Decorating
So Your Style Is: Contemporary
Literally meaning ‘right now’, contemporary style is an evolving look that keeps pace with the latest design trends, materials and colours
What it is: Contemporary style is all about the now, and a contemporary home expresses this through its finish and fabric, as well as its furniture. The latest building techniques and architectural ideas are proudly incorporated in contemporary homes. Think fantastic glass box extensions, gorgeous glazing or innovative living walls, lush with plants. The surfaces and materials are the last word in style, too, from kitchen cabinets clad in luxe copper to floors smooth with polished concrete. Furniture is fresh from the design shows or wonderfully updated takes on the classics, while colours are exciting and used in original, eye-catching ways. Welcome to a brave new world!
Why it works: While traditional style brings its own familiarity and comfort, the contemporary look celebrates the buzz of the new. Design pushes forward and continues to evolve, and the contemporary home comes along for the exciting ride, incorporating state-of-the-art features and fittings that look amazing, but also work to improve the quality of our lives.
You’ll love it if: You were an architect in another life, prefer sleek and unique over shabby chic, and have already planned next season’s wardrobe.
Why it works: While traditional style brings its own familiarity and comfort, the contemporary look celebrates the buzz of the new. Design pushes forward and continues to evolve, and the contemporary home comes along for the exciting ride, incorporating state-of-the-art features and fittings that look amazing, but also work to improve the quality of our lives.
You’ll love it if: You were an architect in another life, prefer sleek and unique over shabby chic, and have already planned next season’s wardrobe.
Add an exciting extension
Gorgeous glass boxes and cool, space-smart extensions are the last word in contemporary residential architecture. Many Victorian terraced houses, which look trad from the street, open out onto a light-filled, super-sleek extension, bringing a period house fiercely up to date.
Gorgeous glass boxes and cool, space-smart extensions are the last word in contemporary residential architecture. Many Victorian terraced houses, which look trad from the street, open out onto a light-filled, super-sleek extension, bringing a period house fiercely up to date.
Incorporate exciting materials
Building fashionable materials into the fabric of each room gives a contemporary home its up-to-date look. Materials such as polished concrete or the copper used to clad this island are increasingly cropping up in domestic settings. They give a home an on-trend feel, but have the kind of lasting good looks that will also age well.
Check out how to be bold with brass and copper
Building fashionable materials into the fabric of each room gives a contemporary home its up-to-date look. Materials such as polished concrete or the copper used to clad this island are increasingly cropping up in domestic settings. They give a home an on-trend feel, but have the kind of lasting good looks that will also age well.
Check out how to be bold with brass and copper
Embrace a bold scheme
While sometimes cool and minimalist, contemporary homes also incorporate colour. But rather than simply featuring on walls, it crops up in unexpected places – on cabinetry, woodwork or radiators. This contemporary kitchen space is a great example, with sleek but colourful surfaces creating energy and personality in an otherwise pared-back scheme.
See more great ways to work in a little wow colour
While sometimes cool and minimalist, contemporary homes also incorporate colour. But rather than simply featuring on walls, it crops up in unexpected places – on cabinetry, woodwork or radiators. This contemporary kitchen space is a great example, with sleek but colourful surfaces creating energy and personality in an otherwise pared-back scheme.
See more great ways to work in a little wow colour
Reflect current configurations
A contemporary home not only looks up to date, it functions to suit the way we want to live today. Typically, that includes some open-plan living space and, ideally, a degree of connectivity with the outside. Here, glazing can be pulled back to allow the airy kitchen-diner to open seamlessly onto the garden.
A contemporary home not only looks up to date, it functions to suit the way we want to live today. Typically, that includes some open-plan living space and, ideally, a degree of connectivity with the outside. Here, glazing can be pulled back to allow the airy kitchen-diner to open seamlessly onto the garden.
Use updated classics
Rethought and re-tweaked versions of classic pieces, such as a wingback chair, perfectly suit a contemporary home. Comfort is prioritised along with cool good looks, so that the scheme feels welcoming as well as looking effortlessly now.
Rethought and re-tweaked versions of classic pieces, such as a wingback chair, perfectly suit a contemporary home. Comfort is prioritised along with cool good looks, so that the scheme feels welcoming as well as looking effortlessly now.
Display creatively
Contemporary art belongs in a contemporary home, but the way in which it’s displayed is almost as important as the colour and style of the piece. Here, a low shelf, running right along the room, provides space to show off pictures without the need to hammer hooks into walls. The result is stylish, but beautifully flexible, too, so you can create fresh arrangements whenever you buy a new piece of art.
Contemporary art belongs in a contemporary home, but the way in which it’s displayed is almost as important as the colour and style of the piece. Here, a low shelf, running right along the room, provides space to show off pictures without the need to hammer hooks into walls. The result is stylish, but beautifully flexible, too, so you can create fresh arrangements whenever you buy a new piece of art.
Keep things sleek
If you love reclaimed wood or vintage finds, unearthed at a flea market, you’ve come to the wrong style! The contemporary look is all about clean lines, sleek materials and glossy surfaces. Glass, mirrors and a wall of funky green give this bathroom its now feel. The clash of clean white with dark tones is also of the moment.
If you love reclaimed wood or vintage finds, unearthed at a flea market, you’ve come to the wrong style! The contemporary look is all about clean lines, sleek materials and glossy surfaces. Glass, mirrors and a wall of funky green give this bathroom its now feel. The clash of clean white with dark tones is also of the moment.
Make innovative use of space
Whatever the age of the building, a home with contemporary style makes innovative use of any corner. Here, a chic office has been tucked onto a modern mezzanine, with great art and striking shelving completing this pared-back but stylish space.
Enjoy more amazing mezzanines
Whatever the age of the building, a home with contemporary style makes innovative use of any corner. Here, a chic office has been tucked onto a modern mezzanine, with great art and striking shelving completing this pared-back but stylish space.
Enjoy more amazing mezzanines
Take it outside
A love of the latest materials and design extends to the outside space in a contemporary home. Here, a built-in bench has striking wooden seating extending out, creating bold lines in this small garden. A bespoke table matches the timber and concrete bench design, while bamboo growing in simple planters provides low-maintenance greenery all year round.
Do you have a particular style? Tell us what you love – or hate – about the contemporary look in the comments below.
A love of the latest materials and design extends to the outside space in a contemporary home. Here, a built-in bench has striking wooden seating extending out, creating bold lines in this small garden. A bespoke table matches the timber and concrete bench design, while bamboo growing in simple planters provides low-maintenance greenery all year round.
Do you have a particular style? Tell us what you love – or hate – about the contemporary look in the comments below.
Using dramatic colours in rooms not usually associated with strong shades, such as bedrooms or kids’ rooms, brings a contemporary edge to the space. A black painted wall, luxe fabrics and hip, statement lighting serve up contemporary style in this bedroom.