Becoming mid-century

Like many young college graduates looking to make it in the world, I have lived in an apartment in a city for over 10 years. Houston. Kansas City. Portland. San Francisco. DC. I have experienced overwhelming feelings of love for these cities…and overwhelming annoyance at times. Looking at you, San Francisco. Each time I relocated, I happily flocked to the center of town, delighted by the cozy restaurants and chic bars, the energy of each gentrified block and the newest acai bowl pop-up. I forked over my 1K...2K...3K a month to live close to work, near my favorite grocery stores, at the very edge of the best view of Golden Gate Park. I washed my own dishes, marched my clothes to the washer and dryer in the basement with a fresh roll of quarters, and bargained for furniture via Nextdoor and Facebook, I ate at every trendy restaurant with my leftover cash. I was living. I just needed a place to put my belongings.

In my late twenties, I moved to Washington DC, single and with only a few accommodating friends from work. During my transition from San Francisco to DC, I moved in with my parents for three months and saved enough money for new furniture. For the first time in my life, I was deliberately choosing the aesthetics of my home rather than piecing it together. I consulted my mom, a long-time devotee of transforming one's home and my aunt, a renowned interior designer in Seattle. I told them: mid-century modern. I want everything to be mid-century. We noodled off to Room and Board, School House Electric, HD Buttercup, Organic Modernism, and West Elm and the apartment came together via a wood-inlaid console (similar here), a bohemian rug, two velvet swivel chairs, a contemporary coffee table and an arc floor lamp (similar here) that arched into the living space. I was proud.

I of course drew my inspiration from various media and entertainment, Mad Men and YouTube...Mandy Moore and Zac Efron's home tours via Architectural Digest and lusted after homes in dwell and apartment therapy. I enjoy many stereotypical mid-century modern comforts: lo-fi music, reading several books at a time, high-quality ceramics, black and white photography, and Negronis. Mid-century modern always felt like me but I also thought one just decorated their home, whatever that home happened to look like, in a mid-century “vibe.” I was not yet attuned to the architecture and history, or the fact that historic mid-century homes were affordable and attainable in the area I had chosen to call home.