How to Upgrade Your Home with a Contemporary Look

By Susan M. Keenan

Too much is simply too much and totally unheard of in a carefully designed home featuring contemporary decor. Everything in the room is there because without it, the room’s ambience would not exist. Colors are carefully orchestrated to create a masterpiece within a masterpiece. Each piece is integrally related to another facet of the room with an underlying bond.

Contemporary designers are available to design your home’s interior for you, or you can attempt to wing it on your own. Simply follow a few basic guidelines and principles to achieve a Contemporary look that you’ll be happy with for years to come.

Colors

Contemporary colors are quite distinctive and when paired in the right combinations, make an unforgettable statement. Typically, the colors can be separated into two groups, neutral and bold. The neutral colors include such staples as black, cream, gray, taupe, dark brown, deep purple in an eggplant hue, and beige. The bold colors are excessively bright and include orange, red, and cobalt blue. Both groups are essential to creating the quintessential contemporary home décor.

However, it is important to not that the color coordinating must be accomplished in such a way as to avoid an obtrusive look that simply screams its unforgiving union. Quite often, a small portion of the room can shout out its desire for creating a bold statement while the rest of the room holds court with neutrality in a shade of one.

Patterns

None of the busy patterns that are found elsewhere in stylistic home décor will find a place in a contemporarily styled home- not even on a tea towel. Instead, contemporary patterns prefer the sharpness of geometric shapes, strategically splattered on the upholstery in a tone on tone color combination.

Materials

Contemporary materials tend to lean toward the sleek, cool to the touch, smooth finishes. Highly popular are items crafted in leather, metal, glass, marble, stone, and concrete. Again, let it be said that the colors used are neutral or one of the three bold colors. The combinations used are subtle and may include glass with black, silver, or gray.

Wood products are acceptable for contemporary designs provided they fall into either the color of wood referred to as blonde or charcoal gray, black, or brownish black. When selecting furniture, moldings, and doors, focus on the styling aspects of the colors as well as the type of materials so indicative of the Contemporary look.

Accessories

One basic rule applies to the accessories found in the rooms of a Contemporary home- absolutely no business about the piece that is displayed in a room. This is actually a case of less is best, and more equates to size not quantity. In fact, the absence of accessories is typical of the Contemporary design. An avoidance of unnecessary furnishings such as ottomans, magazine racks, coat trees, and more is critical to maintaining the clean, clutter free look that is so beloved by the style.

Components of necessary accessories such as lamps and ceiling lights are simple in design, neutral in color, and typically crafted from glass, marble, Lucite, stone, concrete, or metal. Lampshades are functional rather than ornamental. Wall adornments are large and sparse. Knick knacks are nonexistent.

Floor Coverings

Floor coverings are as important in a contemporarily designed home as the walls and the furniture. Wood, in hues of dark and light grain, stone, and concrete are the delight of a contemporary designer. In fact, a blast from the past has merged and one piece roll out linoleum in subtle textures colored in neutral shades is making an appearance on many contemporary floors.

Wall to wall carpeting cannot cross the threshold unless it’s on the way out of the door’s opening. Area rugs remain simple with a single, neutral coloring or a tone on tone simple, geometric design.

Plan before You Purchase

If you want a new look for your home, don’t just think about wallpaper, paint, flooring, and trim. Go for the whole package and give your home a complete makeover on the inside. If you currently have traditional, French Provincial, or ultra modern styling throughout your home, you may consider switching to contemporary design.

Search through home design magazines and online catalogs. Browse several home furnishing stores. Put it on paper and eye it up for awhile. Once you think you have lit all together, go out and make your purchases. Start with the largest items first. Smaller items are easier to cancel or exchange.

© Doityourself.com 2006