Modern urban interior in contemporary style

Recommendation points

• Key features and characteristics
• Color spectrum
• Zoning and finishing materials
• Furniture and decor items

As one ancient Greek philosopher said: “Everything flows, everything changes.” Eras change each other, bringing us something new, new technologies and materials appear. The interior was no exception – not everyone is ready to follow the traditions and choose the good old classics or cozy country country. It is thanks to new trends and technologies that a new style of interior has emerged, which has received the sonorous name “contemporary”, which in translation from English contemporary means simply “modern”.

And this name fully reflects the main feature of this design direction – it is really popular and in demand here and now – in modern cities, with their dynamic rhythm of life and an abundance of technical innovations.

At the same time, it is rather difficult to single out the main features of contemporary as a style of interior decoration. It can be presented as a kind of mixture of modern trends and fashion trends that cannot be attributed to other styles that have formed in the last century – hi-tech and minimalism, with their rigid framework and expressive distinctive features..

What is this unusual and still new interior style for us? What are the characteristic features that allowed the contemporary to stand out as a separate design direction? How to equip a similar interior in your apartment?

Agree that it is rare to say with confidence about any ordinary city apartment – here it is a Mediterranean style, ethnicity or country. But what can you call the direction in which we are increasingly decorating interiors, mixing different trends and bringing something of our own? Designers believe that such a picturesque mixture is called “contemporary”

Key features and characteristics

It should be said right away that the contemporary style in the interior most often does not appear as a result of the efforts of the designer and the development of a special project for housing design. Usually it is formed spontaneously, just in the process of renovation, the family decides to buy one or another set of modern furniture, selects the color scheme they like, and does everything to make the interior more functional and comfortable. And as a result, what happened cannot be attributed to any historically established direction. It turns out that this kind of interior that has taken shape by itself can be called contemporary!

This spontaneity has largely determined the main features of this massive and accessible design style:

1. Variability. Such an interior can be changed every five to seven years, without much effort and, which is very important, costs, and independently, without resorting to the help of professionals.
2. Availability. Anyone can decorate an apartment in the contemporary style. You don’t need to read interior design magazines or attend design courses. Good taste and the desire to make the interior comfortable for all household members will make it possible to turn the apartment into a cozy place, decorated in a single style that defies historical definition. Well, let it go! The main thing is that it turned out beautifully!
3. Functionality. Contemporary will never compromise on comfort and convenience in favor of pretentious beauty and lush decor elements. Its main task is to place everything you need in a relatively small area of ​​a typical apartment, create a corner for rest, work, communication with friends, and so on. And if after that there is no room left in the apartment for a slender column or a floor lamp with a luxurious lampshade – well, it is quite possible to do without them..
4. Simplicity. The last key feature of the contemporary follows from the functionality. Moreover, such an interior does not strive for minimalism in decor, no, he would be happy to decorate the house with elegant details or great design, but after all, its main goal is to provide convenience to the inhabitants of the apartment, so decorative elements fade into the background.

And one more important nuance – the contemporary is not in vain called the “style of stylization”, it is able to combine a variety of design directions and take those details of historical styles that were most liked by the owners of the house. It is enough to add to the modern style, for example, wallpaper with vertical stripes and you get a good reference to the respectable English style. It is worth decorating the floor with a colorful striped rug or hanging light curtains made of natural material with garters in the form of romantic bows – this is one of the elements of country music. Lush lambrequins, a small ceiling cornice, an armchair with gracefully curved legs will evoke classic associations. And all these items and design techniques may well be harmoniously combined in a modern eclectic interior..

In contemporary art, there is no cold laconicism of minimalism or metallic luster and admiration for technology inherent in high-tech. This is a completely ordinary modern interior, perhaps not too original, but quite cozy and functional.

Color spectrum

Contemporary by no means requires you to follow any rigid principles in interior design, so the color scheme can be almost any. Nevertheless, the main characteristic trends can be distinguished:

1. Neutral shades are the perfect backdrop for brighter furniture and décor details. The interior in the contemporary style is usually dominated by beige, gray, sand, white colors..
2. Furniture is most often selected in muted colors: brown, dark blue, graphite gray, all shades of wood or stone. Lighter walls in this case will only emphasize its shape and allow you to experiment with shades..
3. But accessories and decor items can be chosen and brighter – blue, red, green or yellow vases, picture frames, curtains, bedspreads or pillows will create a positive mood in the room.

Light walls, furniture in a natural shade of wood – it turns out that more is not needed to make a room attractive and stylish. Paintings on the walls and pale blue dishes became bright accents.

Zoning and finishing materials

Contemporary does not like cramped rooms and recreation areas separated by massive walls or partitions. Modern studio apartments, in which the kitchen is combined with the living room, and the spacious rooms are equipped with areas for work and rest, separated only visually, using design techniques – all this is quite contemporary.

The boundaries between different functional areas are furniture, modular structures, curtains and screens, changes in the level or material of the floor covering, different ceiling heights and other similar elements. At the same time, the maximum benefit is obtained from each such design..

The modern style provides for such a successful, harmonious arrangement of furniture and partitions that in the near future the owners will not have a desire to change or move something..

As for finishing materials, then, of course, artificial, modern options prevail: glass, colored plastic, white metal, inexpensive wood, artificial stone. This does not mean at all that in modern times there is no place for artistic parquet or natural marble – such references to the classics are quite acceptable, but the main thing is that all finishing materials are carefully processed, reliable, with a long service life and meet all environmental safety requirements.

Most often, the walls are simply painted or pasted over with wallpaper without a large pattern, the ceiling is plasterboard with a built-in lighting system, and the flooring is light-colored laminate or ceramic tiles, which are traditionally used in the corridor, bathroom and kitchen.

The result is a completely budgetary option for decorating an apartment, which does not require the impossible and focuses on the range that ordinary construction markets or supermarkets of the native country can offer..

Zoning in a modern interior can be done simply with the help of these carpets of different colors, which helped to highlight the dining group located in the spacious living room

Furniture and decor items

The furnishings that are actively used in this modern design direction can be compared to the principles of arranging a Scandinavian interior. The same simple lines, the absence of magnificent carving, artless forms. One of the key characteristics of contemporary comes into play again – functionality, for the sake of which it is quite possible to sacrifice originality and excess decor.

Typically, modern furniture is an item of industrial production and mass production, which is not so expensive and is purchased at the nearest furniture store..

Beauty is achieved through the use of quality materials and careful processing. As in the case of finishing materials, the safety and reliability of furniture come to the fore, since things are purchased for more than one year..

In addition, contemporary furniture is intended primarily for urban apartments, which do not always boast a large area. Therefore, all kinds of “transformers” and “modules” have become widespread: the place of a large double bed is occupied by a folding sofa, an ordinary chair in the form of a real throne gives way to a more functional armchair-bed on which guests can be placed at night, a large dining table turns into a sliding table if necessary pedestal table and so on.

Great attention is paid to storage spaces in a modern interior – they must provide enough space and at the same time accommodate everything you need. Cabinet modular furniture has become one of the main current trends, allowing you to place everything that a family has accumulated over the years of living and which cannot be done without.

The simple shape of the sofa, many shelves, a neutral color of the upholstery, a glass table – today you can buy such furniture in almost any hypermarket. Unless a wardrobe built into a niche will have to be made to order

In contemporary, all those decor items are used that were inherent in the historical interior styles that arose much earlier. Vases, perhaps even “antique”, unusual or classic-shaped lamps, large chandeliers (if the ceiling height allows), a carpet in the center of the room, a lush ficus tree in a bright ceramic pot, paintings in simple frames – all this can be found in a modern interior..

This unusual and completely undemanding style means that every home owner will decorate his home with things that are dear to his heart. Over time, we all acquire a mass of photographs, bring souvenirs, statuettes from travel, buy a set of glasses we like, receive huge floor vases as a gift … All these items that evoke memories of a particular event in life, and become the main decor items in a modern interior.

And it is these individual things that turn, in general, an ordinary, even faceless interior with mass-produced furniture and standard finishes into a cozy home in which the taste and preferences of the owners are immediately felt..

A beautiful flower, soft pillows, a tall classic candlestick, shiny vases on a coffee table, abstract paintings – these are all the decor elements of this bright and very cozy living room. Isn’t that enough?

It is impossible not to notice that all things – furniture and accessories – in a contemporary interior should not be in the spirit of adjectives with the prefix “too much” or “too much.” Thus, furniture should not be “luxurious” or “cheap”, or “old” or “trendy”. The golden mean, which will allow you to create real home comfort and make the space ideal for family living – this is what this modern design style strives for..

It is easy to imagine such a kitchen in the most ordinary urban high-rise. Everything is simple, comfortable and quite cozy. So far, only cute little things are missing, well, yes, the hostess will quickly acquire bright kitchen towels, a vase for fruits and sweets, decorate the refrigerator with magnets brought from the resort, and the kitchen will become exactly the place where it is so pleasant to spend time with family and friends

Contemporary style is truly versatile and suits almost all homeowners. On the one hand, it allows you not to spend huge amounts of money on ordering furniture from Italy or arranging an ultra-fashionable 3D floor, and on the other hand, it is completely individual, creates a lot of scope for creativity and the embodiment of the most original ideas, functional and beautiful in its own way..

Apparently, this should be the interior of an ordinary city apartment, whose owners do not claim the status of a “famous designer” or “owner of factories, newspapers, ships”, and are not ready to strictly adhere to the principles dictated by laconic minimalism or palace baroque.

Next time, when guests come to you, you can safely say: “It turns out that the style of the interior, in which we have decorated our recently renovated” kopeck piece “, is called contemporary”.