A wheat colored sectional provides contrast with the neutral porcelain tile floor and white walls. Natural stone columns and a toungue in groove wood ceiling bring the mountain landscape to the interior.

The connection between the interior and exterior was reinforced. / photo: Karyn R Millet
Photo of a midcentury living room in Los Angeles with white walls, a standard fireplace, porcelain floors and beige floor.

Photo of a mid-sized midcentury enclosed living room in Los Angeles with white walls, a standard fireplace, a metal fireplace surround, no tv and porcelain floors.

Inspiration for a mid-sized midcentury formal open concept living room in San Diego with a ribbon fireplace, beige walls, porcelain floors, a wood fireplace surround and no tv.

Large midcentury formal enclosed living room in New York with porcelain floors, no fireplace and no tv.

This is an example of a mid-sized midcentury formal open concept living room in San Francisco with white walls, porcelain floors, no fireplace, a built-in media wall, grey floor and timber.

This mid-century modern media room was all kinds of exciting. The dark wooden TV unit provided a statement piece whilst also keeping everything media-related neat and tidy.

This 1960s home was in original condition and badly in need of some functional and cosmetic updates. We opened up the great room into an open concept space, converted the half bathroom downstairs into a full bath, and updated finishes all throughout with finishes that felt period-appropriate and reflective of the owner's Asian heritage.

Mid-sized midcentury open concept living room in Los Angeles with beige walls, porcelain floors, no fireplace and a freestanding tv.

At our San Salvador project, we did a complete kitchen remodel, redesigned the fireplace in the living room and installed all new porcelain wood-looking tile throughout. Before the kitchen was outdated, very dark and closed in with a soffit lid and old wood cabinetry. The fireplace wall was original to the home and needed to be redesigned to match the new modern style. We continued the porcelain tile from an earlier phase to go into the newly remodeled areas. We completely removed the lid above the kitchen, creating a much more open and inviting space. Then we opened up the pantry wall that previously closed in the kitchen, allowing a new view and creating a modern bar area. The young family wanted to brighten up the space with modern selections, finishes and accessories. Our clients selected white textured laminate cabinetry for the kitchen with marble-looking quartz countertops and waterfall edges for the island with mid-century modern barstools. For the backsplash, our clients decided to do something more personalized by adding white marble porcelain tile, installed in a herringbone pattern. In the living room, for the new fireplace design we moved the TV above the firebox for better viewing and brought it all the way up to the ceiling. We added a neutral stone-looking porcelain tile and floating shelves on each side to complete the modern style of the home. Our clients did a great job furnishing and decorating their house, it almost felt like it was staged which we always appreciate and love.

This 1960s home was in original condition and badly in need of some functional and cosmetic updates. We opened up the great room into an open concept space, converted the half bathroom downstairs into a full bath, and updated finishes all throughout with finishes that felt period-appropriate and reflective of the owner's Asian heritage.

Architect: REINES & STRAZ Contractor: Maracore Builders Interior Designer: Feldman Design Studio
Inspiration for a midcentury open concept living room in Miami with white walls, porcelain floors, a stone fireplace surround, white floor and exposed beam.

Design ideas for a large midcentury open concept living room in San Francisco with white walls, porcelain floors, no fireplace, a built-in media wall, grey floor and exposed beam.

Design ideas for a midcentury open concept living room in Phoenix with white walls and porcelain floors.

Joshua Curry Photography, Rick Ricozzi Photography
Photo of a large midcentury open concept living room in Wilmington with beige walls, porcelain floors, a ribbon fireplace, a stone fireplace surround, a wall-mounted tv and beige floor.

Houston Interior Designer Lisha Maxey took this Museum District condo from the dated, mirrored walls of the 1980s to Mid Century Modern with a gallery look featuring the client’s art collection. The place was covered with glued-down, floor-to-ceiling mirrors,” says Lisha Maxey, senior designer for Homescapes of Houston and principal at LGH Design Services in Houston. “When we took them off the walls, the walls came apart. We ended up taking them down to the studs." The makeover took six months to complete, primarily because of strict condo association rules that only gave the Houston interior designers very limited access to the elevator – through which all materials and team members had to go. “Monday through Friday, we could only be noisy from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and if we had to do something extra loud, like sawing or drilling, we had to schedule it with the management and they had to communicate that to the condo owners. So it was just a lot of coordination. But a lot of Inner City Loopers live in these kinds of buildings, so we’re used to handling that kind of thing.” The client, a child psychiatrist in her 60s, recently moved to Houston from northeast Texas to be with friends. After being widowed three years ago, she decided it was time to let go of the traditionally styled estate that wasn’t really her style anyway. An avid diver who has traveled around the world to pursue her passion, she has amassed a large collection of art from her travels. Downsizing to 1,600 feet and wanting to go more contemporary, she wanted the display – and the look – more streamlined. “She wanted clean lines and muted colors, with the main focus being her artwork,” says Maxey. “So we made the space a palette for that.” Enter the white, gallery-grade paint she chose for the walls: “It’s halfway between satin and flat,” explains Maxey. “It’s not glossy and it’s not chalky – just very smooth and clean." Adding to the gallery theme is the satin nickel track lighting with lamps aimed to highlight pieces of art. “This lighting has no wires,” notes Maxey. “It’s powered by a positive and negative conduit.” The new flooring throughout is a blended-grey porcelain tile that looks like wood planks. “It’s gorgeous, natural-looking and combines all the beauty of wood with the durability of tile,” says Maxey. “We used it throughout the condo to unify the space.” After Maxey started looking at the client’s bright, vibrant, colorful artwork, she felt the palette couldn’t stay as muted anymore. Hence the Mid Century Modern orange leather sofas from West Elm and bright green chairs from Joybird, plus the throw pillows in different textures, patterns and shades of gold, orange and green. The concave lines of the Danish-inspired chairs, she notes, help them look beautiful from all the way around – a key to designing spaces for loft living. “The table in the living room is very interesting,” notes Maxey. “It was handmade for the client in 1974 and has a signature on it from the artist. She was adamant about including the piece, which has all these hand-painted black-and-white art tiles on the top. I took one look at it and said ‘It’s not really going to go.’” However, after cutting 6 inches off the bottom and making it look a little distressed, the table ended up being the perfect complement to the sofas. The dining room table – from Design Within Reach – is a solid piece of mahogany, the chair upholstery a mix of grey velvet and leather and the legs a shiny brass. “The side chairs are leather and the end ones are velvet,” says Maxey. “It’s a nice textural mix that lends depth and texture.”The galley kitchen, meanwhile, has been lightened and brightened, with new, white contemporary cabinetry, quartz countertops mimicking the look of Carrara marble, stainless steel appliances and a velvet green bench seat for a punch of color.The two bathrooms have been updated with contemporary white vanities and vessel sinks and the master bath now features a walk-in shower tiled in Dolomite white marble (the floor is Bianco Carrara marble mosaic, done in a herringbone pattern).In the master bedroom, Homescapes of Houston knocked down a wall between two smaller closets with swing doors to make one large walk-in closet with pocket doors. The closet in the guest bedroom also came out 13 more inches.The client’s artwork throughout personalizes the space and tells the story of a life. There’s a huge bowl of shells from the client’s diving adventures, framed art from her child psychiatry patients and a 16th century wood carving from a monastery that’s been in her family forever. “Her collection is quite impressive,” says Maxey. “There’s even a framed piece of autographed songs written by John Lennon.” (You can see this black-framed piece of art on the wall in the photo above of two green chairs). “We’re extremely happy with how the project turned out, and so is the client,” says Maxey. “No expense was spared for her. It was a labor of love and we were excited to do it.”

At our San Salvador project, we did a complete kitchen remodel, redesigned the fireplace in the living room and installed all new porcelain wood-looking tile throughout. Before the kitchen was outdated, very dark and closed in with a soffit lid and old wood cabinetry. The fireplace wall was original to the home and needed to be redesigned to match the new modern style. We continued the porcelain tile from an earlier phase to go into the newly remodeled areas. We completely removed the lid above the kitchen, creating a much more open and inviting space. Then we opened up the pantry wall that previously closed in the kitchen, allowing a new view and creating a modern bar area. The young family wanted to brighten up the space with modern selections, finishes and accessories. Our clients selected white textured laminate cabinetry for the kitchen with marble-looking quartz countertops and waterfall edges for the island with mid-century modern barstools. For the backsplash, our clients decided to do something more personalized by adding white marble porcelain tile, installed in a herringbone pattern. In the living room, for the new fireplace design we moved the TV above the firebox for better viewing and brought it all the way up to the ceiling. We added a neutral stone-looking porcelain tile and floating shelves on each side to complete the modern style of the home. Our clients did a great job furnishing and decorating their house, it almost felt like it was staged which we always appreciate and love.

Photo: James Stewart
Inspiration for a midcentury loft-style living room in Phoenix with grey walls and porcelain floors.

This is an example of a large midcentury living room in Baltimore with a library, porcelain floors, a standard fireplace, a brick fireplace surround and grey floor.