“Modern Design” tends to be a very broad term. We need to zero in on what we mean. In my perspective when I speak of Modern Interior Design, I am drawing from the Mid-century period which under the broadest of discussions runs from the mid 1940’s to 1970…depending on who is writing about it. What Modern Interior design did was to pair down the silhouette of classic shapes, using Art Deco as its basis and more Northern European influences in a grand mix.
“Modern” developed the horizontal esthetic and perfected it. Pops of color balanced out Modern Interior design which was a reflection of the Post war “Boom” times. We were in celebration…young and vital …and victorious. We were cool and rebellious to the past. This all embraced Modern Interior Design. All across the country our men were coming home from war and buying houses and building families. They and their families needed to furnish and build their homes as quickly as they could. We as a nation clamored for a modern view to the future and this was expressed not only in clothing but in the way we viewed how we lived our daily lives. We needed simple clean easy care items that were central to The Modern Interior Design movement. New materials were being developed almost on a day to day basis to support our Modern Interior Design ideas. Streamlining manufacturing streamlined our esthetic and as a nation we were excited and the sky was the limit.
Modern Interior Design’s time had come. Women had entered the workforce during the war and as a group were not going back to the way things were. Energy and new horizons filtered quickly through the Modern Interior Design movement. Often called Moderne, depending on the country of origin, it changed how we saw things aesthetically, socially and politically. It was a new world and as usual, Interior Design played an important role shaping, or better yet, interpreting our inner most feelings about ourselves and the world around us.
Who hasn’t seen at least one episode of “Mad Men” to get the tone of Modern Interior Design and its time? Smooth and sexy, shiny and sleek, Modern Interior Design encompassed everything we felt about our new world. After our victory abroad, there was no stopping us, Modern Interior Design was off and running and wouldn’t stop until we entered the “Contemporary period”, which I will blog about next. if you would like to talk more about Modern Interior Design, call us at 973 402 7400 or email us at: polo@polomainc.com. Let us know if you want to “Modern-ize” your life with the new/old slant of Modern Interior Design.