A white room with large sliding glass doors at one end and a wall with four clerestory windows above a white sofa with surprising curved bolster pillows for arms. Curves continue in the white side tables and tall black circular side tables, and a large cylindrical pale wood coffee table. The textural area rug interrupts a white background with yellow rectangular motifs, and yellow stools with white leather tops and bold graphic pillows on the sofa bring more citrus colors into the mix.
Feature What's Your Style?

Desert Modern Design

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

Desert Modern is a subtle design style emphasizing the organic colors, shapes, and materials of the Palm Springs area

A two-story midcentury house by Richard Neutra features Desert Modern elements including boulders, rough stone walls, vertical slats, and bleached natural colors. The landscape is spare, with poured concrete, gravel, and cacti.
Design 101

The Origins of Palm Springs Architecture & Design

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

Palm Springs has had an outsized influence on midcentury modern (MCM) architecture and design.

Four squares containing bright and busy textile patterns designed in the 1950s and 1960s by textile designer Lucienne Day. The upper left design has a taupe background with black, white, yellow, and red half moon shapes of different sizes and patterns aligned along straight lines like stylized flowers on stems. At upper right are white outlines of leaves overlaid on squares of varying shades of green. At lower left is a grey background overlaid with roughly rectangular faded coral, faded blue, and white shapes with tiny black characters (stars, squares, leaves) overlaid above the colors in lines. At lower right is a goldenrod covered square with many square and triangular lines and dots overlaid in black.
Design 101

Midcentury Modern Colors

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

Don’t let the grey and beige midcentury furniture reproductions in home furnishing stores fool you. Actual midcentury home colors were often vivid and varied!

Six bent plywood midcentury modern chairs are displayed inside glossy white square cells at the Danish Museum of Art & Design. Three chairs are on the top row, and three more are below. Arne Jacobsen's Series 7 chair is at upper right. None of the chairs is labeled.
Design 101

When Danish Modern Style Ruled

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

In the 1940s, during World War II, Danish designers were prominent leaders in the movement to design and make affordable, functional, elegant furniture. Danish designer Kaare Klint (1888–1954) is today considered the father of modern Danish design. He helped establish the Department of Furniture Design at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and taught […]

Design 101

The Birth of Midcentury Modernism

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

Midcentury modernism of the 1950s and 1960s is based on innovations of architects and designers of the 1920s and 1930s. Explore what led to the style’s creation and eventual massive popularity.

A painting from 1875 by Gustave Caillebotte shows three shirtless men working on the floor of an empty Haussmann-style Parisian apartment building. They are in the midst of planing the floor, scraping up curls of wood before refinishing the floor for a new tenant.
What's Your Style?

Parisian Interior Design

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

Here’s an overview of one of the most influential and popular French styles—welcome to Parisian interior design.

A Midcentury Modern minimalist rush-seated wooden dining chair in pale wood sits on a light-wood floor with a white bare wall behind. To the left of the chair is a pair of small MCM cabinets in a mid-toned wood (perhaps walnut) with a prominent grain. It has two sliding doors across a cabinet on the top, and a wooden shelf below, all on a metal frame. It is about as tall as the back of the chair. Resting on the cabinet is a minimalist line drawing of a face in simple black lines on a white background. Books rest on top of and below the cabinet with spines facing away from the camera.
Design 101 Feature

Sustainable Interior Design

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

Sustainable design (also known as green design) protects and conserves natural resources and supports life.

A four-poster bed hung with white fringed linens sits at left. A caned two-seat bench sits at the foot of the bed on a wide-planked floor; a white chamber pot sits on the floor at the foot of the bed. At right are walls covered in bright, cheery leaf-patterned wallpaper in greens and whites, a double-hung window with white shutters, and white wainscot. Below the window is a window seat. Caned side and arm chairs matching the bench sit along the right wall. An antique highboy chest sits in the back right corner.
Feature

The Delights of Historical House Museums

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

When I visit a new region, one of the first things I want to know is where to find the historical house museums. They’re full of beautiful old treasures and architectural choices I’d never find elsewhere. Houses tell us fascinating stories about their place in history. Guides or placards explain what you’re seeing and what’s […]

A large loft apartment with exposed beams, ducts and brick is decorated with midcentury modern (MCM) dining furniture, a Persian carpet, and a dark leather sofa, mixing industrial and MCM styles
Design 101

Decorating with Texture

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

Texture is one of the elements of design that does the most to make a room feel welcoming and comfortable. We notice and remember colors and patterns, but textures really make a room feel interesting. They invite us to let our eyes and hands explore a space. Decorating with texture and three-dimensionality can bring warmth, […]

Many Arne Jacobsen Series 7 pale bent-wood chairs arrayed in offset lines seen from above, all with a white floor showing between the many chairs
What's Your Style?

Scandinavian Interior Design

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

Scandinavian interior design is a functional and minimalist style. It combines sleek, simple geometric forms with organic shapes using natural materials. Scandi style emphasizes the beauty of decorative elements like wood and glass by adding unexpected curves or textures. The Nordic countries represented by Scandinavian design all have much in common regarding materials, colors, shapes, […]