Eichler Mid Century Modern Minimalism

The Mid Century Modern period is marked by its affinity for clean, simple lines, neutral colors, and minimalist attributes. The designers of the Mid Century Modern period took great pride in designing homes and the contents in a home with an eye away from tradition and a vision of the future. There was an article in Playboy Magazine, in July of 1961, titled - The Madmen of Mid Century Modern Design. It featured George Nelson, Edward Wormley, Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Charles Eames and Jens Risom. With the article, there is a picture of these Madmen each sitting in a chair they had designed. Today any one of these chairs can sell for thousands of dollars. You can check out this picture at http://theselvedgeyard.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/the-mad-men-of-modern-design/.

Modernism is another term associated with Mid Century Modern and Minimalism. Joseph Eichler, who was an architect in California during the post-war period is famous for building homes that are referred to as Modernistic. Some phrases to keep in mind that describe Modernistic are: form follows function by Louis Sullivan, ornament is crime by Adlof Loos, and less is more by Mies Van der Rohe .

Coupling Mid Century Modern design and thought with a minimalist approach is a great way to have: 1) very little wasted space -with no overcrowding or overdone spaces either, 2) a home with furniture which has simple designs, textures, and colors, 3) natural lighting coming from large expanses of strategically designed and placed windows, and 4) floor and wall accents to add an eye catching splash of color.

It might be helpful, right now, to define some key elements in this article - Mid Century Modern and Minimalism. Wikipedia describes Mid Century Modern as an architectural, interior and product design form generally describing the mid-20^th century. It covers the years from 1933 to roughly 1965 (there is debate about the exact dates of the period). The term Mid Century Modern was coined by Cara Greenburg for the title of her book - Mid-Century Modern: Furniture in the 1950s. Scandinavian designers and architects played a significant role in the period and focused on simplicity and natural shapes. Wikipedia also defined Minimalism as an art movement in sculpture and painting that began in the 1950s and emphasized extreme simplification of form and color. It looks like these movements in design were made for each other -simplicity of color, shape and form.

As you move ahead in planning your Mid Century Modern renovation(s), don't be overwhelmed by thinking you have to redo your entire home to exude Mid Century Modern Minimalism. You can choose to do a complete renovation or you can choose to renovate one room or a couple of rooms. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Now real Mid Century Modern Minimalists, or purists, will settle for nothing less than a full make-over with nothing in their home that is not designer. If this is your taste, and you have the money to do it -go ahead, have fun, take pictures, and post them on a good Mid Century Modern website, or send them into Atomic Ranch. Everyone who loves Mid Century Modern and Minimalism design will enjoy seeing your work of art.

If you do not have bottomless pockets, you too can achieve the same feel and sense of style if you adhere to the concepts of Mid Century Modern design and Minimalism and do it on a budget. This will mean you may not have (actually probably will not have) designer originals, but there are many pieces of Mid Century Modern furniture and art available that is not original. The style and design of the period was copied by many companies and these pieces can be found at stores that feature antiques and collectibles from the Mid Century Modern era. If you are interested in Mid Century Modern style, you might want to check out the links at the end of this article. One of them is to an E-Bay store typically offering over 200 Mid Century Modern items for the home and for personal use.

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