y changing the face of Mid-Century designs and it's only in the past decade or two that the Postmodern tenets have influenced home design in a trend-setting way.
Postmodern contemporary designs take the minimalism of the Mid-Century Modern and classes it up a bit. The 1960s brought an explosion of color and pattern back into the world. However, you'll notice that in many 21st century home designs - homeowners opt to simplify their color schemes because neutral palettes are more ideal for the rate at which we buy and sell homes these days.
That being said, Postmodern designers didn't like the rigidity of the Mid-Century design rules, so there is a bit more freedom to express oneself in a Postmodern design - and the design will often honor and reflect the history, geography etc. of the area. Thus, for example, if you live in an original Craftsman home, odds are a postmodern kitchen design will include some of those original wood-accented architectural design ideas - while playing them out in postmodern way.
These are the basic characteristics that set Postmodern Contemporary apart from Mid-Century Modern designs:
- Integrative with other design styles
- Further minimalist, even so far as to not use hardware
- Countertops with thick slabs, square edges, and waterfall styling
- Sharp, smooth, and shiny with clean lines and edges
- Stark and industrial design, less influence from nature
- Emphasis on neutral colors, with less instances of color accents
And, of course, it's all about technology these days. So the postmodern kitchen is also one that takes advantage of high-tech gadgets and smart gizmos aplenty.
The over-arching difference between these two design modalities is that Mid-century Modern is a style of it's own. It is not easily blended with other design styles, because once you start introducing elements of Mid-Century Modern in to a room, it tends to take over as the dominant style. Postmodern contempoary, on the other hand, is a much more flexible and integrative style that doesn't necessarily relate to a certain period of time, and thus can be more easily merged with different design trends.
So - are you a Mid-Century or Postmodern Modernist? Or perhaps a combo of both? Either way, the Kitchen Magic crew can help you design a kitchen that remains relevant through the ages.