12 Midcentury Modern Kitchen Ideas to Inspire Your Retro Remodel
We’ll admit it: The midcentury-modern decor craze has finally slowed down. Gone are the days when everyone and their mother had to have a retro living room inspired by the sets of Mad Men and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. But now that the mass interest in the 1950s and ’60s style has abated somewhat, we think it’s time to refocus on it. In fact, as fashion writer Harling Ross says in her newsletter Gumshoe, a trend is worth following if you like it when it’s no longer trendy.
Rather than setting out to recreate time capsules of the era, interior designers can reimagine the aesthetic for modern living and revive original midcentury architecture in the process, outfitting spaces with both the trademark clean lines and warm palettes of the time alongside more contemporary layouts.
No place in the home exhibits this new chapter of midcentury-modern style better than the kitchen, where the geometry, materials, and colors of the ’50s and ’60s meet the function of today. To show you what this beautiful juxtaposition looks like, we’ve rounded up 12 midcentury-modern kitchens we love, as well as design ideas and advice for achieving the look in your own home.
What makes a kitchen midcentury-modern?
A midcentury-modern kitchen is a cookspace that incorporates design elements of the ’50s and ’60s—like flat-front cabinetry, walnut millwork, terrazzo countertops, and geometric tile—while also featuring contemporary appliances and amenities. Often, a midcentury-modern kitchen is set within a recently renovated midcentury-modern home.
Is midcentury-modern a good style for a kitchen?
We think so, especially if the style is era-appropriate for the architecture of the home. A midcentury-modern kitchen will feel like it belongs in an abode built in the ’50s and ’60s, but for a home of another time period, a midcentury-modern kitchen could still work. As long as the colors and materials don’t contrast with the rest of the dwelling too drastically, mixing eras is encouraged as a way to add depth. Read on for 12 midcentury-modern kitchen ideas that invoke the classic aesthetic while remaining stylishly timeless.
Photo: Sydney Brown1/12Install flat-front cabinetry
Nearly all midcentury-modern kitchens include flat-front cabinetry. Urbanism Designs’ makeover of an Eichler home in Sunnyvale, California, certainly does—complete with a whimsical ombré paint job. “We used custom-built lacquered veneer cabinetry to replicate the look and design of the original,” explain the firm’s founders, Pamela and Erwin Tam. “We emulated the original features, such as bypass sliding doors, round metal pulls, and a shallow, full-height pantry. Then, we painted some of the doors blue for a modern and playful take.”
Photo: Frazier Springfield2/12Create clean lines
Of course, flat-front cabinetry is just one result of the tendency towards clean lines and sharp angles during the ’50s and ’60s. That sleek geometry can also be channeled into other kitchen features, as Chelsey Cox of Chinotto House did in her own 1965 Gainesville, Florida, home. A skylight above casts warm natural light onto the original flat-front mahogany cabinets, new rectangular island, tiered quartz countertop, and slate tile floors arranged in a Versailles pattern.
Photo: Miranda Estes3/12Work in some walnut millwork
Walnut millwork is a quintessential feature of the midcentury-modern kitchen and was widely used in that era. Amy Vroom of The Residency Bureau employs it expertly in the newly updated kitchen of a 1963 Seattle condo, creating both solid walnut flat-front cabinet doors as well as slatted walnut sliding cabinet doors. “We wanted to maintain the use of walnut to pay our respects to where this kitchen began,” she explains. “The slatted wood sliding doors also nod to the midcentury roots, as they were a popular architectural feature in the ’60s.”
Photo: Louis Smith4/12Bring in brown
Whether it’s incorporated via wood or another natural material altogether, warm brown tones play a prominent role in midcentury-modern kitchens. Francesca Gaskin of Jetsam Made went all in on the hue for a Bristol, United Kingdom, kitchen inspired by architect Peter Aldington’s Turn End home. She combined sapele veneer cabinets, amber and chocolate Dzek tile walls, chestnut quarry tile floors, and a teak paneled ceiling. “We wanted the kitchen to look and feel like a vintage piece of furniture,” she says.
Photo: Christopher Dibble5/12Pick a pop of color
In midcentury-modern kitchens, brown tones are often brightened up with pops of vivid color. That’s exactly what Karen Nepacena, the designer behind Destination Eicher and author of Midcentury Modern Style: An Approachable Guide to Inspired Rooms, chose for an abode in a Los Altos, California. Walnut millwork mingles with a yellow-green island, light blue cupboard doors, and geometric turquoise-and-white Fireclay Tiles on the kitchen backsplash. “The chartreuse and robin’s egg blue accents give homage to a midcentury-modern color palette,” she says.
Photo: Dani Dazey6/12Or fully embrace bold hues
Sometimes, just a pop of color isn’t enough. Dani Dazey of Hulu’s Trixie Motel clearly feels that way, as she fully embraced bold yellows and vibrant oranges in the remodeled kitchen of her 1959 Palm Springs, California, Airbnb. Every inch is soaked in shades of sun and citrus, from the Concrete Collaborative terrazzo counters to the rectangular checkerboard floors. “We got amazing [painted] wood cabinets from Reform, which I love because they look vintage but are extremely functional,” she raves, “And we got my dream SMEG appliances in all different color-blocked hues to match the cabinets!”
Photo: Sarah Rossi/Selavie Photography7/12Try incorporating terrazzo
Terrazzo, a composite material made of stone chips set in cement, is another archetypal element of midcentury-modern kitchen design. Interior designer David Quarles IV utilized it as the countertops in his Memphis, Tennessee, home, opting for a cool white base with flecks of emerald and orange marble. “Terrazzo was celebrated during the midcentury-modern years, both in floors and countertops,” he says. “As an ode to that time, where color and pattern were all the rage, this terrazzo had to be in my kitchen!”
Photo: Rubinski Visual8/12Go for a geometric tile backsplash
For extra midcentury-modern flare, try a geometric tile backsplash, à la designer Emily Pueringer’s Minnetonka, Minnesota, project. The complete kitchen renovation included removing walls to create an open concept layout, building walnut wood cabinetry, installing an eggshell blue range, and adding a striking hand-glazed mosaic tile backsplash above it. “This custom mosaic, characterized by unique colors and shapes, was tailored specifically for the home,” she shares. “It’s no surprise the tile [takes] center stage.”
Photo: Spacecrafting9/12Make a statement with light fixtures
Designers often compare light fixtures to jewelry; they’re the finishing touch that bring the whole look together. That thinking certainly applies to midcentury-modern kitchens, like the lakeside culinary haven Lucy Penfield designed in Ontario, Canada. She opted for three bubble-shaped pendant lights in olive green, slate gray, and burnt orange to create a sense of earthy cohesion with the lichen-hued cabinets and charcoal granite counters. “The color palette [came] from the landscape, supporting our overall biophilic design,” she explains. “The pendants float like a constellation of planets.”
Photo: Mariell Lind Hansen10/12Bank on banquettes
In the ’50s and ’60s, eat-in kitchens started to become more popular, and formal dining rooms began to fall out of favor. With that (as well as the confines of a small apartment) in mind, Louis Hagen Hall designed a midcentury-modern kitchen with an integrated breakfast nook in East London. The crown-cut oak cabinetry and peach microcement countertop lead seamlessly into a built-in bench. “The counter runs across the whole back wall of the apartment, ending in a corner bench so guests can hang out while someone is preparing food,” he says.
Photo: Yoshihiro Makino11/12Consider open storage
Though many midcentury-modern kitchens lean heavily on upper cabinets, open shelving is also worth considering to emulate the crisp minimalism of the design era. Daniel Rabin of And And And Studio tried it out in a Los Angeles post-and-beam bungalow, where wall-to-wall wood shelving offers a place to display dishes, ceramics, and plants. Meanwhile, open cubbies on the kitchen island are ideal for storing cookbooks and pantry items.
Photo: Max Burkhalter12/12Experiment with curves
Just because the midcentury period was known for clean lines doesn’t mean curves weren’t in play. When exercised with restraint and mixed with rectilinear shapes, rounded edges were embraced. The kitchen in Zoe Feldman’s Beaux Arts DC town house project is a perfect example; Its oval-shaped fluted island and vintage Italian dining chairs in the style of 1950s Paolo Buffa set against sleek walnut cabinetry. “There are very intentional details, but nothing is too ornate or fussy,” she explains.
