How to Decorate a Contemporary Style House

Welcome to the world of Contemporary interior design!

The Contemporary design style is a world of clean lines and minimal but outstanding pieces.

People generally make the mistake of using the term modern when referring to the Contemporary design style.

I hear it a lot even from furniture retailers who should know better than customers.

The reality is these are two different and specific styles.

So how can you decorate your Contemporary home while even retailers don’t seem to understand this style?

After this article, I am confident that you will know everything you need to know and all the inside tricks we designers use when we are decorating stylish houses.

Let’s start with baby steps; Contemporary design style refers to the style of the moment, which is why the Modern and Contemporary design styles have several common elements. 

I am going to share with you these similarities in this article to eliminate any confusion.

After you internalize these differences, you will have a good laugh the next time you hear someone swap the terms modern and contemporary.

[lwptoc]

Contemporary Interior Design Style Types of Furniture

As we go through the defining characteristics of the contemporary style, you will see that this style is slightly masculine. 

I often see bachelors drift to a Contemporary interior design style in their own homes.

That doesn’t mean that this style can’t suit us, girls, too. Contemporary is a great style, and like any style, it can be adapted to suit your needs.

Contemporary furniture is easy to spot. The pieces have very straight, solid, and clean lines.

Let me introduce you to a tuxedo sofa, which is a classic contemporary piece. You can find this sofa in various colors and sizes to fit your needs.

A tuxedo sofa is one of the popular sofas you can find easily.

It’s the straight, horizontal, and vertical lines that dominate this style. You will not see any adornment or carving on any Contemporary furniture.

Another defining feature is that the furniture’s legs are (almost always) fully visible in this style: no skirts or slipcovers of any kind.

The legs of the Contemporary style pieces are often square shape and quite short on the sofas. On the contrary, the legs of the chairs are longer.

You may have heard that Contemporary style furniture is known as low profile, especially the sofas and the beds.

Materials

What’s more, the choice of the material for Contemporary design style is generally smooth and reflective surfaces such as glass, steel, lacquer, chrome, and nickel.

These surfaces are balanced with several rough surfaces like stone, wood, brick, and concrete. 

Hard materials dominate the Contemporary style, but of course, soft materials are used as well. The most common soft materials are cotton, silk, linen, jute, and wool.

Colors

Contemporary interior design style uses neutrals.  You will see a lot of greys, beiges, browns, whites, blacks, and greiges.

White walls are an excellent choice for Contemporary style.

If Contemporary style is your home decor style, I have good news: you can create beautiful neutral monochromatic color schemes effortlessly for your home color palette.

A small warning when you choose your colors: bright colors are on point with contemporary style; pastel colors are not.

Accessorize Your Contemporary Style Home

One of the most important things to thoroughly feel the contemporary style in your house is to choose the right home accessories.

Home accessories play a massive role in making the overall style in a room. 

You can adapt a style by just adding some stylish accessories, whatever your interior design style is.

Window Coverings

Contemporary style architecture has huge windows because it is essential to let in as much natural light as possible.

Because of this, windows are left bare.

If you want or need window coverings, you can use roller shades or very simple curtain panels to create cohesiveness with your home style.

Rug

Like windows, floors are also generally left bare in a contemporary style.

Rugs can be used in a contemporary style. If you want to use a rug, go for solid rugs with exciting textures.

Contemporary is one style that rarely uses patterns. If you see patterns, they will always be geometric ones.

You can use geometric or abstract patterns in your rug. Your rug can be your piece of art in your room.

Art Work

It is better to use large oversized pieces of artwork rather than collages.

Try to use black and white photography or abstract art.

Make sure that the frames are simple; avoid baroque frames.

Contemporary is not contemporary unless you have used some open or negative space in your design. 

Remember, when you hang your wall art, it is better to leave empty spaces than fill every space in your house. In a contemporary style, negative space is a must.

Contemporary is all about (really) minimizing clutter.

Decorate Your Furniture

You must be very thoughtful about what you choose to have as an accessory because you don’t need anything sophisticated.

One dazzling piece is all you need on a console table or a coffee table.

So what would be striking?

You can consider using a sculpture or a beautiful glass bowl.

You can use rough materials that define a contemporary style and choose some accessories made with them, such as stone vases.

Plants

Plants are a great way to bring in a sculptural element to the room. Look for plants that have attractive sculptured leaves.

For instance, you can use the Madagascar Dragon Tree, the String of Pearls plant, or the Snake plant.

Because the contemporary style is the style of today and today’s culture, it’s generally concerned with our environmental impact on the earth.

Sustainability is an essential element of Contemporary interior design style.

Where You Can Find Contemporary Interior Design Style Pieces and Accessories

After all this information, I think I reduced the burden on your shoulders to find the right pieces for your Contemporary house.

Let me make decorating with Contemporary style even easier and give you some store advice.

So if you are looking for Contemporary pieces for your own home, I recommend searching on Room&Board and West Elm.

For some sculptural elements or exciting pieces of furnishing, you can check out Urban Outfitters Home. I love every piece they sell; they are magical.

If you are on a strict budget, Ikea is the best choice. They have some nice pieces you can mix into your contemporary house with ease.

From the perspective of price, I would categorize Contemporary as a moderately priced style.

However, you now know what kind of pieces you need to decorate your house with Contemporary style. I know you can choose perfect pieces within your budget.

Is this article helpful for you? Or do you have any questions? Please feel free to comment below.

I am more than happy to help you! 🙂

What is your favorite feature of Contemporary style?