Designing a Contemporary Living Room

If you’re the sort of person who likes to live on the cutting edge, in the here-and-now, with no real desire to wax nostalgic, then you likely will want a home to match your personality. After all, that is one of the primary functions of interior design—to provide your home with a display of character that matches that of the owner. And there is no better way of making this display than in your living room, where your guests first adjourn when visiting you, and where you go to unwind after the day is done. Since it is the proverbial heart of your home, it’s a good idea to make a strong impression.

If contemporary living is your bread and butter, then designing a contemporary living room is practically essential. After all, you don’t want to come across as being outdated, do you? You probably already pay attention to the important style trends, but if you’re presently stumped on how to update your living room to a modern design, then read our handy guide.

Contemporary Living Rooms Have Clean Lines and Simple Geometry

The main thing separating contemporary design from a traditional approach is the emphasis on angles and basic geometric shapes. You won’t find many organic shapes or busy patterns in the modern living room. Instead, it will be dominated by rectangles, squares, circles, and graceful curves. Contemporary living room furniture is also not sharp—you won’t find many shapes with fewer or more than four sides.

Contemporary sectional sofas are most in favor by today’s interior design experts. Not only do they provide ample seating for everyone occupying your living room, they also provide a sense of cohesion and uniformity. When anchored by a large rectangular rug, the modern sectional will welcome people to the center of the gathering area, saying, “This is where the fun happens.”

Choose Mostly Neutral Colored Living Room Furniture

Contemporary color schemes are all about keeping things neutral. The interior designers of today are in favor of white, beige, grey, charcoal, and black on the walls, flooring, and even in your focalizing furniture pieces. By maintaining a mostly neutral living room, you then have total freedom for adding color with accent pieces and decorations. For example, a contemporary living room chair in red will pop nicely against a room otherwise dominated by gunmetal gray and white. Keep things interesting by mixing two armchairs in different styles while maintaining the red, for a truly contemporary, devil-may-care attitude.

Add Flair with Living Room Accents

Thankfully, the neutral boxiness is only the base layer of your contemporary living room. From here, you can get truly creative and colorful with the addition of living room accents. The first place you should start is the floor, and lay down a rug or carpet that adds color and depth. In sticking with the example of the red chairs, a large maroon shag carpet or a rug made of red faux animal skin would complement the accent chairs nicely. To properly display it, consider a coffee table made of glass so as to make the rug a statement piece, rather than something hidden by your living room furniture. Rose colored ottomans for the living room would also be a nice touch.

To bring your living room into the present, be sure to shop our collection of contemporary living room furniture, here at American Furniture Galleries. Visit our furniture showroom in Rancho Cordova, CA to browse all of our contemporary sectionals, armchairs, and occasional tables today.