How to Decorate a Mid-Century Ranch Home

Decorate a Mid-Century ranch home with retro-inspired accents

Interior design often takes clues from the architecture of the home. Ranch-style homes often inherently have a Mid-Century design appearance because of their clean lines and simple form. There are many retro ways to enhance the appearance of a ranch home with Mid-Century interior decorating elements to create a clean, uncluttered, vintage-inspired decor. The outcome will be a timeless decorating scheme to enjoy for years to come.

Things You'll Need

• Gray, eggshell-finish interior paint
• Paint can opener
• Paintbrushes
• Paint roller
• Paint roller pan
• Painter's tape
• Teal, blue, black and cream upholstery, throws and pillows
• Danish Modern furniture
• Geometric-patterned rugs, pillows and draperies
• Retro lighting in globe, hourglass and geometric forms
• Sunburst-shaped mirror
• Sunburst-shaped clock
• Hammer
• Nails

Instructions

1. Use a cool color palette. Paint the walls a soft gray color to serve as a neutral backdrop for the entire Mid-Century design. Choose an eggshell finish paint to give the walls depth and hide any unevenness, which is sometimes an issue in an older ranch-style home. Accent the color scheme with upholstery, throws and pillows in vibrant teal, sapphire blue, cream and black, which are hues that pop against the often popular light-colored woods used in this era.

2. Incorporate Danish Modern furniture. Mid-Century design usually features woods, such as teak, oak and birch, in bleached or blond hues. The furniture of this style is known for its clean, uncluttered lines with simple shapes, boxy forms, and streamlined features. Use Danish Modern pieces, such as credenzas, coffee tables, end tables and chairs, for an authentic retro look and feel to the entire design.

3. Accent with geometric shapes. Accessorize the Mid-Century visual appeal of the home with the addition of geometric-patterned accents, which are quintessential to this style of design. Add items, such as decorative pillows, area rugs and artwork, that feature shapes and geometric images.

4. Utilize retro-light fixtures. To further enhance the Mid-Century style of the home, incorporate various vintage-style lighting with geometric lines, hourglass shapes and globe forms. Hang a large globe-shaped chandelier over a dining table as a focal point in the dining room. Place table lamps with hourglass-formed bases and geometric fabric shades on either side of a couch or bed for an additional layer of Mid-Century design to the space.

5. Accessorize with a sunburst accent. Sunburst mirrors and clocks are often associated with Mid-Century design, which makes them a perfect decorative item for a home inspired by this era. Hang a sunburst mirror over the wall behind a bed as a way to amplify the focal area of the bed. Feature a sunburst clock on a wall in a kitchen area as a functional and beautiful decorative accent or place a large sunburst-design mirror over a fireplace wall to anchor the Mid-Century decorating theme of any room in the house with stylish, retro flair.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep a Mid-Century ranch home uncluttered to achieve the most pleasing visual look and feel of this decor.

• Choose upholstered furniture in solid fabrics for longevity of the pieces, and bring in pattern with accessories, such a pillows, rugs and draperies.

References

• House To Home: How To Get The Mid Century Look
• Southern Living: Instant Makeover: Mid-Century Makeover
• Elle Decor: Updating A Mid Century Ranch House

Resources

• The Nest: Mid Century Modern Decor Finds For Under $200