Eero Saarinen Archives - Modern Classic

Color Blocking By Design: Easy As 1, 2, 3

Our Saarinen-Inspired Womb Chair and Ottoman in Our Exclusive Chartreuse Green Boucle

Color blocking is one element found in modern design that has always been my favorite part of the design process, especially  when it is one single color over a neutral palette, thus making it ‘pop.’ This is where you have the liberty to set the tone of the room however you wish based on your color choice. It can be introduced with a Cerulean duvet for a calming bedroom setting, or spry Living Coral throw pillows in the living room for a fun spot to entertain guests.

Blush and Bashful: 2019 Interior Design Trends

Our Saarinen-Inspired Womb Chair in Cayenne Red

2019 interior design trend forecasts seem to be all over theplace this year.  While some design professionals declare one trend as being all-the-rage, another will say its best to leave it in 2018 (yea, I’m talking about you, rose gold).  After spending a considerable amount researching 2019 interior design trends, here are my top picks I am excited to see in the upcoming months:

Blush: The New Neutral

Tell grays and beiges to take a hike, there’s a new neutral in town.  Using varying shades of blush is a pleasantly unexpected twist on the key design principle to set a neutral palette of a room.  Navy Blues, Sage Green or gold accents are a few of my favorite colors that really pop when paired with a blush neutral palette.

Natural Stone and Mixed Metals

Every year its a trend to bring in an element of nature but for the past several years this has been in reference to raw edge accents and exposed hardwood construction and joinery techniques.  Its quite a welcome change then to see elements of nature expand beyond woodworking with natural stone, think marble or quartz, in combination with mixed metals like steel and copper.

Bold Geometric Graphic Prints

Handmade one-of-a-kind pieces are going to replace the mass-produced and, as with anything handmade, the imperfections are part of the aesthetic especially when it comes to textiles and wall prints.  Perfect repeat patterns will be used less or replaced by visual-stimulating bold geometrics and graphics.

Art Deco

I mean, Art Deco has always been my favorite classic style, so its a stretch to say it will be a ‘trend’ but there will certainly more of it, especially when it comes to furniture.  Noticeably, softly contoured and organically curved furniture silhouettes, like our Saarinen-Inspired Womb Chair, will be showing up more than ever.

Our Saarinen-Style M70 Womb Chair 2.0

Charteuse Green Saarinen-Style M70 Womb Chair

The 1948 unveiling of Eero Saarinen’s iconic Womb Chair was a sign of changing times when ‘lounging’ was becoming socially acceptable, unlike in the decades prior. Saarinen’s organically curved Womb Chair was designed at the request of his dear friend, Florence Knoll, who asked for a chair designed to feel like a basket full of pillows and “something I can really curl up in.”  Saarinen achieved exactly this and more with a chair designed to create comfort, not solely by use of cushioning, but by the use of contours that create incredible comfort in any position.

Our Saarinen-Style M70 Womb Chair and Ottoman closely matches Saarinen’s original design but with upgraded materials available today that were not available in 1948.  We recently made some improvements to this chair, including adjusting the slope of the back to a more upright sitting position and with arms parallel to the floor, making it even more comfortable for both sitting and lounging.  Our wide variety of boucle fabric colors gives it a vibrancy that is matched by a level of durability to ensure years of  stylish comfort in any setting.  You can read all this and more in our Womb Chair Comparison Guide.

If you would like to see this chair in person, come visit us at our factory showroom in Bellingham!

Indoor Plants: Green Ideas for Modern Decor

When exploring useful modern decor for a modern home, indoor plants have an instant impact to warm any space, creating a soothing environment.  Just because I have a tendency to be “botanically-challenged” (I can never seem to keep a plant alive for long) does not mean I have to be deprived of indoor plants at home.  Here are a few indoor plants that require minimal maintenance and serve as stunning modern decor:

Indoor Plants Over Our Womb Chair Replica in Cayenne Red

Indoor Succulent Plants:

I love finding new ways to display succulents and these guys are adaptable to almost any environment. Filling the vertical space with a variety of hanging succulents brings a whole new dimension to what would otherwise be a dwarfed Womb Chair Replica with too much empty space that is beckoning for the good energy (a necessity for proper lounging) only nature can bring to a space.

Indoor Plant and Our LC-3 Feather Relaxed Lounge Chair Replica in Polar White Leather

Yucca Plant:

I’ve had mine for over a year, which speaks volumes of its longevity.  Its size makes it a perfect indoor plant to fill an empty space or corner in a modern living room, creating a relaxed environment when in close proximity to a LC-3 Feather Relaxed Lounge Chair Replica as is seen here.

Indoor Plants and Our Ox Chair Replica in Camel Tan Leather

Fiddle Leaf Fig Plant

Last but not least, the fiddle leaf fig plant is a fixture in most Mid-Century Modern homes, and is a stunning indoor plant to use next to our Ox Chair Replica.  This classic green indoor plant only needs watering once a week and can last for years in your modern home.

You can find inspiration for your own home and also check out all we have to offer by visiting our factory showroom in Bellingham!

Modern Furniture Shopping Tips for the New Homeowner

Our Womb Chair Replica in Cayenne Red

Moving in to your new modern home marks the start of your next life chapter, full of all your hopes and dreams of a bright future…. until you realize your new modern home did not come with the modern furniture from your daydreams. Daunting as it may seem as first, here are a few ways to begin modern furniture shopping while also saving you time, money and many headaches:

Understand Furniture Styles: The term ‘Modern Furniture’ encompasses a broad range of styles, from contemporary designs to well-known current designers, from Italian designs to the iconic classic furniture designed from 1920 to 1960.  Even in between are the styles which I consider more neutral or basic American modern with some re-design of Florence Knoll and Hans Wegner.  We wrote a couple of pages to give a little background on Modern vs. Contemporary in our website.

Set a Budget: stop flipping through your latest Dwell, stop pinning, put the Ideabooks on hold, just don’t do anything until you determine this exact number because without it, any step you make forward with your modern furniture shopping will turn into two steps backward.

Create Your Floor Plan: whether you use one of the many room planning apps or scratch paper and crayons, a scaled visual floor plan will determine the modern furniture you will be buying and the size the modern furniture needs to be.  Also, seeing your future living room on paper (or iPad or whatever) instantly squelches any stress you may have had, since this seemingly overwhelming notion is now a methodically feasible plan.

Prioritize Your Purchases:  Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will your modern kingdom.  Taking your budget and immediate needs into consideration, figure out the first item to add to your bare living room (hint: the easiest first item is a sofa).  Remember functionality first, so if you’re deciding between the Exhibition Sofa you will use everyday or the Sputnik Chandelier whose only function is sparkling, the sparkle can wait for a later date.

Plan Your Palette: One of my favorite features in a truly modern home is a perfect pop of color you instantly notice throughout the room (I pick red, but its up to you).  Establish the neutral palette to occupy the majority of the room and serve as the subtle backdrop to make your Saarinen Side Chairs really ‘pop’.  Best of all, if you want to make a change to the room in a few years, with your neutral palette already in place, its as easy as swapping out the color to instantly set a new tone for the whole room.

With these primary plans in place, you will be ready to hit the ground running with your modern furniture shopping for your new home.  If you are looking for a great place to start, I would suggest visiting our factory showroom location in Bellingham!