Contemporary
With today’s busy and hectic lifestyle, simplicity and minimalism have become a way that most people would lean onto.
In a living home design, contemporary is a style that fits the minimalism category perfectly. That’s why now most of the people start incorporating this style into their living home.
Contemporary is said to be “current” and “ever-changing”. In other words, it means that it changes according to what is popular now rather than what it is yesterday.
Then, how about modern? Are they the same? The answer is no.
Well, they do use minimalism and share some similarities. Yet, both of them are actually two different concepts with one major difference.
Like what has stated above, contemporary does not stick to a specific aesthetic of a time period. However, modern uses aesthetics from a time period specifically the 20th century.
Now, let us dive in straight into tips and tricks to achieve the contemporary style!
Airiness and open space are the elements that cannot be excluded.
So, function over form should be prioritized when choosing appliances and furniture. For example, built-in-furniture not only provides space for storage but also blends in with the walls as decor as well.
This way it can reduce any unnecessary clutter and achieve the effect of open air.
Another way to increase space in a room is to get as much natural lighting as possible.
Utilizing glass windows and doors is one of the methods. For example, the window frames should be as slim as possible to allow more light to enter. Lesser window treatments for better results.
With more natural lighting shining through every corner of the room, it could brighten up the space and make it seem wider.
The colors that always revolve around contemporary are blacks, whites, tans, and beiges.
With white walls as backdrops, then you can use dark-colored furniture and pieces as accents to emphasize the lines of the space.
Some textures can be used as decors too for some visual interest. Rugs and carpets with two-toned prints like zebra stripes, leopard spots are the perfect options for it.
One thing to take note is that you should avoid fussy and colorful prints at all cost. As it would disrupt the harmony and cause distractions to the space as everything is all over the place.
So, think wisely and choose the correct color palette for your contemporary home.
Remember to always choose furniture with solid and symmetrical lines for smooth aesthetics.
For example, upholstered furniture with solid tones is perfect for accentuating lines of a space. Geometric-shaped accessories and pieces like squares, rectangles, and circles are also perfect for contemporary styled decor.
Smooth flooring is also another important element for a contemporary house.
It is common to have nude tiles, marble, wood or vinyl in a contemporary house. Why? The smooth and shiny furnishing of the floor could contribute in emphasizing lines of the furniture of course!
This way, the lines of furniture would be distinct to the eyes and become the focal point of the room.
So, bold and solid lines should be taken into consideration to achieve the overall consistency of contemporary’s clean aesthetics.
There are three main layers of lights which are ambient lighting, accent lighting and task lighting.
Ceiling mounted recessed lights are always used for ambient lighting. This is because the body of lights are hidden inside the ceiling, creating a trendy and clean look.
For task lighting, you can use pendant lights with different geometric shapes. Those can also act as decorative elements to add more sleek lines to the space.
Floor lamps and table lamps with metallic finishing could be placed by the bedside or beside the couches to add natural texture to the space too.
Lastly, you can combine spotlights and track lights to be used as accent lighting for your decor pieces. For example, because the clean lines produced by both light fixtures, they can be angled directly at the decors like pictures, sculptures, arts to draw attention from people.
Recessed lights can also be used for accent lighting too! Its clean design adds more mystery and drama to the highlighted objects.
Let’s not forget about the color temperature of the bulbs.
For contemporary, cool white light that is around 3000K is recommended. It is because the hues produced are fairly similar to the sunlight.
The hues can help create a space with natural light that is not too soft and not too harsh for the eyes. It does not fail to give out the feeling of simplicity and easiness to the space.
Incorporating contemporary design into a living home is very simple. The main goal to achieve the design is to be minimalistic.
However, this design style is always changing and does not stick to one specific style at all. But, that’s the fun of it, you can always change up the design anytime to fit your taste without losing its minimalism.
This is why contemporary design has been popular among the society nowadays and why you should try it now!