Top Ten Mid-Century Designs Of All Time

MidCenturtArt.com presents the top ten Mid-Century Modern Furniture Designs of all time!

Of course no one can make the definitive Mid Century Design top ten list.  There are just too many iconic MCM classics!  But everyone loves a good fun list, so here's our ten favorite MCM Masterpieces paired with 1970s Supergraphics.

In reverse order:  

10) The Platform Bench ​​

Originally designed by George Nelson you'll see this classic Mid-Century bench in lobbies, offices, and homes.  In fact The Platform Bench was introduced in 1946 as part of Herman Miller's very first collection.

​Here is the Platform Bench with Right Angle in Orange:

Nelson Bench Right Angle 1970s Supergraphic

9) The Atomic or Ball Clock

George Nelson does it again, coming in at number 9 with another classic.  The original Ball clock is a 1950s George Nelson design for Vitra.  The clock was inspired by the space-age atomic period of the late 1940's.  

The Nelson Ball Clock will NEVER go out of style.    Especially if you pair it with a Red Weave:

Atomic Clock Red Weave 70s Supergraphic

8) Grand Confort Armchair Series

This list would not be complete with out Le Corbusier's Grand Confort arm chair series.  No need to say much more than the three chairs in the Grand Confort series, LC2, LC2 & LC3, are a permanent installation at the Museum of Modern Art.  Here's our favorite, the LC2, with Mid-Century Art Supergraphic Green Grasses sent in by one of our customers:

LC2 White Leather Armchairs

7) The Eiffel Side Chair

The Eames Molded Plastic & Fiberglass Armchair is a fiberglass chair, designed by Charles and Ray Eames.  The first Eiffel Side Chair, made of metal, was entered in MoMA’s 1948 International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design.  In 1950, fiberglass was used to create the chairs, and todays' chairs are made from plastic.

Here is a fabulous upholstered Eiffel Side Chair reproduction from American Mobler at the Renegade Craft Fair next to a Braid Supergraphic:

Purple Eiffel Chair and 1970s Supergraphic Braid

6) ​Sputnik Chandeliers

Coming out of the Atomic Age and named after the the first satellite that ever orbited the earth, the Sputnik Chandelier is now ubiquitous on Houzz, Pinterest, and most all such design sites.  And that's a good thing.

Here's a Sputnik Chandelier with Knot Supergraphic Set:

Ken Fulk

5)  The Arc Floor Lamp

Another light just barely beat out Sputnik for the number 5 spot in our Mid-Century Modern Design Top Ten List. Sputnik may be a rising star,  but the Chrome Arc Floor Lamp, like the Ball Clock, will NEVER go out of style.    

Here is a stunning Arc Lamp with Rope Supergraphics (now available in Blue!):

Richard Neutra Schiff House

4) Tulip Table and Chairs

If you've sat at a hipster bar, you've probably sat in a Tulip Bar Stool.  Tulip Bar Stools, along with Tulip Tables, Tulip Side Tables, Tulip Coffee Tables and the like, originated from one dude!  Eero Saarinen.  The original Tulip Chair was designed in 1956 by Eero Saarinen for the Knoll Label.  

Mid-Century Art has always had a penchant for the Tulip Table.  Here's the most classic Tulip Table paired with Shadow Box:

Tulip Table

3) The Egg Chair ​

Dazed and Confused Egg Chair

This chair should probably not be number three but we're too big a fan of 1970s teenager movies, so many of which feature the iconic Egg™ Chair.

In "Dazed and Confused" Slater is sitting in one of the ubiquitous egg shaped chairs from the mid-70's.  It probably had speakers inside the chair!

The Egg™ Chair was designed by Arne Jacobsen  – the Daddy of Danish design and an enduring international icon.   It’s iconic shape and high back makes for a little privacy and is therefore often found in public spaces.
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Here's a Modern version of the Egg Chair in the display window of San Francisco's Zinc Details with Ripples in Green:

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Zinc Details Design Showroom Display Window

2) Danish Modern & The Credenza 

Ok, two items is kind of cheating, but we figure enough credit can never be given to Arne Jacobsen, one of the founding fathers of Danish Modern Design.  Often taken for granted, but a true cornerstone of Scandinavian Design, is the Danish Modern Credenza (also referred to as a Buffet or Sideboard).  So coming in at number 2 we have the simple, elegant and unassuming Credenza!
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Here's an extraordinary Teak Credenza by Danish designer Jens Quitsgaard paired with a Blue Tulip Supergraphic:

Credenza with Tulip Supergraphic

1) ​The Eames Lounge Chair

Ok People my birthday is June 27th!  In your twenties you have an Eames 'Style' Lounge Chair.  In your thirties you trade in your reproduction for an original.  In your fifties you no longer tell everyone 'it's an original'.  Yes, I skipped your forties.  It takes two decades to lose the vanity induced by this much style and elegance in your very own living room.  To say the least we are in love with the # 1 furniture design of all time...The Eames Lounge Chair!

Ray and Charles Eames saw something amazing happening in Europe starting with the Bauhaus Design movement and culminating in the Mid Century Modern movement.  We are proud to have the crowning achievement of all Mid-Century Furniture designed by fellow Americans.  Here's the Eames Lounge chair with Mountains & Lake Supergraphic 1981:

Eames Lounge Chair with Mountains Supergraphic