Contemporary Design Home Décor Explained, Here’s What You Need to Know

Have you ever noticed how some homes just looks so stylish and well put together? From the moment you walk in, the home just oozes style and sophistication. Each room seems to flow effortlessly into the next, the spaces are all inviting.

When you come across a home like this, you should know that the residents have taken the effort to design their home interiors as per certain décor styles. A few popular ones are the modern décor, contemporary décor, minimalist décor, to name a few. If you too want a home that looks effortlessly stylish, pick a décor that speaks to you. Here, we will look at what having a contemporary décor would mean.

The word contemporary means present or current, so it is rather difficult to define contemporary décor. You can say that it broadly encompasses a range of styles, and goes back to about the 1970. You can see that it borrows inspiration from modern, traditional, art deco and even futuristic design. This style is constantly evolving, unlike a modern style or traditional, this décor style has to evolve to keep up with the times. The contemporary décor of today will look very different from the contemporary décor of the future.

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But, if you look for some way to define this ever-changing style, you could say contemporary style is “simplicity, subtle sophistication, deliberate use of texture, and clean lines.” Contemporary interiors will showcase space rather than things. Overall, you will notice that homes look sleek and fresh when they follow this interior décor style.

When you pick furniture when you’re designing a home, you normally look to have pieces that are functional. The form of the piece is not as important as if it can function the way it should. For contemporary décor, it is the exact opposite, here you will first look at the form before you look at the function. When we talk about form, we mean the shape of your furniture.

Contemporary design has a mix of straight lines (from modern design) and elegantly curved lines, which could be from its art deco roots. So, you don’t have to stick to straight back chairs and boxy sofas, you can incorporate curves into all of it.

A contemporary home will have a lot of neutrals, black, and white it is more a tone-on-tone colour pallet than a wide spectrum of colours being used. You’ll notice a lot of brown, taupe, cream and pure white, black is often used for grounding a contemporary room.

This does not mean bright colours are not allowed, you might still get to see colours on a single wall, on a floor rug or on artwork.

Natural light is the most important light in a contemporary home, much like it is in a modern home. Here, light is also layering is also important. Once you get all the natural light into your home, be it from windows or skylights, you can also add ambient light, accent light and task light to your space.

Ambient: is general lighting, lighting that can fill most of a room. These lights are normally recessed lighting, track lighting or wall mounted.

Accent: accent lighting is like a spotlight, it is used to highlight a particular focal point, like a painting. These include picture lights, wall-mounted-fixtures or track lighting. You can even add dimmers to provide mood lighting.

Task: task lights are used to help you see better when you are working on a task. They are functional so think of desk lamps, reading lamps and so on.

Ideally, each room in your home should have a combination of all the above lighting. The light fixtures should preferably be in metal and they should have bold lines, either curved or straight.

Contemporary décor does believe in form over function, but there is still no place for ornate and overly decorated furniture. Pick furniture that is simple and uncluttered, without decoration, pieces that are smooth, clean, and have geometric shapes.

Choose pieces made out of natural materials like wool, cotton, linen, silk, jute. Choose shades like black, white, or other neutral tones. Less is more when it comes to your furniture and keep in mind that sofas, chairs, and ottomans often have exposed legs. Don’t look at floral prints, cute and small pieces, choose basic, bare, bold, and structural pieces for your home.

Much like modern décor, contemporary home décor uses a lot of natural material, metals, glass and stone. The windows are not left bare, the window treatments or window curtains used are of heavily textured fabrics in plain colours.

Two-tone prints are ok, but florals and messy prints are a NO. Stripes, animal prints, and textured pillows and rugs are allowed too.

If you’re looking to put in some plants and flowers into your home, then go big and bold. Pick large, eye-catching plants and flowers and place them in simple vases and planters.