It seems as if most people nowadays want to go for a “modern” décor style in their home. But what does “modern” even mean anymore? The definition of “modern décor” has been changing constantly since the Victorian period.
In the year 2019, modern home is once that’s generally minimalist, with little furniture, lots of floor space, and neutral colors. The “style points” come mostly from your furniture, lighting, and wall décor.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to redecorate your home to achieve a more modern look.
Give it an Industrial Flair
Within the last decade, a very popular décor style has taken root across the entire United States: the “industrial style” home.
An industrial style home utilizes furniture pieces that feature a combination of wood and metal (especially the metal). Most of these homes have a brick or faux-brick walls that work beautifully with the industrial style.
It’s unclear why this style has become so popular, but it’s most likely because there’s been a redevelopment revolution in major urban areas that’s seen old factories and warehouses being turned into modern restaurants and lofts.
These buildings have embraced the “brick-metal-wood” aesthetic and have turned it into an art form.
If you’re going for an industrial look, buy some industrial-style tables and bookshelves for your home. You can keep any wood-based furniture because the industrial style works well with it. Just try and add furniture pieces with noticeable metal where you can.
Go Minimalist
“Minimalism” is the mantra of the modern home in the 2010s. To create a minimalist home, you’ve first got to declutter it. Get rid of any furniture that you don’t absolutely need—the idea here is to have lots of floor space.
You can have a console table here and an end table there, but try and keep most of the furniture up against the wall. The goal of the aesthetic is to make your home feel airy and decluttered.
Avoid overstuffing the walls with wall art. While wall hangings are an important part of the modern home (we’ll discuss that soon), you don’t want to overdo it. Opt for fewer wall hangings so the few you do have will stand out more. The minimalist aesthetic is also practical for small spaces.
Use Neutral Colors
One of the most important aspects of a modern home is that it uses neutral colors (this ties in closely with minimalism). A neutral color is very subdued and utilizes shades of black, white, gray, brown, and beige. The goal of neutral colors is to give your home a decluttered and airy feel.
Of all the things in your home, it’s most important that your walls feature neutral colors, but you should try and pick neutral-colored furniture, too. When your home has mostly-neutral colors, you’ll be able to more easily use strategic accents throughout the home.
So, if you have a neutral-colored couch, you can decorate it with a more colorful king and euro size pillow shams. If your walls are neutral-colored, you can decorate them with high-popping wall art.
Are neutral colors dazzling? No, but they allow you to incorporate dazzling home décor without making your home feel too cluttered.
Use String or Strip Lighting
For most of the 20th century, homes were lit by hefty table lamps. The minimalist aesthetic of modern homes isn’t too friendly to table lamps.
Always try and utilize lights that either hang from the ceiling or that are multi-purpose (like shelf floor lamps).
If you feel like a room is underlit, you might consider using hanging lights and strip lights. Both of these lighting methods are unobtrusive because they don’t take up space on the floor.
They can also add a magnificently warm and atmospheric look to any room. Strip lighting, in particular, allows you to create some gorgeous club-like effects inside your home.
Hang Stuff
In a modern home, you can hang lots of stuff on the wall, like art, thin decorative shelves, and string lights. Wall hangings are conducive to a minimalist home because they don’t take up floor space.
Don’t overdo it with the wall hangings. Like we mentioned, the point of having neutral colors and a minimalist aesthetic is so your wall hangings will pop.
If you have too much stuff hanging on the walls, nothing will pop and your home will feel cluttered. For the best results, only hang a few things here and there.
If you’re looking for good wall art, try and use canvas art, which is the all the rage these days. Canvas art is classy, but it’s also simple and easy to hang up.
There you have it, folks! If you want to redecorate your home in a modern look, you only have to:
• Give it an industrial flair (optional)
• Use minimalist décor
• Incorporate neutral colors
• Use string or strip lighting
• Hang stuff from the walls (but not too much stuff)
Identity Magazine is all about guiding women to discover their powers of Self-Acceptance, Appreciation, and Personal Achievement.
We ask that every contributor and expert answer the Identity questions in keeping with our theme. Their answers can be random and in the moment or they can be aligned with the current article they have written. In that way, and as a team, we hope to encourage and motivate each other, thus inspiring you to Get All A’s.
What have you accepted within your life, physically and/or mentally? Additionally, what are you still working on accepting? Now, we’re not talking about resignation, rather stepping into, embraced, and owned.
I have accepted that it is impossible to please everyone. I struggled for years to fit in with what I thought were the cool kids, but in the end, I was unhappy because I felt I could never be my true self.
Today, I now accept that to be my true self, as an individual, means that not everyone will like me and that I can’t please everyone. But I now understand that being myself brings to me the most fulfilling relationships
Appreciation is everything. What have you learned to appreciate about yourself and/or within your life, physically and mentally? On the other hand OR in contrast, are there elements of who you are that you’re still working on appreciating?
I have learned to appreciate my family more, flaws and all. When I was young, my parents had a very busy life and struggled to just make ends meet in our family. As a result, I became resentful that they never spent enough time with my siblings and me.
Now I appreciate them more because they worked so hard for our family, and I am grateful now that I can have a stronger relationship with them as an adult and have a truly fulfilling relationship with them.
Share with us one of your most rewarding achievements in life? Tell us not only what makes YOU most proud but also share the goals and dreams that you still have.
The most rewarding thing I have ever done was when I decided to study abroad in Barcelona for a semester. I really felt like I broke out of my shell.
Being in an unfamiliar place where you can’t speak the language is difficult, but I gained so much confidence in myself that I can achieve my dreams in life. I still have a passion for travel. I would love to become a travel writer one day and circle the globe!
