Vintage Space Age furniture captured post–World War II optimism with swooping shapes, bowed lines and experimentation with new materials including plastic and fiberglass.

From the launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957 to the landing of Apollo 11 astronauts on the moon in 1969, the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States propelled advancements in technology that transformed culture. Space Age design encompassed fashion, architecture, cars, furniture and objects for the home, bringing wonder and hope for the future into everyday life.

Coinciding with Pop art, Space Age style featured bold colors and forms. Eero Aarnio’s Ball chair, which debuted in 1966, used molded fiberglass for a capsule-like space while Verner Panton’s 1959 Panton chair was a single piece of molded plastic for a gravity-defying S shape. Red versions of Olivier Mourgue’s 1964 Djinn chair were futuristic enough to appear on the space station in Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Today, Joe Colombo is revered as a master of modern Italian design thanks to the provocative modular furniture pieces he created, such as the Tube chair and the Elda armchair, both of which embody the future-forward spirit of the Space Age.

The Space Age spirit extended to home building too. The futuristic Case Study Houses, which were designed by the likes of Pierre Koenig, Charles and Ray Eames, Richard Neutra and Whitney R. Smith, are considered a high point of modernism and the Southern California lifestyle.

Sometimes the nods to space exploration were more literal, like moon and star motifs or the 1965 Eclisse lamp by Vico Magistretti that saw the mid-century Italian designer integrating a movable inner shade to “eclipse” the light source. Alongside the pioneering moon missions, JVC manufactured the Videosphere portable television reminiscent of the Apollo 11 space helmets.

Although the style faded in the 1970s — with the 1975 joining of the Apollo and Soyuz spacecrafts signaling a new era of cooperation and the global oil crisis impacting the availability of plastics — the era’s innovations influenced designers into the 21st century such as Zaha Hadid and Djivan Schapira.

Find a collection of vintage Space Age seating, tables, lighting and other furniture on 1stDibs.

Finding the Right living-room-sets for You

Your living room — how your antique and vintage living room furniture is arranged, what style of furniture you’ve chosen, what kind of decor best suits your needs — should be an opportunity to express yourself as well as to unabashedly show off your design taste and preferences.

Common wisdom used to declare the kitchen the hub of the house. These days, the living room seems to have assumed the role of domestic focal point. Unlike the Victorian parlor, stiffly furnished and reserved for guests, today’s living room is a central place for reading and displaying your books, conversation and, well, living, with furnishings that lend themselves to both casual lounging and elegant entertaining.

A living room that doesn’t double as a family or TV room is a luxury. But even if the electronics are elsewhere, this is a hard-working, well-used space.

In an era that sees an increasing number of professionals working from home, sometimes your living room is multifunctional in ways you never thought possible. A corner of this room might be a designated home office, outfitted with a desk, your laptop and notebooks and, of course, the best possible lighting for those unscheduled Zoom calls. Perhaps you’ve sectioned off an area with side tables and armchairs for entertaining small groups while another corner of the room is home to a cozy reading nook.

The appetite for antique and vintage furniture — sculptural mid-century modern case pieces crafted in teak and other dark woods, the sexy, sensuous seating of the 1970s — has only broadened in recent years, with design lovers treasure hunting online and on Instagram.

A Scandinavian modern living room set, featuring lounge chairs and sofas by the likes of Hans Wegner or Kaare Klint, will help you introduce quality craftsmanship characterized by gentle, organic contours into your space, while a Camaleonda sofa by legendary Italian designer Mario Bellini will dazzle with its chunky form and convenient modular setup.

On 1stDibs, find an extraordinary collection of antique and vintage living room furniture inclusive of Space Age living room sets, other clever and provocative furnishings of the 1950s and ’60s, postmodern pieces and much more.