# Mid century modern colors: palettes with hex codes [Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/mid-century-modern-colors) Teak sideboards, mustard armchairs, travel posters in flat orange and teal. The colours of the 1950s and 60s still look optimistic. Here they are with codes, grouped into palettes you can use today. ## The short version - Mid century modern colors come from design between roughly the mid 1940s and the late 1960s, in furniture, interiors, posters and advertising. - The signature mid century palette pairs warm walnut and teak wood tones with mustard, burnt orange, teal and olive green on a cream ground. - Mid century graphics typically use flat colour without gradients, simple geometric shapes and clean sans serif or playful script type. - A mid century palette works best when a warm wood or cream neutral takes up most of the space and two accents do the talking. - The style suits coffee shops, furniture and homeware, record shops, travel and any brand that wants to feel warm, optimistic and well made. **Mid century modern colors** are the warm, optimistic shades of design from about 1945 to 1969: mustard yellow, burnt orange, teal, olive and avocado green, set against walnut wood and soft cream. They appeared on furniture, kitchens, travel posters, record sleeves and adverts, and they still feel cheerful without being loud. The trick is the neutral: warm wood and cream take most of the space, and two accents do the talking. ## The classic mid century modern color palette - Cream: #f2e8d5 - Walnut: #7a4a2b - Teak: #b5713c - Mustard: #e1a730 - Burnt orange: #d0602a - Teal: #2b7a78 - Olive: #7d8b3a - Espresso: #2e2a26 The full set: cream and wood for the base, four accents, espresso for type and outlines. Notice how warm everything is. Even the teal and olive are slightly earthy rather than clean and bright. That warmth is what separates mid century colour from later, cooler modernism. If you put this teal next to a cold digital blue you will see it immediately: it looks like it was printed, not lit. ## Five mid century palettes with hex codes Few designs of the period used every colour at once. Most chose a neutral and two or three accents. These five sets cover the moods you will see most often in furniture showrooms, posters and kitchens of the era. | Palette | Neutral | Accents | Mood | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Living room | Walnut `#7a4a2b` | Mustard `#e1a730`, teal `#2b7a78` | Warm, the classic look | | Travel poster | Cream `#f2e8d5` | Burnt orange `#d0602a`, teal `#2b7a78` | Sunny, adventurous | | Kitchen | Cream `#f2e8d5` | Avocado `#9aa346`, harvest gold `#d9a23a` | Homely, domestic | | Atomic | Espresso `#2e2a26` | Coral `#e5735a`, aqua `#7cc6c0` | Playful, space age | | Gallery | Teak `#b5713c` | Olive `#7d8b3a`, cream `#f2e8d5` | Calm, earthy | Each palette uses one neutral and two accents. Mustard with teal and orange with teal are the two pairings most people recognise as mid century. - Mustard into walnut: `linear-gradient(150deg, #e1a730 0%, #b5713c 50%, #7a4a2b 100%)` - Cream into burnt orange: `linear-gradient(150deg, #f2e8d5 0%, #e6a77e 50%, #d0602a 100%)` - Aqua into teal: `linear-gradient(150deg, #7cc6c0 0%, #2b7a78 55%, #1e4f4e 100%)` - Cream into olive: `linear-gradient(150deg, #f2e8d5 0%, #c9c68d 50%, #7d8b3a 100%)` Mid century graphics were mostly flat, so use blends like these as soft backgrounds and keep shapes on top in solid colour. ## What made mid century design look the way it did Colour was only part of it. The look came from a whole set of choices that you can borrow alongside the palette. - **Flat colour.** Posters and sleeves were printed in a few solid inks, often with visible overlap where two colours met. - **Simple geometric shapes.** Circles, boomerangs, starbursts and kidney shapes, often slightly off register. - **Wood everywhere.** Teak, walnut and rosewood gave interiors their warm base, so wood tones belong in the palette. - **Clean sans serif type** for modern brands, with a friendly brush script for anything playful. - **Optimism.** Bright skies, new technology, travel and leisure. The mood is hopeful, never ironic. For type, geometric sans faces in the spirit of Futura, and the grotesques that came out of [Swiss design](https://gradiently.design/guide/swiss-design), carry the modern side. [Retro fonts](https://gradiently.design/guide/retro-fonts) lists free faces that suit the period, including scripts that read well at small sizes. ### Overprint: the detail that sells it Printers of the period often laid one transparent ink over another, so where a mustard circle crossed a teal block a third, darker colour appeared. That overlap is one of the quickest ways to make a digital design feel mid century. On the web you can recreate it with a multiply blend, which darkens shapes where they cross exactly as ink does. ```css .shape { position: absolute; border-radius: 50%; mix-blend-mode: multiply; } .sun { background: #e1a730; } .pool { background: #2b7a78; } /* the overlap prints as a deep olive, like two inks on cream paper */ ``` Two flat shapes with `mix-blend-mode: multiply` on a cream ground. Where they meet, the colours combine like ink. ## How to use mid century modern colors today ### Pastiche - Every accent in one design - Clip art starbursts on every corner - Bright pure white ground - A distressed texture so heavy it hides the message ### Modern take - One neutral and two accents - One simple shape that echoes the era - Warm cream or walnut ground - Fine grain, like an old printed page 1. **Start with the neutral** Cream for a light, poster feel; walnut or espresso for a richer, furniture feel. 2. **Pick a classic pairing** Mustard and teal, or burnt orange and teal. They are recognisable at a glance. 3. **Keep colour blocks flat** Solid fills for shapes and type. If you use a gradient, keep it in the background. 4. **Add one period detail** A circle sun, a starburst behind a price, a script word. One is charming; five is fancy dress. A portrait product post announcing a restored walnut sideboard in warm mustard and walnut mid century colours A vintage furniture post in the Living room palette: walnut ground, mustard and teal accents. A portrait event post reading Jazz on the terrace in cream, orange and teal mid century colours A café event post in the Travel poster palette, cream and burnt orange with teal type. The palette suits coffee shops, cocktail bars, vintage and homeware shops, record stores, travel brands, architects and anyone selling something made to last. It also prints beautifully, which makes it a good choice for posters and menus. [Poster design](https://gradiently.design/guide/poster-design) has layout advice that works with flat mid century colour. ## Mid century colours compared with other retro palettes Mid century sits before the louder decades. The 1970s took its earth tones darker and browner; the 1980s swapped them for neon and pastel; the [90s aesthetic](https://gradiently.design/guide/90s-aesthetic) split into grunge, early web and translucent plastic. If you want warmth and optimism without neon, mid century is the decade to borrow from. [Retro colour palettes](https://gradiently.design/guide/retro-color-palettes) compares them side by side. If you want your mid century look on a background that nobody else has, browse Gradiently's Marks by colour words like "mustard" or "teal". Any unclaimed Mark is free to design with, and claiming one makes it yours alone. ## FAQ ### What are the main mid century modern colours? Mustard yellow, burnt orange, teal, olive and avocado green, harvest gold and coral, set against walnut and teak wood tones and warm cream. ### What colours go with mid century modern furniture? Warm wood pairs best with mustard, teal, burnt orange and olive. Keep walls or backgrounds in cream or warm white so the wood and accents stand out. ### Is teal a mid century colour? Yes. A slightly earthy teal, such as #2b7a78, is one of the most recognisable mid century accents, especially paired with mustard or burnt orange. ### What years count as mid century modern? The term usually covers design from about the mid 1940s to the late 1960s.