What is the correct name for the interior design style of the 50's?

Mid-Century Modern?

Kitsch?

self edited

I believe it is known as “Modern”.

Old fashioned/dull as dishwater?

Mid century modern is more like the interior of Rob and Laura Petrie’s house on the Dick Van Dyke show. Lucy’s house is a little more old fashioned (even though it was filmed during the height of what is called mid-century modern).

Now, I would call it 50’s retro or Post WWII Americana style.

Here’s a pretty good shot of the interior of Lucy and Ricky’s living room The coffee table and the desk with the phone are more like “early American revival” pieces, although the couch can definitely be considered Mid-century modern. The curtains are more like styles that were popular during the 1940’s.

Here’s a picture of Rob and Laura Petrie’s living room. The couch and the blue lamp and the window treatments are definitely mid-century modern.

Then there is Ward and June Cleaver’s living room which is a transition between the more 40’s style interior, leading up to the mid-century modern look. There’s is still pretty traditional and would not call it MCM, just because the lines are still slightly decorative and formal.

I guess I should have actually looked at the room before I answered. lol.

The look of the set of Good Eats is also I’m tune with the old fashioned bowling and Hawaiian shirts which Alton often wears.

I think Retro Kitsch would cover it. Or Retro Quirky (which would be a term I coined to describe Alton in general :)

He definitely has his own sense of style.

I think it’s Art Deco?

I’d say modern, but, not sure.
Art Deco…mmmmm, maybe some Deco influence.
I LOVE the 50’s showers/bathrooms with the big ice block type tiles that you could see through.

Art Deco would be going back a bit too far.

As an example of Art Deco, think Chrysler and Empire State Bldngs. in NC City.

Some of the items can be classified as Art Deco, even though when you think of Art Deco, you think of a much earlier time, like the 1930’s. But some of the “diner-style” items or things that might have been in Lucy and Ricky’s kitchen or on Good Eats could certainly be described as Art Deco.

Like this clock or these salt shakers or this stool

@Kardamom, looking at those photos, I’d say all of it was too much stuff! What a bear that would all be to clean!

IIRC, the styles of furniture from the early 50s to late 60s was called Scandinavian Contemporary. I see a lot of older pieces in each of the photos from the ‘30s and ‘40s as well, and have to hand it to the set designers of those shows; they did a great job. No one in those days really threw out pieces that were still good, even if the items were old, so each space is a jumble of different periods. But the sofas and tables are definitely influenced by the clean lines and light woods of Scandinavia.

@Coloma “I LOVE the 50’s showers/bathrooms with the big ice block type tiles that you could see through.”
Those square glass things? Gag! We have them and think they’re ugly. Our house is 7 years old.
Ours are on the wall above a bathtub. You can see the neighbor’s chandelier shining through the edges.

Mid-Century Modern, although some things are Atomic Style

Another guy who uses a lot of this stuff is Bob Blumer, also known as The Surreal Gourmet.

In one season of his show, he went around cooking and serving food from his custom renovated vintage Airstream trailer. It was really neat.

@Kardamom

Thanks for the reminder. I was thinking more along the lines of buildings and dresses only :)

@Buttonstc OMG! Cooking and an airstream trailer combined? Those are two of my favorite things in the whole world. Is that show still on?

AFAIK it’s not currently airing in the US at this time. His latest series “Glutton for Punishment” is evidently on Food Network Canada but it’s not nearly as good, in my opinion. I saw some episodes of it on FN here and Surreal was just so much better. But Surreal was a number of years ago. It was so wildly imaginative. Nothing else quite like it ever.

But I imagine that level of totally wacky creativity would be difficult to sustain.

I’ll put in the link for his website and he might have some vids there. The other possibility might be something like Netflix maybe?

Or I wonder if it might be available for sale on Amazon. I also don’t remember accurately whether or not the Airstream was part of each year of the series or just one or two. I seem to recall him starting out in his tiny apt. kitchen decked out to the nines with Retro Kitsch.

He definitely has shades of Alton Brown in his style sensibility but less science and props and more general wackiness like Dishwasher Salmon.

That last one is on YouTube. And there are also a few clips of Surreal Gourmet on there as well.

Unfortunately, I guess he’s an acquired taste for some (I acquired the taste from the first SG that I saw). I wish it was more popular and had legs to take off the way Good Eats has. But such are the vagaries of TV popularity.

here’s his website. Enjoy.

www.bobblumer.com

@Buttonstc Thanks!

I like Alton Brown and I love Good Eats and my favorite is Diners Drive Ins and Dives.

Airstream trailers are so marvelous.

All of these answers and just re-reading the OP’s question made me think of Lucy and Desi in that movie called The Long Long Trailer. Does anyone remember that? There was a really funny scene where Desi Arnaz is driving this ridiculously oversized trailer up a very steep and very curvy mountain. I’m pretty sure someone else is trying to go down and he has to back it out of the way to let the other guy pass. It’s very funny.

Just for curiosity, why do you like triple D ?

I am an interior designer, I believe the word your looking for is 50’s Retro

@Buttonstc I think Guy Fieri is pretty funny, and fairly knowlegeable about home style cooking. I love home style cooking, it reminds me of a lot of the things that my grandma used to make. I love eating in diners and he’s been to a couple of places in my city that I know are good. I would love to have a job like Guy’s where I could travel the country and eat yummy food. Especially if I was doing the traveling in an air stream trailer.

@Kardamom I don’t even like Guy, but I love the places he visits! One day, we plan to take a road trip, just to eat our way across the country. :D

Mid-century modern is my guess, too.

I am so pleasantly surprised to find so many answers here this morning. I have heard of “art deco” and “shabby shiek” and “retro kitsch” but I am still not clear what look they are describing. “Retro 50’s” would be self-explanatory, but I don’t think that is the official title in an interior design sense. Scandanavian Contemporary sounds like it might be the one. Thank you everyone for your input.

I was actually alive in the 50’s, although very small. My parents had a brand new track home, complete with pink and black bathroom, decorated with flamingos. The kitchen was turquios and white, with a border of tulips. The cabinets were white metal, I think. The fridge was little and rounded on top, with a tilt-out drawer on the bottom where Mom kept the crackers and cookies. I love that style.

Scandinavian Contemporary (1930–1950)
A simple design style, natural wood, by Danish and Swedish designers.
That’s the right one, I was not thinking of just furniture design.