Mid-century modern design is quite colorful and often includes striking reds, ochre, bright yellows, and retro colors like aqua and mint greens and pinks. In many cases, the design uses these bolder colors to create contrast with a neutral palette that includes earthy browns, whites, and grays. The degree to which you include bold colors in your mid-century modern design is all about personal preference. It gives you the freedom to stay mostly muted and use accent walls or pillow covers to bring pops of colors, or go all in and cover your walls with bright, loud colors.

Mid-century modern and farmhouse design are similar in that they focus on simple yet beautiful design, but the difference is that mid-century modern tends to include bolder colors and more striking furniture design. You’ll see more geometric shapes and curves in furniture with mid-century modern and a more rustic, rigid look with farmhouse design that feels a bit less playful. Farmhouse design also lends itself more to neutral colors and earthy tones, while mid-century modern can also include bold yellows, oranges, greens, and reds.

Mid-century modern design focused primarily on two things: simple, functional furniture, often with geometric shapes, and specific color palettes that included earth tones and what we’d today call retro colors. Furniture often blended different materials, like teak or oak wood, with vinyl, metal, and glass. Common mid-century modern paint colors included browns, reds, burnt oranges, yellows, aqua greens, and whites.