In today’s world, a modern home can mean many different things. There are a few elements, however, that seem critical: it must be functional, stylish, and representative of the people who live there. The home should be a place of comfort and solace while hopefully not causing you a lot of extra chores throughout the day. This may feel like a tall order, but we’re confident that most households can adopt these attributes with just a bit of inspiration and the application of a few ideas that resonate.
While we can’t force resonance, we can provide you with some helpful inspiration with 10 ideas for the modern home. These suggestions and tips, which we have sought out from the expert decorators and designers on our site, will help you to simplify your life, increase functionality, and give you the chance to hone in on which aspects of the home are truly important to you and your family.
One particularly sleek and sophisticated change you could make to your kitchen would be to opt for frameless kitchen cabinets instead of conventional ones.
This look is ideal for small kitchens because frameless cabinets blend better with their surroundings and attract less attention to themselves visually.
Further, the modern home ought to be a place of peace and harmony. Nobody needs to come home from a hectic day at the office only to step into a chaotic home life.
One easy way to make your home a truly regenerative space is to incorporate elements of nature into the décor. Plants are always an effective way of cultivating a sense of tranquillity and earthiness, but stones and branches work well, too.
While decorating with plants is a good idea, we must warn you not to overdo it with the vegetation or décor of any kind. Above all, you’ll want to keep your home looking minimal and clutter free. This will maximise functionality and help you to relax after a long way.
Work in embellishments by choosing essentials in patterns and colour tones you enjoy rather than adding items in simply for the sake of ornamentation.
Setting your design scheme to a neutral toned backdrop will make it easier for you to swap out pieces as you transition from one season or style to the next. Plus, neutral tones are also much cosier than their bolder counterparts.
Keeping the base colour scheme neutral certainly doesn’t mean you have to keep the rooms of your home void of colour! In fact, a bold statement piece, like this sofa, truly pops amidst the more minimal colour scheme that surrounds it. We encourage you to showcase your favourite pieces in a similar fashion.
In other times, purchasing luxurious sets of identical furnishings was all the rage. It demonstrated both wealth and taste. In our modern world, however, things are much more laid-back, purchasing in set can make your interiors look lifeless and stuffy.
Instead, try mixing and matching furniture of different shapes, designs, and styles. You’ll end up with a far more interesting and dynamic look.
Pendulum lights are highly stylish these days. They bring a cool industrial vibe to the interior, and they come in many different varieties. If you’d really like to add a touch of mod to your home, we recommend mixing and matching different funky shapes like we see in this example.
Open plan interiors are a great alternative to the old way of doing things by compartmentalisation. The open plan space encourages more communal interaction between members of the household and it ultimately allows your home to feel more spacious.
Plus, there are more options for getting creative with the ways you choose to give focus to the various portions of the living area in the absence of walls.
One of the greatest beauties of modern style is that it usually works splendidly in tandem with other aesthetics. One particularly popular mixture nowadays is the rustic-modern look.
There are plenty of ways to get achieve this style at your home. For example, you could blend modern shapes with rustic textures and farmhouse details, as we can see in this kitchen.
As we search for ways to make our homes more modern and trendy, it’s also an excellent idea to take advantage of the myriad eco-friendly options out there for hardware, furnishings, appliances, accessories and more.
Even installing a simple motion sensor tap can cut down on water waste. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to try composting. We’re here to say that now is the time! At the very least we recommend doing your part to purchase sustainably sourced products for your home whenever you can.
We hope you're feeling a bit more inspired to revamp and revive your home to modern perfection! For more tips on what's en vogue this year, check out these must-have interior trends of 2016. Happy decorating!