The Best Mid-Century Modern Furniture Hiding on Amazon

There’s an astounding amount of stuff on Amazon, from hair gem staplers to live ocean creatures and everything else our depraved souls crave between our power naps (ahem, Maldon salt). And while some of those items have become well-vetted, internet-famous must-haves—including the viral Amazon coat and tons of TikTok-trending gadgets—others risk getting lost in the shoppable sea of the behemoth’s 12 million products. Can you blame them? That’s a lot of sauce. That’s also where we come in with our giant shrimp net, crystal opera glasses, and discerning eye for design, since believe it or not, Amazon is home to a ton of slick mid-century-modern furniture. 

It’s true: The Amazon furniture department isn’t just filled with furniture for dentist offices or pieces that might adorn the Men in Music Business Conference. Deep in the bowels of Amazon, we’ve found delicate Noguchi lamps, Japandi shelves, and minimalist pendant lights; there are wicker side tables with Googie legs, expensive-looking wood bookshelves, and enough mid-century modern furniture to transform your apartment into a Mad Men set. 

We’ve memorized every curve of Marcel Breuer’s Wassily chairs—you know, the ones that can go for $8,000—to find you a look-alike in the $200 range. We’ve also found the best deals and dupes for pieces by icons including Alvar Aalto, Hans Wegner, and other beloved Scandinavian designers. We’ve also made sure that the reviews are just as good as the product photos for every piece on our short list, whether you’re looking for the perfect end table for under a hundo or the kind of lamp that says, “Why yes, I can tie a cherry stem with my tongue.” Pour yourself an icy martini and get ready to shake your (Philip Gl)ass to the best mid-century modern furniture Amazon has to offer.      

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The best side tables 

Whether it’s a nightstand, a plant stand, or the perfect side table for your morning coffee, everyone deserves the extra bit of storage and counter space that a good side table can provide. Amazon has highly rated options with mid-century-style Googie legs, woven rattan embellishments, and even pieces from the famed Italian design house, Kartell. The latter’s sliding door side table from the iconic componibili collection is the perfect way to bring in new texture (that’s still era-appropriate) to our teak- and rattan-filled living rooms.

The best lamps

An arched chrome lamp is a mid-century modern classic—it can swoop over your couch or favorite reading chair to give you the perfect spotlight. Plus, “the base of this lamp is legit!” writes one reviewer. “It’s heavy AF and unless it’s physically pushed over, it’s not just going to tip over by a breeze.” 

The mushroom silhouette is a favorite of mid-century designers and architects in general, and mushy lamps have been so popular in recent years that they’ve spawned dedicated Instagram accounts such as @mushroomlampclub. (These babies are just one extension of our love for everything shroom-related.) We’ve found two highly rated options in a vintage Murano glass style and one that’s a little more Darth-Vader-after-dark.    

The jury’s in, and trend forecasters are saying this extraterrestrial lamp is going to be the “it-lamp” of 2022. We’ve seen a version of it on Urban Outfitters for almost $500, but we prefer the side table version for its range of four colorways and ability to provide the same amount of light as the Big Daddy UO piece for a fraction of the cost.  

The best chairs and stools

Look, we love the minimalism of mid-century modern chairs. But so many of them look like elegantly arranged Jenga blocks, which isn’t that great for our bums. This 4.6-star-rated, faux-leather and walnut wood lounger has high marks on Amazon because it’s sexy, easy to assemble, and actually comfortable. “First one took fifteen minutes to build,” writes one reviewer. “The second one about half that.”  

Having a stack of Alvar Aalto stools is such as hosting flex. Sadly, a single Aalto stool costs almost $300, which is more clams than we’d like to dispense. This set includes four dupes of the iconic stool, and has earned a 4.5-star rating on Amazon. “Step stool? Plant stand? Side table? extra seating? These are SO handy and a perfect purchase for my lil single gal apartment,” writes one reviewer. “They’re cute and functional and easy to build.”    

It wouldn’t be a MCM roundup without Mr. Marcel Breuer, whose Wassily chair has been the throne in all our shroomy vision quests. Breuer stripped down this chair to nothing but leather straps and corrugated steel and created one of the most enduring pieces of Bauhaus design—not to mention a total statement piece—in the process. “The first time I saw a pair of Wassily chairs was back in 1986 and I’ve wanted a pair of my own ever since,” writes one Amazon reviewer of this dupe. “So heck yeah I’m excited. These are gorgeous and a fraction of the cost of the originals.”

The late Danish designer Hans Wegner was beloved for his slick, wishbone-style chairs that inspired this dupe, which has a 4.6-star rating on Amazon for comfort and the fact that it’s a zero-assembly piece. “The armrests and seat are designed and crafted very well,” writes one reviewer, “and it’s comfortable to sit on for long hours, pre-assembled, and packaged carefully.” 

The best bookcases and shelves

We’re old enough now to want bookshelves that actually look good in our small apartments, along with corner shelves that make the most out of our limited wall space without looking fuggo. Amazon’s offers a range of mature looking pieces that you can mix and match, from larger Googie-legged shelves to walnut-finished pieces that could work double-time as a kitchen hutch. 

The best art and decor

A house is not a home without a (deceptively simple) Danish Flensted Mobile floating in the window. How else are the neighbors going to know you’re an A24 fan? Plus, this 4.9-star rated mobile has glowing reviews on Amazon for being extremely visually soothing. 

Did you know your boy Alvar Aalto also made vases? They’re sure-to-please housewarming gifts (and one of the more affordable pieces of actual Aalto design you can invest in). We’ve yet to see this mossy green colorway anywhere—let alone on Amazon.

It can be hard to find cool, expensive-looking wall art for cheap, but this set of three pre-framed graphic prints gets the job done for under a hundred bucks. Empty and sad walls? No more.

The best couches

The couch is the true epicenter of the home, and you deserve one that doesn’t suck, and we don’t think you should have to spend thousands of dollars to find one that packs a little more design, such as this emerald, velvet sofa with a 4.5-star average rating on Amazon. “I was also nervous about the comfort, as many MCM couches are a bit nicer to look at than they are to sit on,” writes one fan. “This is not the case with this item; it’s deep, firm, comfortable, and very nappable!”

Nothing says Je suis Daddy like this deep-set leather couch. “I’m shocked that a couch this nice can be ordered and delivered through Amazon Lol,” writes one reviewer of the 4.7-star rated sofa. “First time buying a couch online without seeing it, and I can see why this couch is selling out,” writes another.

The best rugs 

Love those cult-fave Cold Picnic graphic rugs, but don’t have thousands to splurge? Amazon is filled with affordable options, such as this one by Safavieh. “It’s plush and the design colors are separated by a beveled cut which makes it look richer and adds a bit of dimension,” writes one happy customer.

You know where else you can’t go wrong? A shaggy terracotta rug. It’s forgiving to wine stains, matches nearly all color schemes, and would look oh-so-sexy beside a new snake plant. This one from Amazon has over 39,000 reviews and a 4.5-star average rating, so you know it can hold its own.

The best room divider 

This final Alvar Aalto dupe deserves a special shoutout. My roommates and I owned this dividing screen in our last apartment and found it at a swish Brooklyn furniture store for twice the price of its Amazon tag—but I’m not even mad about it. It was worth it. This screen is a game changer for bringing ambiance and texture into your house, since it can wind around all the weird corners of whatever space you’re trying to conceal (no wonder it went viral). The original Aalto screen can cost you upwards of $3,300 at the MoMA Design Store, but this dupe is only about $130 on Amazon. 

Now go put your feet up—you deserve it. 

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The Rec Room staff independently selected all of the stuff featured in this story. Want more reviews, recommendations, and red-hot deals? Sign up for our newsletter.