Our affair with mid century modern design: making the switch

Making the switch to mid-century mod

As an active real estate agent here in Portland Oregon I can proudly say that I have seen every style of home decoration from retro to contemporary, English cottage to North West rustic, log cabin to industrial, Gypsy collectors to bare bones minimalist. So, when it came time for my wife and I to redecorate our Portland Oregon home we knew exactly what we DIDN’T want.
About three months ago we started selling off the majority of our contemporary furniture and began hunting for our new-found love; the classic style and beauty of mid-century modern.
Staying away from Ikea and Dania has been a challenge, but we committed ourselves to purchasing the more sturdy, more eco-friendly, reconditioned pieces of the 1950s, 1960s, with the occasional expensive & modern purchase from Design Within Reach (DWR), Zgallerie, or Crate & Barrel.
Again, and again we’ve heard Baby Boomers complain that, “We grew up with this furniture, and we always hated it”.
“I can’t believe it! We threw ours out, actually paid someone to come pick it up, and haul it away,” seems to be the comment most used when we share the price tags of some of our favorite pieces.
What was past, is now present…again. The architectural and geometric lines of the furniture from the mid-century era, combined with the minimalist ideal so many of us craved while growing-up in homes packed to the gills with extras of everything, has peeked the interest of the Echo Boom generation (18-30 which now outnumbers the Baby Boomers).

George Nelson, Edward Wormley, Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Charles Eames, Jens Risom, Isamu Noguchi are but a few of the founders of this furniture evolution which perfectly married the function of furniture with the beauty of architecture.
The journey continues, and we are 3/4 completed. It has been a challenging at times, but also very rewarding. Perhaps the most rewarding aspect has been our ability to re-purpose materials and/or our existing decoration pieces, making them work with the new theme.
If anyone is interested in more information, tips or stories I would be happy to share.
Photos will be posted shortly.
Cheers,
Orly Halpern
“Your friend in Real Estate”
503.867.6346
www.homesbyhalpern.com
orlyh@johnlscott.com