New Classic Style: Mixing Modern And Traditional For A Fresh New Look (better Homes & Gardens)

Modern furniture, with its clean lines and pure shapes, has its own cachet. Dating from the 1920s to the mid-1960s, it represents several stages and sources of development: Marcel Breuer, who created tubular steel for chairs, tables, stools, and sofas in the 1920s; Gilbert Rhode and Russel Wright, who designed maple and birch furniture with sweeping, aerodynamic lines for Heywood-Wakefield in the 1930s; Bruno Mathsson and Alvar Aalto, who used blond birch plywood and heat-molding techniques to produce graceful furniture in the late 1930s; and architects and industrial designers who made goods with molded plastics, laminates, aluminum, and stainless-steel after World War II. By profiling the interiors of 14 homeowners, "New Classic Style" shows how to mix these pieces with traditional furnishings. Strategies include combining shapes to achieve harmony, using color to unify diverse furnishings, and contrasting the old and new. The results are dramatic, exciting, and comfortable. The book also explains key furniture shapes and important figures from each period in design history.