Blue inspiration in Mid-century living rooms

Blue - pale blue, sky blue and that almost aqua blue - is my favourite colour at the moment - perhaps because of my daily beach walk.  I am thinking about painting a wall blue or recovering my mid-century chairs in blue fabric.  I got two of these for $8 each at the thrift shop last week!

I am in the midst of repainting and redecorating the house, especially the living room (as you may be able to tell by my obsessive blog posts).  My son and his girlfriend have just moved out, so with that sense of freedom comes the desire to redecorate.  Apparently I am a bit mad!  But after ten years with the same wall colour I am ready for a change.  Some before and afters soon.

In the meantime - inspiration!  Blue and white go great together of course, and I love a little red for extra colour.  This room has no natural timber except for the sofa base, so the gold-yellow fabric adds a warming timber -like touch.  And isn't that chair great?!

I love this blue sofa and matching rug.

Another blue sofa, and matching dining chairs.  Love the lights above the table too.

via

This blue wall with sunbursts makes the room so happy!

via

The blue painted brick walls and ceiling look great with the timber furniture.  The floor cushions are a great idea too.

via

This modern room has a great mid-century feel to it, and I love the blue wallpaper.

via

I have also ordered some blue dining room chairs - Eames replicas.  They should be here soon!

Replica Eames chairs

Deb xx

Seven Great Mid-Century Style Lounge Chairs

1. The Womb Chair

Eero Saarinen's Womb chair is just prefect to curl up with a good book. In fact is what designer Florence Knoll’s requested from Saarinen in 1948 - “a chair like a basket full of pillows. This version in grey is quite understated, and the rug underneath gives an extra touch of luxury.

Living room with grey Womb Chair

Replicas are available in charcoal. black and red, from about $1,100, with a matching ottoman. 
Actual Knoll chairs are about $4,800, and vintage originals start at $2,000. for more information, see here.

2. The Egg Chair

The Egg Chair was designed in 1958 by Arne Jacobsen for the lobby and reception areas in the Royal Hotel, in Copenhagen.

1960 Egg Chair

Replica versions are available from about $700. Licensed Fritz Hansen version from about 5000 euros or $14,000. Original versions, such as the one in cognac leather, above, are available now and then.  

3. R160 Contour Chair

Australian Grant Featherston produced the first of his famous plywood shell Contour chairs in Melbourne in 1951.

Replicas are available in a wide range of colour in wool fabric, with or without an ottoman, from about $700 to $1,300.  Original chairs range from $3,500 to $10,000.

4. CH445 Lounge Chair

Hans Wegner designed this chair in 1960, and remains as contemporary today, with it's sharp modern angles and metal legs. Also available with an ottoman.

Licensed chairs by Carl Hansen & Son are around $5,000 and replicas around $600 to $1,500.

5. Lounge Chair Wood (LCW)

Also known as the Low Chair Wood or Eames Plywood Lounge Chair.  Husband and wife team Charles and Ray Eames designed this moulded plywood low seated easy chair in about 1940.

Replicas, including pony skin versions, are available from about $300. You can read more about the chairs' history here.

6. Coconut Chair

Designed by George Nelson in 1955. In the original version, the shell looked like a coconut and consisted of a piece of bent steel with foam rubber padding available in artificial leather, fabric, or leather upholstery.

Coconut Chair

Herman Miller licensed chairs are available, or replicas from $795.

7. Eames Lounge Chair (670)  and ottoman (671)

Another moulded plywood chair designed by Charles and Ray Eames for the Herman Miller furniture company, this time with padding and leather. They were released in 1956 after years of development.

Available from Herman Miller at about $4,500, and replicas around $1,500.

Mid-Century Living rooms Hollywood Style

Today some mid-century living rooms of the rich and famous.

Greer Garson sits her living room at home in Los Angeles' exclusive
Bel Air neighborhood, picking out records to play in April 1943,
a month after her Best Actress Oscar victory for Mrs. Miniver.

Sophia Loren in her Italian villa, 1964 via

 John Wayne’s living room of his ranch house in the San Fernando Valley -
he loved Asian art.
via

Steve McQueen takes a call in the living room of his home in Hollywood, 1963
 via

Beneath an artificial dogwood tree, Joan Crawford and her fourth and final husband,
Pepsi-Cola CEO Alfred N. Steele, relax on the plastic-covered sofas of their
18-room New York City duplex penthouse in the 1950s.
  via

Kim Novak Playing Guitar Beside Pet Great Dane Warlock at Her Home in Big Sur
via

Fred Astaire built his Beverly Hills residence in 1959, and the living room
 featured comfortable modern upholstered furniture and contemporary art.
  via

Kirk Douglas stretches out on a skylit sofa in his Beverly Hills home in the early 1960s.
Above him hang two Pablo Picasso paintings that he and his wife Anne purchased in 1960.
via

10 Mid-Century Beach-Style Living Rooms

If you are redecorating and considering a bit of mid-century style for your home, like I am, here are ten of the best beach-style living rooms that I have found.

This living room in a 1954 ranch house has been furnished with blue Danish modern seating and a vintage sofa around a Harry Bertoia wooden-topped coffee table.  The white walls and sheer curtains give the room a light and airy, almost beachy feel. I love this room, and the Pony tail palm in the retro bullet pot is a special touch.

1. Mid-Century Living-room remodel

This room also has a deep blue sofa, but the red accent chair gives it a more nautical flair.

2. Mid-century nautical living room with flight recliner.

Off-white and aqua work well with timber - note the brass light which looks great with the timber table and stainless steel legged chair.

3. Mid-century living room with timber wall

And with dark grey. This grey partition fireplace wall gives the paler furniture a dramatic backdrop.

4. Living room with grey partition fireplace

5. MCM Modern inspired living room by Chris Barrett Design

But the grey, white and bright green combination works too.

6. a. Beach House Living room by Josh and Jen Amstone

6. b.Beach House Living room by Josh and Jen Amstone view 2

This sophisticated room is given a touch of fun with lime green accents.

7. Florence Knoll sofa and lime green accents

This aqua and yellow combination has a very 'Gidget' 1960's beach-house feel to it.

8. Aqua couch and yellow chairs

And here is a contemporary room with a mid-century modern feel, also with a splash of yellow  The stone fireplace is the feature, but the TV is also accommodated. The windows don't have any coverings, which accentuate the design's strong geometric lines rather than looking undone.

9. Mid-century inspired room by Laura Britt

This green and orange combination is a very traditional mid-century color scheme - bold and beautiful.

9. Orange couch and green chairs

And this original mid-century room shows that not all walls have to be white. Bright can work too.

10. mid-century green and blue

I think I like the white, grey aqua best. And I so wish I could have a stone fireplace!

Which one's your favourite?

Deb xx

VolksWagon VW Beetle 1956

My first car was a 1971 VW Beetle.  I learnt to drive in it, and boy, if you can master a Beetle you can drive just about anything.  Reversing was a really skill, as were hand brake starts up a hill.  We sold it in when our first child was born in 1993 - it was too hard to get into the baby capsule in the back seat, and the heating and cooling were ....interesting.  Cooling involved rolling down the windows, and I swear the exhaust tunnelled back in as the heater.

I still miss it though!

Anyway, I found this ad from 1956, and just had to share.

Deb xxx

Food of the Fifties - 1953

What were people eating in the 50s?  Everything we read today tells us that we eat much more processed foods now than  they did fifty years ago.  But do we?  Here are some food ads from the year 1953, taken from the Australian Women's Weekly magazine June issue.

  

 

 

 

 

 

Mmmm, fish and cheese in the one recipe. I think I may try it out on the kids.

Images via

Deb xx

Six Great Mid-Century Style Sofas

Trying to find a vintage sofa, like this one from Danish Modern LA is not always easy.

But there are a few modern sofas around with that special mid-century something. Like this leather Contempo sofa from Haverty's in the US. Available in terracotta, grey and pearl.

1. Contempo Sofa in Grey $1,099

I love this sofa from King furniture, AND it converts to a bed. It also comes in a wide range of colours, in fabric or leather.

2. King Uno Sofa in Pink $1,490

This mid-century style three-seater sofa from OZ Furniture has buttoned cushions and back, as well as piping all over. 

3. Jazz sofa from Oz furniture, $1,999

Oz furniture also has this sofa, with buttoned back cushions, piping detail and a bench seat, which comes in three size options as well as a chair.

4. Three seater Spectator sofa from Oz Designs, $1,599.

This replica Florence Knoll Wool three seat sofa comes in charcoal and wheat and is available at Simply replica and Replica Furniture, from $1000 to $1,595. A chaise lounge version is also available for around $2,000 here.

5. replica Florence Knoll sofa, $1,595

and for something a little different, this is the Cloud Couch from Modernica, inspired by the sofa designs of Vladimir Kagan and Isamu Noguchi. At around $3,500 it's not cheap, but is sensational and available in about 100 different fabrics and colours.

6. cloud couch from Modernica

Hmm, I'm not sure which one I like best, what about you?

Deb xx