I HAVE THIS THEORY that full-on mid century modern style never really takes hold and endures — because it’s just too spare for most people. It’s minimalist. And we humanoids are not. We like our ornamentation. We pouf our hair and bedazzle our ring fingers. We put bones through our noses, we draw on cave walls, we put feathers and arrowheads into cigar boxes, and we spend hours hunting down rare kitschy creatures for our collections of postwar Made in Japan salt and paper shakers but “animals under $5 a pair only”. It’s a magical, mystical, mesmerizing, magnetic pull — to accumulate. Above: The Wilson House is stunning, but still too… tidy… for me.
I really don’t like to encourage ‘being a meanie’ [a key commenting rule here on the blog is: No one is to be made to feel bad for their choices], but for purposes of today’s Open Thread, I point to this website, Unhappy Hipsters, which lampoons the poses of not-too-happy-looking people in their bare, artful, modern houses. Should we get these folks some tchotchkes, stat?
I spoke to none other than mid century modern design legend Vladimir Kagan recently, and we chatted about this very issue — the struggle to achieve the most noble philosophical aspirations of minimalism.
Mr Kagan:
My designs were influenced by the Bauhaus philosophy, “less is more” – I was raised on this. If you have a bigger piece of furniture, you need less seating elsewhere. The serpentine sofa seats eight people.
Pam: Do you live “less is more” in your own home? (I knew the answer because I had seen the photos of Kagan and Wilson’s New York City apartment on The Selby.)
Mr. Kagan laughs:
Less is more. Except in my own home. Do as I say, not as I do.
Pam: So why did you end up with more is more?
Mr. Kagan:
I wish I could be less is more. I have a yearning to move and start over. You end up with more is more because you like things. Erica and I traveled a lot, and we collected…. We have always acquired never eliminated. To create a clean space is a wonderful thing. I admire it and help create it for my clients. Unfortunately, emotionally I can not down-scale!
that it’s so hard to be minimalists?
Is there something very deep instinctual need to have our stuff?
(Let’s set aside the extremes, please, for this discussion.)
Should we give ourselves a break for being
creatures of domestic comfort?
Or, is there, and *should* we, strive for some sort of more “evolved” “balance”?
Please be *compassionate* in this discussion, okay?
nickarmadillo says
A big part of it, for me anyway, is that many of the vintage items that I pick up are irreplaceable. Every time that I sell/give away something vintage, I feel a twinge of regret because I likely won’t come across it again. I still wish that I could go back in time and keep all of the Broyhill Brasilia sets that I sold and now can’t find anywhere.
Jacquie Y says
I know exactly what you mean,…right now I have 2 full sets of kitchen appliances, one in my home in ge brown, and one stored away in ge aqua! I have no idea when I will be able to use the aqua ones. But do you think I can part with them?…no way! I have sets of vintage dishes, salt and pepper shakers, canisters, serving platters, and bar ware, coffee carafes, and electric percolators,….all in the mc vintage style, and will just look at them. I know though that when I think of cleaning out my collection, I stress because I know i won’t find it again. It is getting harder and harder to locate things now. I have read Pam admit that she collects things too, so I don’t feel so bad. We know these things are getting to be few and far between. :0)
Annie B. says
I’m lucky enough to live in a small town where, if I truly do regret giving up a vintage piece, I can usually find it again in a consignment, thrift, etc. shop. Yes, I have been known to buy an item back. (Can’t believe I just admitted that.)
Wendy M. says
I really love the Wilsonart house! I naturally tend to be a minimalist in terms of decorating- I just feel calmer in a de-cluttered room. In turn, people often ask when I am going to finish decorating! My minimalist tendencies led me to mid-century design, rather than being caused by it. The cause was my grandparents…they had somewhat of a hoarding problem. It was not the extremes you see on television, but it was excessive. Living through the depression led them to save everything- I think subconsciously they believed it might happen again and they really would need all the things they had accumulated. Watching them being weighed down by their possesions (and then watching my mom have to sift through it all) had quite an effect on me. That said, I do appreciate collectors who collect in a thoughtful manner.
This is a very interesting topic- I look forward to reading more comments…
Robin says
Our homes are the largest extension of ourselves. So, as much as we may be enthralled by the photo above, we don’t feel we belong. It has no essence of it’s owner. We are most comfortable at home because ‘home’ is a magnet for our history. It surrounds us and brings all the warm-fuzzzies we need at the end of any given day. What would we do without the “Zelda” sheet music and birthday cards propped on the piano? The snowman puppet thrown on the sofa? (The hand weights, we swear we are going to use, sitting in the corner)? Home isn’t about perfect. Home is the definition of who we are. And we’re messy.
Pat M says
Yes! We need to express ourselves, our individuality, and our home is a big canvas for this. We can and should try to limit the “mess”, but a room like the one illustrated will never do as a “home” (not for me, anyway).
Patty says
There are pitchers and there are savers. They often marry each other, leading to a life of conflict.
Meredith R. says
Agreed! I am not a minimalist, but I am a pitcher, if that makes sense. My husband is a saver. Some conflict ensues.
DIane in CO says
haha – so true! My husband frets about all the “stuff” and I am the collector. I am organized about it however.
For me, it’s
1. a visual pleasure to artfully arrange beautiful objects (hopefully something salvaged from the past) and an aesthetic pleasure to appreciate the shapes, materials and craftsmanship. Also,
2. I could never give up the thrill of the hunt – searching out antique malls and estate sales, etc. – great relaxing fun! Also,
3. I enjoy the educational aspect of research associated with vintage products and materials — and the designers who created them.
Andrea says
I think balance is hard to come by. I am totally minimalist, I hate clutter, I hate bric-a-brac, I hate family pictures all over the place. But it comes from growing up in a home covered in knick-knacks that my mom collected from living all over the world as a State Department brat. If it weren’t for sharing my home with my husband, my house would be all white walls with no art on the walls, no candles, vases or other knick-knacks gracing the tables.
James Owens says
I think it has something to do with many minimalist rooms seeming to feel cold and impersonal. While I love that pic of the Wilson House it feels cold to me. Picture the same room with hardwood floors. Immediately feels more “homey”.
But I do find that keeping the number of items limited allows those items to be showcased better. Which seems to give them a greater aesthetic value.
Also, I have moved around quite a bit and every time I moved I would get rid of stuff. It was quite liberating, but I always start gathering stuff again.
So I guess I’m saying I don’t have a clue.
Christa C says
I put it down, at least for me, to 2 things…”need” and “love” There are things that I need to, for example, sell in my Etsy shop, or create for my Etsy shop…where to put these things? The things to create other things? Then…then there is LOVE. I love this …whatever it is…because it is beautiful, it is warm, it reminds me of the trip we took, it reminds me of Grandma ( or maybe it was Grandma’s) …And as we live, and get older we accumulate . We accumulate memories and the things ( even if it is just framed photographs)that go along with them. We continue to find other things that we find beautiful , and the hard part , if you are trying to be even a little clean lined ( forget minimalism) is choosing between them. Is this piece less beautiful than that piece…is this memory less appropriate or worthy of being displayed than that one? It’s hard…the editing process IS hard …that’s why so many of us just don’t. Why choose, when you can have both of those beautiful things? Either way…weather you try to edit or not, your home should speak to who you are…it should be a place of refuge and of peace….and if a lack of negative space on your walls makes you happy and at peace, have at it.
J D Log says
I have collected various 1950’s items over the years, the place I am now restoring I often joke to friends I will only leave when they take me out in a box.
I started buying items when I was 18 back in the early eighties some of these items such as N.O.S wall and floor tiles still in the box from the 1930’s -60’s I am only just starting to use on my kitchen and a section of my bathroom.
A lot of items I could never afford to replace or just are not avaliable anymore. Each item has a memory or a story from either inheritence, the hunt of buying or people just giving me items eg a friend gave me a kitchen cabinet yesterday he found on the curb which I know I will be restoring it to it’s former glory.
I guess I am still collecting but a little more selective and with a purpose eg tomorrow I will be picking up a 59 Crosley fridge to use as spare spares for my 57 model just like I have a spare 57 St george stove and a junker Valiant car in my backyard spares are getting harder to get but these big ticket items still can be fixed as long as you have the spares.
There are some items I have got better ones over the years which I really need to sell but if visitors comes over and I can see the love of it in their eyes and I am not to attached to it I will give it to them as I know it will go to a good home.
In regards to minimalists when I dust I wish I was one but in that atmosphere you feel like you are a visitor after all it is a home not a house which represents your own unique personality
linda h says
I think part of it is because of the reason our bodies store fat or a squirrel stores nuts; we are expecting leaner times. But also earliest man had his storytellers, and we are programed to want to preserve history, even if it is someones else ‘s history that we bought at an estate sale.
Jan says
Very well said, Linda! This is exactly why I find it hard to be the minimalist my brain wants me to be – part the scouting “be prepared” premise and part the keeper of history, often my history.
thatmidcenturyfella says
Personally, I think there is a condition built into everyone that urges us to store and save as much as we can. Those of us who love mid-century design are also looking to the habits and behaviors of those people in this time period. For example, my grandparents’ generation was the generation that saved everything for the “what if I need it” situation. When cleaning out my grandparents home years back, we found countless boxes and smalls that today would just be considered clutter. Because of the economy it’s scary to think about only having the bare minimum. I think in the human mind if we surround ourselves with things we like, we assume that these things must be worth money, and thus they are an investment for when we are hit with harder times.
Just my two cents… 🙂 Great thought-provoking question!