The Spruce / Marty Baldwin
Contemporary interior design is comfortable, welcoming, sophisticated, and not cluttered.
Contemporary interiors appear sleek and fresh and focus on color, shape, and form.
Today’s contemporary style is appropriate for offices, stores, loft apartments, and traditional homes.
The Spruce / Marty Baldwin
Interiors showcase “the space” rather than “the things.”
Read on to learn how you could bring contemporary interior design into your home.
Contemporary styles are distinctly different according to home designers and decorating professionals.
The Spruce / Marty Baldwin
However, the two styles have different features.
Uses of Color
Neutrals, black, and white are the primary colors in contemporary-style interiors.
Black is often used for grounding and defining a contemporary-style room.
The Spruce / Margot Cavin
The palette is often punched and accented with bright, bold colors that play against neutrals.
With walls painted in a basic neutral, you have an excellent backdrop for bold-colored accessories.
The trims should be neutral if the walls and windows are painted in pastels.
The Spruce / Marty Baldwin
If a wall is a bright, bold color, neutrals should be used everywhere else.
Line and Space
The “line” is contemporary interior design’s most prominent and distinctive element.
Strong visible lines are evident in any contemporary-style home, whether straight vertical or horizontal lines or curved shapes.
The Spruce / Marty Baldwin
In contemporary interiors, less is more.
Each piece stands out as individual and unique.
Take advantage of structural elements.
Incorporate smooth, clean geometric shapes.
Pillows in clean geometric shapes add a shot of color and texture.
Use a basic background and shout out with your favorite color on a furniture piece that stands out.
Sofas, chairs, and ottomans often have exposed legs.
Beds and chairs usually omit skirts, trims, fringes, or tassels.
Don’t use ruffles, excessive carved details, or floral prints.
Abolish cute and tinygo basic, bare, bold, and structural.
Marble is another popular choice in contemporary interiors.
Use laminate that resembles wood to achieve the look at a lower cost.
Choose commercial grades if you must use some carpet for sound control or warmth.
Add color and texture to hard flooring with plain or geometric-patterned area rugs.
Lighting Considerations and Art
Track lighting and recessed lightinghelp to wash a wall in light.
Consider installing cove lighting or indirect light in both home renovations and new construction.
Include color and metallic elements on the light fixtures.
When featuring art, use spotlights or can lighting directed at a painting, poster, or print.
These will help to draw the eye to the pieces you want to focus on.
Place contemporary-style sculptures on a structural column or pedestal and any framed artwork at eye level.
When grouping multiple pieces, hang them close together so they create the feeling of one large piece.
Don’t clutter contemporary-style rooms with collections or too many pieces.
In contemporary interiors, open space is often just as important as the pieces you put in the space.
Contemporary style is sophisticated yet easy and breezy.
Encourage entertaining in your open space by placing bar seating at a kitchen bar or island.
Living Room
Make the living room feel inviting with rounded, soft lines.
Use curvy couches or rounded pillow backs.
Use simple lighting or let in natural light.
Bedroom
Use neutral tones as the prominent colors in a contemporary-style room.
Furniture is simple and practical, enclosing items and keeping things orderly and out of sight.
Lines and curves keep the feeling sleek and sophisticated.
Lamps and standing lights give the room ambient, layered light, softening the room’s mood.
