Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe mid-century modern American furniture. The style, which emerged primarily in the years following World War II, is characterized by pieces that were conceived and made in an energetic, optimistic spirit by creators who believed that good design was an essential part of good living.
Postwar American architects and designers were animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist “International Style” architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the ’30s by Philip Johnson and others. New building techniques, such as “post-and-beam” construction, allowed the International-style schemes to be realized on a small scale, in open-plan houses with long walls of glass.
Materials developed for wartime use became available for domestic goods and were incorporated into mid-century modern furniture designs. Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen, who had experimented extensively with molded plywood, eagerly embraced fiberglass for, respectively, pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair. George Nelson and his design team created Bubble lamp shades using a new translucent polymer skin. Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were re-purposed: the Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs that used surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.
As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century designers caught the spirit.
Classically-oriented creators such as Edward Wormley, house designer for Dunbar Inc., offered such pieces as the sinuous Listen to Me chaise; the British expatriate T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings switched gears, creating items such as the tiered, biomorphic Mesa table. There were Young Turks such as Paul McCobb — who designed holistic groups of sleek, blonde-wood furniture — and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.
As the collection of vintage mid-century modern American furniture on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Oak
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Teak
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Oak, Ceramic
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Steel
1940s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Parchment Paper
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Marble
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Wood, Birch
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass
2010s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass
1960s European Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Walnut
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass, Steel
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Wood
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Carrara Marble, Chrome
1950s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Oak
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass, Chrome
1950s Dutch Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Metal
1940s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Oak
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass
1950s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Teak
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Oak
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Metal
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Wrought Iron
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Steel, Chrome
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Teak
1980s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Chrome
1980s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Formica, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Onyx, Bronze
2010s North American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Oak
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Glass, Mahogany
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Metal, Chrome
1970s Swedish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Teak
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Mahogany, Maple
1970s Norwegian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Teak
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Wood
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Maple, Oak
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Walnut
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass
1980s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass, Bronze
1970s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Rosewood
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Steel
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Wood, Lacquer
Early 2000s Vietnamese Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Glass, Oak