11 Mid-Century Designers You Need In Your Life

The mid-century design adopts Scandinavian and American design influences to craft pieces that are stunningly modern, versatile and easy to incorporate into a mid-century modern home. From the awakening of the 20th Century, mid-century designs are bright, refreshing and have truly steered away from convention in the post-war era. To understand the best of mid-century design, here are eleven of the most significant mid-century designers that you need in your life.

1.     Eames

Charles and Ray Eames were married designers who broke the mould with mid-century design. Their furniture designs typified modern America. Their product exudes happiness and positivity, designed to have an encouraging effect on the home. From sweeping curves, contrasting colours and angular products, Eames designs are synonymous with mid-century furnishings.

2.     Florence Knoll

With a background in architecture, Florence Knoll designs mid-century pieces focussed on their functionality and practicality. Offering innovative solutions to stay organised, Knoll pieces focus on order and clean lines. In fact, Florence Knoll pieces were indeed the epitome of practical office style. Florence married the furniture manufacturer Hans Knoll and their partnership made was for many innovative designs.

3.     Hans Wegner

Known for well-crafted and stylish furniture. Wegner combined his two passions: carpentry and designing. Wegner pieces are crafted to offer durability, sturdiness and comfort which come from the tapered legs, curved and polished wood and rounded edges for a smooth and chic finish. Taking inspiration from the well-made furniture and tapered legs, our mid-century modern bench uses beech tapered legs and stylish fabrics to create an ultra-chic mid-century piece.

4.     Alvar Aalto

A popular Finnish designer, Aalto seamlessly blended Scandinavian and American style to create pieces that thoroughly screamed ‘modernism’. Combining natural effects with modern materials. Aalto’s mid-century designs focussed on metals, woods and glassware. Curves, sleek lines and a polished appearance are common across Aalto designs.

5.     Gio Ponti

Angular and industrial, Gio Ponti furniture designs are incredibly distinctive, and it is no surprise that Ponti is one of the most influential designers in Italian Modernism. His passion for modernism shines through every product, building and furniture piece he has designed. With a long career, you can find many original Ponti pieces as well as many other designers who have taken inspiration from his work.

6.     George Nakashima

Similar to Hans Wegner, George Nakashima was a renowned carpenter and master woodworker. Nakashima crafted mid-century pieces with care, attention and a full focus on wood in his designs. In fact, Nakashima was so passionate about using wood in furniture he believed wooden furniture could reveal the soul of the tree it came from.

7.     Sergio Rodrigues

Offering a unique and personal twist on mid-century design, Rodrigues incorporated style from his native Brazil to create compelling compositions that had character. Each furniture piece designed by Rodriguez evokes the spirit of Brazil while still focusing on modern design and comfort.

8.     Charlotte Perriand

Charlotte Perriand’s long career meant she experimented with many design trends, from naturalism to industrialism. However, Charlotte Perriand was one of the first to create a vision of early modernism. Her use of angles, clean finishes and crisp, clear purpose were influential and trend-setting.

9.     George Nelson

A long and varied career, Nelson was a prolific designer and journalist. His editorial work for Architectural Forum gave him vast knowledge about the world of design, architecture and post-war design. Nelson becomes the design director for Herman Miller where he created some of the most iconic mid-century pieces, such as the coconut chair.

10.  Milo Baughman

With a passion for design from a very early age, Milo Baughman focused on style and minimalism creating pieces that were innovative but still functional. One of Baughman’s objectives was to create furniture that is accessible to the public but still offers excellent design. Baughman utilised a range of material in his designs from steel, glass and chrome as well as upholstery fabrics and leather.

11.  Karl Springer

Karl Springer designs are known for the luxury appeal, glamour and meticulous attention to detail. Before crafting furniture Karl Springer began as a bookbinder, he then turned his attention to designing mid-century furniture with luxury leather and skin covers. With a passion for luxe and expensive material, Karl Springer furniture was opulent and incredibly popular among high society.

If you’ve been inspired by mid-century design, visit our shop at Loose Button where we strive to craft mid-century pieces with a new and innovative touch and a luxury stylish appeal. 

An Introduction To Contemporary Interior Design

For a sleek and stylish look, contemporary interior design is a great way to improve the interior of your home. Contemporary simply means ‘of the moment’, this means that contemporary design relates to furnishing and pieces that are in current style and are accessible now. With this in mind, it is easy to acquire pieces that are new to add to your home design and create a fashionable, comforting contemporary feel.

For any interior design approach, personal tastes play a major part, and for the contemporary look, it is easy to use elements to create the style you want. Not to be confused with modern design, contemporary design is fluid and ever-changing whereas modern design tends to focus on the trends that dominated the mid-1990s. The ever-evolving nature of contemporary style works really well for homes as it is easy to update the look slowly with the gradual acquisition of new pieces that keep the space bang on trend.

If you want to bring a contemporary nature to your home design, but don’t know where to start, then follow our easy steps to guide you in the right direction.

1.     Neutral colour palette

A contemporary colour palette is one that is dominated by neutral and natural tones. Whites, browns, cream and grey are all commonplace in contemporary interior design. It is this neutral colour scheme that helps to give your home interior a simple and clean finish which is what contemporary design is known for. If you prefer a bolder colour choice, consider painting a feature wall that accentuates the room.

2.     Versatile wood

Wood is a highly popular material in many interior design options because of its versatility and adaptability. Wood makes a great contemporary addition to a home, and what’s more, the range of colour choice, stains and finishing can give you the right look for your home.

To keep a contemporary theme, make sure you don’t clutter the space with wooden furniture which can create a traditional, country cottage look. Contemporary wooden features would include a real wood floor, floating shelves or fireplace beam or perhaps wooden picture frames or art pieces.

3.     Light and airy

To keep the focus on the clean lines and polished look your design needs the right lighting to emphasise the look and illuminate the key contemporary features. A stylish pendant lamp in the middle of the room may cast the right glow across the whole room, giving it a warm and cosy atmosphere. Alternatively, floor lamps are a great way to add a stylish design and highlight the features in the room that you want to draw attention to.

4.     Focal-point furnishings

While a contemporary style is clean, minimal and understated, a way to add personality and comfort which keeps the design warm and inviting is through a variety of textures. It is important to consider your furniture upholstery to give a contrast to the sharpness of contemporary design.

Find fabrics such a tweed, wool, crushed velvet and linen to break the refined lines and make your contemporary design homely. This Loose Button Cocktail Chair is an excellent choice as it offers clean, simple lines through the chair legs, contrasting textures and a bright colour pop that can be set against a neutral palette.

5.     Metal finishes

Stainless steel is an obvious contemporary finish to your kitchen, but other metals such as copper and chrome can also be incorporated to add a chic contemporary feel. It is important to use metal sparingly to ensure a contemporary finish rather than following the industrial trend. Consider metal accents such as lamps, ornaments and table with metal features and legs. Try and keep the trend and metal choice consistent in each room.

6.     Go natural

Another contemporary trend that is dominating the interior market at the moment is the use of natural materials. Whether that’s wooden walls, leather artwork or slate tables, there is a focus on bringing the outside inside with natural materials in a raw style. Rock, slate, teak and wood are all brilliant elements to incorporate into your home design for an earthy but contemporary finish.

Feeling inspired?

If you want to add contemporary touches to your home, then get in touch for more ideas on how to transform your home with chic, on trend designs and unique custom-made furniture.