20 Contemporary Living Room Ideas to Spark Your Inspiration!

As the main space in your house, the living room must be a showcase of your house, a sneak peek of your house, so you should arrange them to represent your house’s identity.

Enjoying family time or entertaining some guests, a living room must be designed as you as possible, and also should be comforting, inviting, warming, and cozy.

If you’re a bit confused on how to make it as you as possible, here we give you some contemporary living room ideas as a start to create a pleasant feeling in your living room.

1. Neutralize Your Space

neutral living room

This type of apartment contemporary living room is one of the most famously acknowledged style: Scandinavian. On this style, the color palette on the furniture can be toned down to be more neutral, using the basic neutral color of beige palette and gray.

To minimize the dullness, use a bit of spark to let the dynamic of the space flow.

Even though the color palette you’re set is totally neutral, you can trick it with the play of texture. For the wall, if you already have the plain white wall as the existing, let them be.

Use a different texture approach for the furniture that significantly defines your space, such as rugs, sofa, or even your chevron-patterned cushions!

2. Black, White, and Something in Between

luxurious living room

You love a contrasting atmosphere but you kind of feel it’s too overwhelming and make the space too ambiguous, and on the other side, you hate for your living room to be all white and sterile?

Well, how about inserting some color in between to balance them and redefine your color palette and found your new favorite style!

  • Give a white color for the wall, window case, lampshades, and some of the furniture.
  • Choose a contrasting color of black for the sofa. A sofa is one of the main element of the living room and can balance the atmosphere.
  • For the rug idea, choose another dark palette that is not far from the black, such as blue, but doesn’t make it too dark, because it can blend in with the sofa. A bit brighter one will define the space of your sitting area.

3. Unfinished Wall for Your Contemporary Living Room Ideas

industrial contemporary living room

Having a loft-style house can be a great alternative for you. But if you’re living in a more modern and plain setting, it can be a bit hard to implement them, moreover if you’re having a budget that you have to take care of.

But don’t worry! To create a great impression of a contemporary living room yet still maintain the industrial taste is really possible!

One of the main themes of an industrial setting is the high ceiling and unfinished wall, if you don’t have a high ceiling, then the unfinished wall will do.

If you feel the atmosphere a bit dull due to its grayness, balance them with white or bright colored furniture. To create an accent for your space, choose one significant color to define space and avoid the dullness.

4. Clean and Comfortable

white contemporary living room

Coming home to a pure white living room after a whole day activity and looking on the various crashing and merging of texture and pattern is surely a great thing to experience.

Its purity can bring a calm and peace, bringing a sense of relaxation through plain color and texture.

You can apply them on all of the surfaces. But to define the space, give your living room a bit of play in texture and color.

The first one that can be easily played is the rug and supporting furniture such as a bookshelf.

Pouring a bit of texture into the floor can be done by installing carpet or hardwood floor with a bright palette.

5. Creativity for Positivity!

chalkboard painted wall living room

Turn your living room into a steadily-changing theme! By this, you can draw any artwork, or your kids’ drawings the soul of the cheerful house.

Simply use a chalk to draw and feel free to erase them whenever you feel like changing them. This will surely upgrade your living room into a more lively and attractive space.

This style of contemporary living room ideas is a pretty DIY project, by having a chalkboard-painted wall on one of the side. Of course, it usually comes in black color, so you need to install brighter furniture to support them.

Once you’re done, let your creativity flow. Or call a professional if you want to have a more perfect aesthetic on your chalkboard.

6. Industrial Theme for Your Contemporary Living Room Ideas

white brick contemporary living room

Even though you have a great loft with an industrial setting, you still can have a great décor of your transitional living room idea with a contemporary setting, since the industrial theme comes in geometrically strict components, then giving them similar components from the contemporary style will be a perfect fit. Before you start it, here are some tips:

  • Let the bricks exposed. If you feel like bringing a calm and cozy feeling, choose to paint the living room with white rather than cover them. By this method, you can get a calm and industrial feeling in one snap.
  • There are maybe some plumbing works in your room. Paint them in a bit of striking palette such as gold as the accent for your white wall.
  • For the flooring, we recommend installing the wood floorings to balance the whiteness. If you choose to expose the brick naturally, choose the darker material.
  • Insert the modern flair furniture with a bit of dark brown palette. Give some bright chair or small plants as the accent.

7. Rustic and Contemporary

rustic contemporary living room ideas

As a person, or family that enjoys outdoor and natural elements, being in a rustic theme is a great way to décor your living room.

But being constrained by the budget, it is a bit hard to bring in the outdoor elements to fit in your living room. In this article, we will show you how.

  • The very core of this outdoor, rustic, or country theme usually comes with stones or bricks. Bring them in and install it on the main wall of your living room to create the main theme.
  • You can install wood flooring for another outdoor feeling with a large color spectrum and texture.
  • The only thing that almost unchanged is furniture. Keep the contemporary flair on your sofa, table, and rugs!

8. Private Beach Inside!

coastal contemporary living room

Living by the sea is like living the dream. Feel the breeze, warm sunshine, and the blue of the ocean from the beach to the edge of the horizon.

Make sure your sunroom coastal living room embraces the feeling so that you don’t necessarily need to go outside to feel the ocean feeling.

The very basic of a beach house is getting the sunlight in as much as you can. Install a large window for the wall that faced the ocean. Then include your furniture in, by choosing a bright white or color like beige as sand.

You don’t need to include the blue in the living room because, obviously, the blue comes from the ocean and the sky itself!

9. Fill Your Wall!

wall décor for living room

Okay, you don’t want much hassle on redecorating your living room but you feel something missing on a big blank white background behind your sofa?

Fear not, try to insert some artwork or another wall decor ideas like the great complementary element for the room. It will give you a character of the space, as well as the house.

If you’re the one who likes to create, or love, simple art in frame, then it’s your golden opportunity! Hang them on your wall, create and arrange them into some particular pattern and you’re set!

Remember: the color palette of your artwork and its frame should match your overall living room color palette.

10. Warming You Up

modern fireplace for living room

No matter how contemporary your living room is, inserting a fireplace as one of the contemporary living room ideas is not a bad recommendation.

Mainly if you live in the cold parts of the world or houses in the Rocky Mountains. Installing a fireplace is deemed as necessary, but how you should work this out? looking for timeless fireplace ideas?

On a more contemporary approach, build a space for your fireplace as well as the chimney. It can be an integral part of your space as central heating for the living room.

But if you want to experiment a bit. A portable, Victorian style fireplace can bring a new antique flair for your living room.

11. Playful and Spacious Contemporary Living Room Ideas

studio playful contemporary living room

Create a playful living room that fits the whole family. The combination of great interior, choice of great warming colors can make your living the main room for all when you want to relax when the kids are playing, and when you want to sing a song with your guitar. Make it the center of your house!

The choosing of the color palette should be combined between beige and bold. It makes you comfortable, but on the other side, it invites you to be more active.

Furniture and personal items should also be included to put here. And if you have a large space for living room, let the center stage as spacious as possible for various occasions!

12. A Bit of Identity

lighting contemporary living room

As a people with a great love of choosing a neutral color palette such as white and gray as the great color palette for its living room, give another texture to gain some identity.

This may be not significant in quantity, but we sure it will gain significance in quality and the color play on the house.

Rather than installing furniture on a bold single color, try to explore with a space that mixes your color palette choice.

For example, you can use Ikat rugs consisted of white, gray, and black to mix all of the elements in your living room.

It may just a rug, but it will define your space significantly and amp up the vibe around them.

13. Blue-themed Retro and Contemporary Living Room Ideas

retro contemporary living room

We always see retro as a simple style, basic geometry, and bit play on the curve. On this, we see them as having a bit of similarity to the contemporary style.

Now let’s merge them into one and you’ll love the result!

Applying blue as the main color for your wall and furniture symbolize the modernity, boldness, yet also calmness in it.

White as the color for the floor and rugs can be seen as the neutralizer to avoid the excessive darkness. Mixing them with woody furniture of the retro era can create harmony between the two themes and three colors!

14. Neutral and Natural

scandinavian contemporary living room

Combine the neutral palette and natural elements as one of your ultimate contemporary living room ideas. Plus create a party with a lot of accessories for the decorations to liven up your space!

  • The choosing of a neutral palette should come from the wall, the main furniture, and the rug.
  • Use natural elements like wood and rattan for your furniture and flooring and plants for the accessories. This will tone up your living room from the previous neutral settings.
  • Feel the emptiness of the wall? Install your favorite artworks, paintings, or one single large picture as the great background for your living room.

15. Bring the Classic In!

classic contemporary living room ideas

Have a 19th or 18th-century mansions yet want to create a more modern or contemporary setting, we have the answer!

The key is to blend the classic and contemporary style into an astonishing result for a new wave of an elegant contemporary living room ideas!

  • Usually, the classic wall has a geometrical uniqueness on its wall. Preserve them to show the antiquity and timelessness and paint them in a pastel coloring to show the calmness and antiquity sparked by the wall.
  • For a more modern approach, make sure the window is modern with its basic geometric shape, pretty much like the industrial setting.
  • Furniture and rug’s color should also match the pastel color palette applied on the wall.

16. A Sky Full of Stars

Victor starry sky living room

Feeling outdoorsy and mostly adores the stars on the dark night sky? You feel bored by the dim lighting of the table lamps?

You can try this method to brighten up your living room by incorporating lamps to make your living room a starry sky every night. It will bring a great vibe and brightness for your night activity.

The very first thing you should consider is how many stars, a.k.a. lamps you want to install?

Create the sketch first to make your pattern, either you want them to shape something or just let them scattered in the sky.

This is can be a DIY process, but make sure you know everything about electricity. Otherwise, consult a professional regarding this lighting style.

17. Warmth and Openness

open contemporary living room

We believe this contemporary living room ideas really fit on a warm, sunny, and humid regions like Southern California, summer houses, or even the tropical area.

Rather than maximizing the air conditioning unit, houses on those regions should embrace the sunlight and arrange a great décor to create a cozy and warm living room.

The key to letting the sunlight and warm breeze enter your house is through the large opening (for your window) and manage it well (by window curtain).

Another thing is to let the natural comes in through the installment of the wood flooring and paint orange-brown shades on one of the sides of your wall and apply the color on the furniture as well.

18. Sunrise or Sunset View

monochrome contemporary living room

House on the edge of the cliff with a gorgeous 360 degrees of the mountainous landscape? Isn’t it beautiful?

Okay, now let’s décor it if you really want the sunlight kisses you whether it’s rising up or setting down.

Get black and white and mix them! But remember, too many blacks will focus only on the sun rather than enjoying the room. Too many whites will make the room too bright once the sunlight hit the room.

The key is obviously the large window. The second is the décor. Mix white and black as the main color to balance the room.

For example, apply black on the wall and rugs and whites on the furniture and cushion. And give some colors as the accent such as light brown for the floor and cushion.

19. Connect with the Garden

 

transitional living room

Some people favor to be as close as possible with outdoor so that they installed natural elements to create it more rustic and country vibe.

But what if you already have a spare land on your house that can be built as a tiny garden for your house but wants the living room and garden to be separated?

The answer is to assign your tiny garden as the main attention.

For your living room, give the widest access as possible by installing a large opening so every time when you’re doing your activity in the living room you will always look at the beautiful garden.

To make your garden as the main attraction, create an almost sterile environment by applying whites on the floor, ceiling, and furniture.

20. Small Contemporary Living Room Ideas

Small contemporary living room ideas

For you who lives in a small house or an apartment yet wants to have a cozy living room, don’t worry because we’re here to give you few tips to make your living room a more comfortable space, mainly if yours is one that visited or used quite often as the central part of your house.

For the theme, there is no other than trick the visual space beside to give the white or beige palette. Bright colors tend to visually enlarge the room. This is the key and the majority color you should apply.

When comes to other parts such as furniture, you may use a contrasting color, but it should be limited to one or two items, such as the main sofa to maintain the large visual appearance of your living room.

So, there’s that. A various contemporary living room ideas we’ve offered to give your living room a more modern touch, an upgrade to be one of the best places to show who you are, to represent your identity in the room.

From white to black, full and purely contemporary or mix them with the large spectrum of styles, purchasing or DIY, large or small living room, dimly lit or bright with lots of lighting, we have offered them all. Now everything returns to you.

How do you want your living room? Hope this can ignite your ideas of an ideal living room that is truly yours. Happy designing!

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