Easy Tricks That Will Make Any Room Look More Modern

There’s one thing that can be said for interior design:

It’s always changing.

Just think about how design trends have progressed in the last half-century.

Shag carpets and earthy tones were all the rage in the 1970s. By the turn of the century, your home was considered outdated unless you had bare white walls and metallic accents.

It’s both hard and expensive to keep up with the trends!

Fortunately, there are quite a few easy tricks to make any room in your home look more modern. And you don’t even have to break the bank to get with the times.

All you have to do is follow these five tips:

Read Also:

• 10 Home Flooring Ideas That Will Completely Change the Look of Your Home
• 6 Interior Designs and Home Staging That Will Ensure a Quick House Sale
• Use Virtual Interior Design to Reimagine Your Home: Here’s How
• 9 Window Design Ideas to Spice up Your Home
• How to Design a Remarkable Home Entryway
• 5 Easy DIY Projects for Home Owners

1. Install Dark or Grey Laminate Flooring

Hardwood flooring is a design trend that made its big comeback in the 1980s. At the time, tearing up old shag carpet to find a wood floor underneath was every homeowner’s dream.

These days, hardwood flooring is the perfect way to add resale value and a luxurious modern vibe to any style of home.

And you can get that look on a budget, thanks to a hardwood alternative known as the laminate flooring.

Laminate flooring is great for a few reasons:

It’s usually waterproof. It looks a lot like wood. It’s resistant to pet and child damage, and you can find it for less than $1 per square foot if you shop around.

You can even install it all throughout your home, including in your bathroom and kitchen.

Today, most modern laminate flooring comes in grey or a darker wood shade.

2. Repaint Walls With Muted and Neutral Colors

“Modern” interior design means that the walls of your home are now your canvas. Bare, white walls are out, and muted and neutral colors are now in.

So, what colors are quintessential to modern interior design?

For the most part, you’re looking at muted shades of blue, green, and even purple. Many of these paint colors will give your home a soothing and “natural” vibe without being overbearing.

To say that greys are modern would be an understatement.

Neutral grey is probably the most popular paint color in interior design today. This is a good choice if you’re looking for a crisp paint color that’ll match most furniture.

3. Decorate Walls With Contemporary Artwork

On top of your freshly painted neutral walls should be a generous amount of contemporary artwork. Contemporary artists work in a variety of different styles, so you have quite a lot of options.

So, what’s considered “modern” in terms of art?

Many modern homes now have gallery walls in the entryway or along the stairs. Find your favorite artworks and photos, slip them into different sized picture frames, and arrange them on the wall however you like.

Canvas wall art is also extremely popular these days. Whether your art depicts a photo landscape, an abstract design, or your favorite quote, there’s a piece to match any room.

4. Swap in Some Modern Furniture

If you try to replace all of the furniture in your room with modern pieces, you could spend thousands of dollars. The pieces might go out of style, leaving your room outdated and your savings account empty.

So, it’s a good idea to buy furniture one piece at a time.

Every piece you add will slowly make a difference.

When it comes to modern design, you’ll notice that a lot of furniture seems to be sleek and minimalist. Chairs will often have narrow wooden legs, for example. And modern bedroom sets typically have frames that sit low to the floor, unlike those huge frames from the 90s.

There’s one more benefit of going modern:

The amount of space you save!

Massive sectionals that take up three-quarters of your living room and huge entertainment centers are so last decade.

As you start to incorporate modern furniture into your home, you’ll notice that it opens up a lot of room in your place.

5. Prioritize Natural Light and Windows

Nothing will make your home look more welcoming and modern than a ton of natural light pouring through your windows.

But installing new windows is expensive.

Instead of tearing down the walls and hiring a contractor, your best bet is to make the most of the window features you already have.

Open the blinds and the shades and let the light in!

Here’s a trick that can help you maximize the amount of natural light coming through your windows:

Hang a mirror directly across from your window.

This will double the amount of light in your room, which not only brightens the space but also makes it look bigger.

In addition, investing in exterior doors with windows can allow even more light in.

BONUS: Clear Your Clutter!

One thing you’ll notice about modern-style homes is that they always look pristine. Sometimes, it’s hard to believe that people even live there.

Going modern means decluttering each and every room of your home.

However, you don’t have to get rid of all of your favorite possessions. You just need to find the right storage solutions.

Here are a few ideas:

• Cubbies to hide your clutter from view
• Bookshelves to stack your books and decorations
• Ottomans with interior storage space
• Couches or beds with hidden storage space beneath

Each of these tricks will help you hide your clutter so your home looks neater and more modern.

Conclusion

Keep in mind that your desire to have a modern home doesn’t always have to override your personal style preferences.

In other words, if you hate the color grey, don’t paint your room grey.

You might also want to hold off on making any interior design changes until you notice that trends appear to be sticking around. Hopping on a trend too quickly might leave you with an outdated home within a year or two.

And the last thing you want to do is redecorate every single year!

Author Bio:

Caitlin Sinclair is the business manager at Sway, a luxury apartment community in Santa Monica, CA.