Mid Century Modern Flooring : Useful Knowledge and Ideas to Get Inspired

Mid Century Modern Flooring

The popularity of mid-century modern interior style lasts until today and even gets higher in recent years. It is proven that many homeowners find it appealing and want to apply it in their places.

Now in this post, let us talk about a specific topic that will be beneficial for you to know if, by any chance, you are interested in the interior style. It is nothing else but mid century modern flooring.

The basic knowledge about it is important because the floor takes a huge part in any home design. By knowing about the right choices to consider, you can build an amazing mid-century modern interior.

You will find anything you need to know about the flooring, including what it is and its primary characteristics. We will include some amazing ideas to inspire you too. This article will be the right starting point before you do the next flooring project for your mid-century modern home.

What Is Mid-Century Modern Flooring?

a mid-century modern kitchen dining with clear-coated quartered oak floor
a mid-century modern kitchen dining with clear-coated quartered oak floor. image © HAUS Architecture For Modern Lifestyles

The answer to the question above will not be long. The reason is that everything is obvious.

The flooring that becomes the main topic in this article is none other but the one that is used in mid-century modern interior design. You can use the photo of a mid-century modern kitchen above as an example.

It has quartered oak wood as the flooring material. It got the shiny look from a clear-coat finish applied to it. The designer mentioned that the product used is water-based, which matches the characteristic of mid-century modern style quite the most.

There is no record mentioning abut when this style occurred for the very first time. However, it began somewhere during the beginning of the post-WWII and lasted until the 1960s.

Today, as we already told you earlier, the home style is still popular. People love it even more because of the timeless look it offers.

The Organic Material Characteristic of Mid-century Modern Flooring

a mid-century modern living room with medium-tone hardwood floor
a mid-century modern living room with medium-tone hardwood floor. image © abdesignstudioinc.com

When we talk about mid-century modern flooring, we cannot separate the choices from the interior style’s values. In this case, there is one primary point that you must understand to help you out in choosing the right material type for the floor.

One of the characteristics of a mid-century modern interior style that is suitable for the flooring design is the use of organic materials. Based on this, there are several choices available for you to choose from.

Let us talk about the most popular options. It is none other but wood. It is used quite a lot in the flooring design of mid-century modern homes. One thing that you need to know is that the option is limited in natural non-engineered choices.

If being asked about the species, anything can be a suitable choice for the style. Although so, we cannot lie that some options are more popular, such as teak, birch, and walnut, because they are easier to match with furniture pieces with coordinating material.

Wood flooring in a mid-century modern design often gets clear finish or coating. The purpose is not only for obtaining a sleek and clean look but also to accentuate the most natural and beautiful appearance of the wooden material.

Some designers and homeowners even go further in this case. They choose only a clear water-based finish to hold up the organic characteristic of this specific interior style.

Another popular option for flooring in mid-century modern design is natural stone. For this category, the most popular choices are bluestone, slate, travertine, and terrazzo.

As time goes by, some alternative materials that imitate the appearance of the natural stones are used by more and more people to complete the look. There are two famous examples for this category, which are limestone-like porcelain and polished concrete floor.

Red Oak Floor in an Open-Style Mid-Century Modern Interior

an open-style mid-century modern interior with clear-finished red oak floor
an open-style mid-century modern interior with clear-finished red oak floor. image © romarchitecture.com

Let us talk about mid-century modern design inspiration now. As a starting point, you can see the photo of an open-style kitchen and dining room above.

The first thing that we want you to know is the flooring material in this room. It is red oak. It gets the final look because of the clear Swedish finish with no stain applied to it.

We love this flooring option because it looks compatible with other elements in the place, particularly the furniture choices. Those include the dining table and the flat-panel vertical grain white oak cabinets in the cooking area.

Although each piece’s color is not the same as the color of the red oak floor, they all look good being with one another to complete the interior design. Together with the red oak floor, they even match the Soleil AF-330 Benjamin Moore wall color.

Solid Oak Floor with Clear Finish in a Mid-Century Modern Open Living Room Interior

open-style mid-century modern living room with clear-finished solid oak floor
open-style mid-century modern living room with clear-finished solid oak floor. image © kocharchitects.com

The open-style interior is the one applied in most mid-century modern design. That is why, as we already told you earlier, it is important to pick the right flooring type, since it is an element that dominates the space.

The design shown in the photo above is another good example to look at. It shows an open space with a combination of living and dining room.

The floor that you see here is solid oak. There is no further information given about the finish or coat. The sure thing is that we love how the floor looks highly compatible with the wood wall and ceiling.

The wall-size glass windows exist here is another excellent point that supports all the natural elements inside the room, particularly the floor. The reason is that they allow the home interior to blend and seems to become one with the outside environment of the house. For you to know, it is another value found quite a lot in mid-century modern design.

Clear-Sealed Maple Floor in a Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Interior

a mid-century modern dining room with clear-sealed maple floor
a mid-century modern dining room with clear-sealed maple floor. image © klopfarchitecture.com

This dining room photo shows one of the best color combinations often used in mid-century modern interior. In this case, the combo that we meant is between wood and white.

Here, both tones dominate the open-style dining room. The first is, of course, the floor, which material is clear-sealed maple. The second is the white paint coloring the walls and the ceiling.

Other than those, you can also see some other items in the room contain the wood and white tone. Those include the dining table set with six chairs that also become the focal point in the interior.

An excellent benefit that you can get from this kind of combination is the clean and earthy look. It can make the inside of your house gains a comfortable atmosphere in a very simple appearance.

Slate Floor in a Mid-Century Modern Bathroom Interior

a mid-century modern bathroom with grey slate floor
a mid-century modern bathroom with grey slate floor. image © blakeciviello.com

Here is an interesting example that we found. As you can see, the mid-century modern style here is used in bathroom design.

The thing that caught our attention the most is the use of non-wood floors in this interior. For you to know, the material used here is slate tiles.

As we told you before, slate is also a popular choice when it comes to flooring for a mid-century modern interior. It is made from natural stones from mountain areas.

The dark grey color of the slate tiles looks very simple. It can also function as a neutral background for other elements and furniture used in the room.

It even looks particularly compatible with the white tub. The contrasting view between the two is a point that makes the bathroom design more appealing.

White Marble Floor in a Mid-Century Modern Bathroom Interior

a mid-century modern bathroom interior with white marble floor
a mid-century modern bathroom interior with white marble floor. image © flavinarchitects.com

For you who always love to include a lot of white color in your mid-century modern interior, white marble can be a natural stone choice. However, in this case, there is a type that we suggest you more to choose from.

It is a white marble material that does not come with any veins. A good example is available in the photo of a bathroom above. In the design, the flooring used is Rectangle White Thassos Marble Tile from Ann Sacks.

There is a reason we recommend you pick clear white marble instead of the one with veins. It is to keep the simple and clean characteristics of mid-century modern style.

Travertine Floor in a Mid-Century Modern Living Interior

a mid-century modern living room with travertine floor
a mid-century modern living room with travertine floor. image © outdoorhomescapes.com

You can choose something like a travertine tile as the flooring of your mid-century modern house for a more luxurious feel. The material is from a form of limestone, so it is reasonable to have a similar yellowy appearance. FYI, it is also a popular material for the interior style we discuss here.

As shown in the picture above, the travertine flooring fits in the luxury mid-century modern living room. It even looks compatible with the choices of furniture placed in there.

The floor here seems particularly suitable with dark wood material of the round side tables and the built-in shelves. However, we cannot lie that the grey tones of the chairs and sofas look good on it too.

Although the yellowy travertine color takes over the floor, it does not make the interior stuffy. Thanks to the white walls, high ceiling, and lots of glass windows that make the room spacious and airy.

Limestone-Like Porcelain Floor in a Mid-Century Modern Open Kitchen Interior

an open-concept mid-century modern kitchen with limestone-like porcelain floor
an open-concept mid-century modern kitchen with limestone-like porcelain floor. image © darrenpattconstruction.com

This time, let us talk about an alternative material for the flooring of a mid-century modern house. The option we talk about here is limestone-like porcelain.

This flooring type is made from a natural material, but we cannot put it in the same position with natural stones as the most popular option for the interior style. The reason is that human intervention is necessary for production.

Although it is not a natural stone, many mid-century modern-style fans start using it quite a lot in their design. They also love the fact that porcelain tile flooring is quite easy to clean and maintain.

While it can be a good alternative material because of the appearance, there is one more thing that makes the limestone-like porcelain tile suitable for the interior style. It is the fact that the price is lower than any natural limestone or travertine. In other words, you can save cost when choosing it.

As an example of how the porcelain floor looks like in the mid-century modern interior, you can take a look at the photo. We love how the floor type looks good, being paired with the other elements. The color scheme chosen here particularly makes the room cozy.

Polished Concrete Floor in a Mid-Century Modern Interior Family Room

a mid-century modern family room with polished concrete floor
a mid-century modern family room with polished concrete floor. image © christianohomes.com

The last but not least flooring material that we want to discuss here is concrete. Like the porcelain option that we just talked about, this one is also an alternative material used quite a lot in mid-century modern interior.

The simple look makes it an excellent choice for the style. It also has a tone that is not hard to match with any mid-century modern furniture that you choose for the house.

For an even better visual that matches the style, there is a type of concrete flooring you must consider more as a choice. It is a polished, non-pigmented one.

Closing

The topic about mid century modern flooring is very interesting to discuss, right? We do hope you finally know about the most suitable floor types you can use in the specific style from all the information that we shared with you above.

The sure thing you must pay attention to when designing a mid-century modern interior is that natural organic options are always the best in this case. Other than, it is also important to make sure that your choice also looks compatible with other elements, including furniture, which you place in the house.

By paying attention to the mid-century modern style values, it will not be hard for you to plan the floor design in your next project. In the end, a fabulous look is the one you will obtain.