Tips for Creating a Modern Living Room

Contrary to what you may assume, based on the name, modern interior design was actually first birthed back in the early half of the 1900s. It aims to remove unnecessary elements in the home to achieve a clean and modest, yet still tasteful, appearance. A large portion of today’s contemporary tastes draws influence from the modern home style, especially with the growing popularity of minimalist lifestyles and aesthetics. Fashion a sleek space with our tips for creating a modern living room.

Stay Primarily Neutral

The foundation for achieving simplicity in your living room is a neutral color pallet. You should primarily stick to various grays, whites, blacks, beiges, and browns in your furniture, finishes, and decorations. These all have a strong chemistry that will make your room exude an air of intentionality when you restrict yourself to this color palette. Many materials also naturally occur in these hues, and the modern style seeks to spotlight those materials’ organic beauty with this color scheme. Instead of painting over or artificially coloring finishes and other pieces, you allow the visual textures of wood, stone, and metal shine through.

Have Minimalistic Accessories

In the total absence of accessories, your living room can feel too austere. At the same time, you’re in danger of wandering into the territory of gaudiness if you go overboard with them. Modern style finds a balance between these two extremes by including minimalistic accessories. Examples of these could include plants in simple pots, moderately patterned rugs, and colored throw pillows. You have some leeway here to add a non-neutral accent color, such as blue or orange, without overpowering the entire room. To ensure you stay within modern sensibilities, go more energetic with one aspect of an accessory. If an item is yellow, its form should be simple and smooth. If it is patterned or textured, its color should generally remain neutral. This will keep your decorations interesting but still minimalistic.

Utilize Smooth Furnishings

Along the same lines, one more tip for creating a modern living room is to have your major furnishings possess smooth designs that are roughly geometric. Rectangular sofas without curved armrests and legs, square pillows, and conical or cylindric vases and lampshades all meet these criteria. You want to avoid traditional winding and elaborate embellishments and carvings. Instead of directing attention to the details on each piece, the room should communicate a refreshing openness when all the furnishings are taken together. Though it is by no means an uncompromising law, a good rule of thumb to follow is to check whether a piece can be reduced into one or a few simple shapes when you look at it. If it is so complex that you can’t do this, you should probably not incorporate it into your home.

Get started with your modern living room design today by finding a simple, smart rug from Boutique Rugs. We have area rugs under $100 that you can easily use to lay a foundation for your furniture pieces.