and suggest ideas for taking the 1950’s look-complete with collector’s pieces-and mixing and matching it with elements from other eras.

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Other than being extremely interesting for the design buff, researching furniture patents on the web can be a great way to help you establish the authenticity of a piece or even identify it if you have nothing but a patent mark to go by.

Furniture patents show everything from the overall design to the manufacturing process, to the joints and assembly. These details are very helpful in figuring out if you have the “Real Thing” or if you have a knock-off.

Patents can be searched by Inventor (designer) or Assignee (manufacturer) or directly by Patent number. It can be a little confusing to begin with, but with some digging you can find out a lot about your furniture.
I’ve downloaded a few patent drawings of iconic pieces and linked them here for easy reference, but there are many, many more to be found at freepatentsonline. If you find some good ones, let us know and we’ll add the link here.

Folke Ohlsson Armchair
Florence Knoll Desk
George Nelson Swag Leg Chair
George Nelson Shelving Unit
George Nelson Sofa
Eero Saarinen Tulip Table
Eero Saarinen Womb Chair
George Nelson Coconut Chair
Ray Komai Side Chair
Marcel Breuer Short Chair
REK Jakobsen Chair
Harry Bertoia Diamond Chair
Eames DKR Wire Chair
Eames Leg Splint
Eames Folding Sofa
Eames DCW Chair
Eames Stacking Chair
Frederick Mueller Chair
Lofgren Chair

Twentieth-Century Design (Oxford History of Art)
by Jonathan M. Woodham

The most famous designs of the twentieth century are not those in museums, but in the marketplace. The Coca-Cola bottle and McDonald’s logo are known the world over and may tell us more about our culture than a narrowly-defined canon of classics. One of the world’s foremost design historians, Jonathan Woodham takes a fresh look at the wider issues of design and industrial culture throughout Europe, Scandinavia, North America, and the Far East. He explores themes such as national identity, the “Americanization” of business methods, the rise of multi-nationals, Pop and Postmodernism, and contemporary ideas of nostalgia and heritage.

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It’s always difficult to find great wallpaper that will give your house a unique look. We know. We’ve looked! So we’re sharing our research with you. We’ve found 3 amazing wallpaper sources, all with shipping services for those who don’t live close to one of their locations.

Walnut Wallpaper |  web site
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Walnut Wallpaper has a great variety of modern wallpaper designs, as well as vintage offerings. We’ve shown a few of our favorites here but there are many, many more to be seen on their web site. Samples available upon request.

Timorous Beasties |  web site
Location: Glasgow and London, UK

We’ve been fans of Timorous Beasties for a number of years now and love their unique hand-printed designs – some with a slightly gothic feel. They’re well-known for their Euro Damask – Their interpretation of Damask using European coastlines and cartographical contours.

“These new patterns are very textural. Euro Damask is made up of actual European coastlines; Butterfly is an extension of Euro Damask: we took the outline of a butterfly and exaggerated the contours, using coastlines as influences to get the fractured edge. Within that we printed a finely drawn detail of the wing patterns.”

Bradbury Wallpaper |  web site
Location: North America

Bradbury is truly a great resource for all styles of wallpaper. They have Victorian, Arts & Crafts, Modernism, Damasks, and matching fabrics. The Modernism category if choc full of great stuff from the Post War Era, the Atomic Age, and the Groovy 60s. You can contact them directly online to have samples and rolls shipped out to you.

Atomic Ranch: Design Ideas for Stylish Ranch Homes
by Michelle Gringeri-Brown

Atomic Ranch is an in-depth exploration of post-World War II residential architecture in America. Authors Michelle Gringeri Brown and Jim Brown extol the virtues of the tract, split-level, rambler home and its many unique qualities. Atomic Ranch presents twenty-five homes showcasing inspiring examples of stylish living through beautiful color photographs, including before and after shots, design tip sidebars, and a thorough resource index.

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A wonderful documentary by the Victoria & Albert Museum about Dieter Rams, the designer who influenced the Apple look. Learn more about Dieter Rams in the Lushpad designer biographies section.

New Zealand artist,Trixie Delicious hand-paints these humorous and usable vintage pieces of art. She find and collects vintage china and uses it as a canvas for her work. The juxtaposition of modern day references and uptight Old Country Roses morality are what makes these pieces really delightful.

The pieces are only intended for light use, not everyday use, but what better to pull out for afternoon tea with friends? You can order pieces from her etsy store, or you can check out her flickr photostream Vandalized Vintage for even more wicked crockery.

The LOBBY is a modern B&B – literally and figuratively – located in Antwerp. The beautiful minimalist spaces are perfectly complimented with iconic mid-century modern pieces like (our favourite) Danish designer Hans J. Wegner’s three-legged Shell chair and his Wishbone chair, and Eames side chairs with both eiffel and wooden dowel bases. The Dear Ingo chandeliers in the restaurant/bar area are designed by Ron Gilad for Moooi.

Close to a wide selection of restaurants and bars in the trendy part of town, with bus & tram stops almost on its door and close to museums, parks and great shops , the Lobby hosts classic design furniture combined with new technology, small cosy touches that makes this B&B very unique.

Visit the LOBBY website for more information. http://www.lobbyantwerp.com

Via plastolux.

Mid-century Modern enthusiast and Lushpad regular Stacey, pictured here with her husband Rob, has only been collecting for a year but she is a woman on a decorating mission. Her interest in mid-century modern started with finding pieces in retro blues, oranges and greens – colours she loved.

Her favourite pieces is the multi-coloured Robert John Co. filing credenza below. She found it for only $65! Stacey has a knack for getting a deal.

Some of Stacey’s finds are a mystery to her, so if you can name any of the pieces, let us know in the comments section. We’ll pick a person from the helpful bunch and send them a collector set of Eames commemorative stamps.

Left: Shell chairs shoulder a beautiful Robert John Co. filing credenza. Right: Steelcase tandem sofa chair with a Carter Brothers slipper chair peeking around the corner.

Above: Beautifully decorated room scattered with vintage goodness and fresh modern decor.

Above: 12′ sofa in original fabric with attached end tables.

Top: Stacey’s kitchen and dining spaces are comprised of vintage Sunar Hauerman office furnishings.

Above: Danish chairs, Sunar Hauerman filing credenzas, Curtis Jere-style metal wall art.

Above: Beautiful vintage art carving.

Modern Retro: Living With Mid-century Modern Style
by Neil Bingham, Andrew Weaving

Created by modern classics dealer Andrew Weaving and design commentator Neil Bingham, “Modern Retro”, now in paperback, shows you how to take the best designs in furniture, glass, ceramics and textiles from the 1920s to the 1970s and use them throughout your home in a relaxed, individual way.

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