You’ll recognize a contemporary interior design by its clean, smooth lines and touch of sophistication. When designing a home contemporary style, the designer will include high ceilings and large open windows that let in natural light. This type of design will have a clean spacious feel to it with lots of room to move around. Both natural and artificial lighting is very important because it helps to illuminate the room and create an open, spacious feeling.

When decorating an existing design with this style you’ll focus mainly on furniture and color. You’ll need to choose furniture pieces very carefully to avoid crowding anything together, so be prepared to take lots of measurements.

Contemporary Interior Design Colors and Accents

Neutral colors such as white, black, cream, taupe, light brown and beige are the main colors used in a contemporary design. The furniture you choose to decorate with will consist of these colors instead of floral prints, ruffles or loud patterns. You’ll also want to avoid pieces that contain detailed carvings. Instead, look for simple but elegant pieces in neutral colors to decorate your home. The walls will also be painted with these neutral colors or you can choose to use paneling instead of painting the walls.

To set off the neutral colors, decorators will use bold colors for accents. Decorative area rugs and throw pillows are added throughout the living room and bedrooms to add a splash of color but solid colors are used for these instead of flowery or loud patterns. These accent pieces are also kept to a minimum to avoid the cluttered look. Silk, velvet, wool and linen are the most popular fabrics used with contemporary décor.

The wall art is large and colorful with metal frames but there will be few pieces on the walls and most will have chrome or metallic frames. Mirrors are also very popular in this design along with metal or chrome light fixtures and glass end tables.

Contemporary Kitchen and Flooring Options

The clean and clutter free look continues throughout the kitchen with appliances made from stainless steel, chrome and nickel. Glass dining room tables and gorgeous chandeliers are very popular as well. You’ll often see the black and white combination used throughout the entire kitchen and the faucets along with the hardware used on cabinets usually have a metal finish.

Vinyl and tile are popular materials used for the kitchen and bathroom floors but hardwood floors normally dominate the rest of the home. The wood floors and furniture used throughout the home will be a very light or dark color but not a mixture of both because the key to maintaining the clean, airy look is to be consistent with your décor. The decorative rugs are used to create interest, warmth and to add color to the bare floors.

If you’re drawn to bright airy rooms with clean smooth lines, you’ll love the contemporary interior design style. It’s fresh, sophisticated and very stylish. If you’re having trouble creating the look you want, consider hiring a professional decorator to help you choose the right colors and furniture pieces to pull everything together.