Retro Modern Furniture

Sleek lines, innovative design, and a focus on stylish usability make Retro Modern furniture styles true classics.

Inspired by the designs of the 1950s and 60s, Retro Modern furniture works beautifully in today's home. Its clean, unfussy look is amazingly versatile, making it a perfect choice for a chic urban apartment or a kid-friendly family room.

The Spirit of the Post War Years

The designs of the fifties were a reflection of the times. The post-war years were filled with a sense of enthusiastic optimism about the future, breaking with the past and embracing all things new. The overall aesthetic of the period was one of informality and simplicity, a radical departure from the heavy, ornate formality and traditionalism of the pre-war period.

The Retro Modern furniture style reflects the best of the mid century era, creating a unique combination of sophisticated style and sensible comfort.

Characteristics of Retro Modern Style

- Clean lines: The hallmark of this style is a sleek and streamlined look. The simple yet polished lines create a sense of airiness and visual space that really epitomize the modern aesthetic.

- Minimum of embellishment: mid-century design is spare and uncluttered, with none of the overstuffed cushions, carved trim, fringe, deeply draped fabrics and other elaborate embellishments typical of traditional pre-war decor. The less-is-more sensibility of retro modern emphasizes shapes and materials, highlighting design rather than decoration.

- Innovative use of materials: The designs of the fifties and sixties celebrated the new materials and technologies that were transforming everyday life. Fiberglass, plastics, and gleaming metal were shaped, molded, and sculpted into bold new forms impossible to achieve with traditional materials and construction. Even the use of wood changed radically, moving away from dark tones to lighter, more neutral shades. Retro modern furniture accentuates the grain of woods like teak, showcasing their natural beauty.

- Curves and asymmetry: The juxtaposition of sharp angles and sensuous curves creates an exciting dynamic in mid-century style, as does the use of asymmetrical shapes.

- Clear, bright colors: Non-traditional shades like aqua, pink, tangerine, turquoise, and sunny yellow were extremely popular during the mid century period. Cheerful, high-energy colors with black and/or white accents were used in everything from wallpaper to upholstery, both as solids and combined in abstract prints.

- Usability-focused design: One of the factors that make mid-century designs enduring classics is a focus on usability. The feel is smart and sophisticated without look-but-don't-touch formality, and the clean, simple lines make both calming and friendly. Retro modern furniture offers a combination of high performance and low maintenance that's ideal for today's busy lifestyle.


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Retro Modern Furniture Designers - George Nelson

You may not be familiar with the name George Nelson, but if you like retro modern furniture styles you're almost certainly a fan of his work. Universally recognized as one of the founding fathers of modernism, Nelson created designs that forever changed how people relate to their homes and the objects in them.

Nelson's remarkable career spanned 50 years and included success as an architect, author, publisher, teacher, and designer. His work was based on the perspective of finding solutions to the problems of modern life, and the concepts on which he based his designs remain as popular and vital today as they were during the mid century years.

Though remembered by most for his enduring designs in home furnishings and accessories, Nelson actually played a seminal role in developing the modern view of what a home is and how it should work. In his book "Tomorrow's House", which he co-authored with Henry Wright, he introduced the concept of the family room.

He also pioneered the idea of the storage wall, forever changing the way we utilize interior spaces. Creating modular wall storage provided a way for homeowners to revel in post-war prosperity while maintaining the clean, uncluttered look characteristic of modernism.

However the remarkable furniture and accessories Nelson designed remain his most lasting legacy. Working with the renowned Herman Miller company throughout the mid century period, Nelson introduced a totally new way of looking at home furnishing. His designs combined the sleek, uncluttered simplicity of modernism with a whimsical touch all his own.

The Marshmallow Sofa, created for Herman Miller in 1956, became one of the icons of the period. Created of 18 apparently free-floating cushions strategically affixed to a streamlined metal frame, the sofa combined comfort and efficiency in a revolutionary new style. This lighthearted take on seating, which was one of the forerunners of the 1960s pop art movement, is still manufactured today.

The Coconut Chair, also created for Herman Miller and introduced in the mid-fifties, is among Nelson's best known designs. Named for its resemblance to a quartered coconut, the chair consists of a curved, cushioned triangular shell perched on a simple chrome framework. The chair's remarkable comfort makes it a perennial favorite, and its simple styling makes it a perfect addition to any modern room.

The Nelson Bench, a precise geometric arrangement of pale wood slats on an open yet sturdy square base, was introduced in 1948. A true multi-purpose design, the bench could serve as seating, platform, or table, and was constructed to provide maximum durability and efficiency while maintaining a light and airy look. The Nelson Bench is a ubiquitous part of both public and private decor today.


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Retro Chairs For Sale - Make Memories in Your Own Home

When you look at retro chairs for sale, be sure to include the retro or vintage styles. It has four steel legs, and it comes with six various shades of velvety plush upholstery. This is the perfect stuff for your home, and it can work with many other leather and fabric furnishings.

You can create a funky space in the dorm or the den with Mitt Chairs. These are colorful and unique, and ideal for teens, kids and adults who want to remember those happy days of years gone by. Mitt seats are upholstered with a fabric that is plush but still easy to clean. It has medium to firm seats, and the cushion has a "give" to it when you sit, to provide extra comfort. The foam padding gives you lots of support and the fingers on the back give you back support when you lean back. The seats swivel 360 degrees, for more fun.

Musical note chairs look a little like high heeled shoe seats, but they still have a unique style. They were recently pictured in Playboy magazine. They are made with a durable base of hard wood, and they're upholstered with plush, soft velvet. They're especially fitting for photo shoot props, or for use and display in a music studio. And your home's rec room is another great place for one.

Panton S kids' seats are perfect compliments to the adult Panton S chairs, which have been on the market since the 1960's. Panton created modern furniture for many people, with its frame of molded PVC that's stylish and sturdy. The kids' versions of the "S" seat can usually be found in many colors, including white, red and black.

T2 chairs were originally called Tulip chairs, and were designed in the 1950's. It's now a swivel seat, like a ball chair, with a frame made of molded fiberglass and padded with polyurethane foam, which is very fire retardant. The upholstery is usually made from suede, and the base is made from cast aluminum. The craftsmanship is vintage, but the look can sometimes resemble modern seats.

Swan seats were originally made in the late 1950's, by Arne Jacobsen. Originally, it was to be used for the reception and lobby areas of the Copenhagen Royal Hotel. This truly unique designer furniture has a fiberglass frame, polyurethane foam and upholstery that is richly sueded. The reproductions of this retro funky chair can be ordered in black, red, yellow, orange, olive, green, gray, cobalt blue, chocolate and baby blue.

Retro diner furniture is all the rage today. It brings back a 50's style, and can be used in homes or commercial buildings. It is used in game rooms, ice cream stores, restaurants and diners. The classic retro diner booths and retro dining chairs are usually made with heavy duty plated chrome. Retro bar stools can be swivel types, with foam padding and vinyl or naugahyde seats. Retro 50's diner furnishings include funky retro chairs for sale, that are made with hardwood frames, steel coils for a no-sag seating experience, and thick foamed padding.

Jindo have been writing articles for nearly 2 years. Come visit his blogs more often for tips and advice that helps people with the interest for cheap modern furniture and great passion and knowledge for retro modern furniture and all the different options & providers available in the market today. Find out for more info also here rexkelly.com

Retro Swivel Chair

The modern retro swivel chair is an enduring icon of mid-century decor. But though its many variations are all symbols of the period, they're also perfect in today's home.

The swivel chair was actually invented by in the 18th century by Thomas Jefferson, but until the 1950s it was generally used in office furniture only and rarely seen in the home. The mid century modern design aesthetic of convenience, comfort, and streamlined efficiency made the swivel style a natural, however, and retro decorating featured it for everything from lounging to dining.

Sleek lines, innovative use of materials, and streamlined design are the earmarks of retro modern design, and the swivel chairs that gained great popularity during the period are excellent examples.

Eames Lounge Chair

Created by modern furniture designers Charles and Ray Eames, this style has become a true design classic. It has the rare distinction of being recognized by organizations like New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Design Institute of Chicago, but it also remains a consumer favorite.

When it was first introduced in the 1950s, everything about the chair was revolutionary, from its sleek modern shape to its molded wood construction. But though it was on the cutting edge of modern design, the Eames swivel lounge chair was developed with comfort and usability in mind. Charles Eames said he wanted the chair to be "a special refuge from the strains of modern living".

The shell of the classic style is made of molded wood, meticulously finished to highlight the natural grain. Cushioned with smooth and supple leather, the shape is sleek yet enveloping. The design of the Eames Lounge Chair is absolutely timeless, fitting in perfectly with today's decor.

The Egg Chair

Designed by famed Danish modern furniture creator Arne Jacobson in the late 1950s, the Egg Chair remains a classic style that has never lost its popularity. Jacobsen was known for spare, no-nonsense designs that used materials in new and exciting ways, and the Egg Chair is one of his finest and most well-known designs.

Combining the gleam and sparkle of the steel swivel base with smooth upholstery in bright eye-popping primary colors, the Egg Chair is built on a curving steel framework that gently hugs the user.

The Ball Chair

The Ball or Globe Chair is one of the most iconic of all retro modern furniture designs. Created in 1966 by Eero Aarnio, this design takes the body-hugging design of the Eames and Egg chairs a step further. The hollow-ball shell, which is set on a swivel pedestal, completely encloses the user. The design radically expanded the concept of what furniture can be and do, by using a chair to create a private "space within a space".

The shells of the original Ball Chairs were made of fiberglass, with the inside upholstered in bright primary colors.

Jessie have been writing articles for nearly 2 years. Come visit his blogs more often for tips and advice that helps people with the interest for cheap modern furniture and great passion and knowledge for retro modern furniture and all the different options & providers available in the market today. Find out for more info also here rexkelly.com