Contemporary Living Room Ideas (Decor & Designs)

Contemporary living rooms often have clean designs with a casual atmosphere. Get inspiration for decorating this area with these exciting new design trends. Often when designing a house, the living room becomes the center of the home, both literally and functionally. When people enter the main door, it is the first space that greets them, and it is from this area that other spaces are accessible. From this area, one can access the stairway to the second floor or basement, the sliding door to the outdoor patio, and the guest bathroom. In the case of open-plan houses, these spaces are unified in one room with the dining room and kitchen, creating a hub of functional and social space.

Contemporary Living Room Decor

Besides being the house’s core area, there are other important factors that go into the planning of a living space that answers to contemporary needs. Here are a few things to consider when looking for contemporary living room decor and design ideas:

High Ceiling

This is especially popular if the house is two or more stories tall, with an open to below feature being created on the floor above. This is beneficial in that more “breathing” space is created, giving the house’s core a lot of light and space. It also benefits the upstairs hallway, giving it a beautiful vista to look down on, and it also increases the height windows can achieve. In addition, having a high ceiling allows the homeowner to choose a hanging pendant lamp that can be a statement piece in the house, as there is more room to experiment with larger, bolder designs.

Fireplace / Console

Besides the central coffee table, most lounge spaces are centered on a focal point towards the front. The two most common focal points often built-up for emphasis are a fireplace or a television/entertainment console or both. This gives people a reason to converge in the living room, and it also gives definition to what would otherwise be a blank wall.

Outdoor Access

Having access to your outdoor patio from your main living room is very efficient for households that intend to entertain a lot of guests. This is especially helpful during parties as the intimate setting of the space can be extended to the outdoors where more guests can interact amongst the garden. Even if the outdoor access is closed, having a view of the garden is a great way to bring life and character into the closed space.

Couch and Lounge Set

The lounge must set you choose suits the style and theme of the area being decorated. However, it is important to note that some sofa and lounge styles may be a bit too outdated to suit a Contemporary design’s timeless and modern style. Some couch styles to think about when decorating a Contemporary living space are the Sectional, Tuxedo, Lawson and Mid Century Modern.

The Sectional is great for large living spaces, where the sofa set can be laid out in an L or U shape, while the Tuxedo features a one height profile for its arms and back, creating a clean, timeless solution for a small space. The Lawson and Midcentury Modern are both Classic old timer styles but can look great in any Contemporary living room space when upholstered with more modern textiles.

Area Rugs

Although open-plan concepts are popular, delineating the living room space is still important to give the lounge furniture a sense of unity. Instead of the more traditional Persian carpets and throw rugs, Contemporary designs are a great place to experiment with newer finishes such as shag carpets and woven textiles like abaca and hemp.

In addition, the way these carpets are laid out in front of or below the sofa sets is equally important. Traditionally it can be placed right in front of the lounge set with the coffee table as its centerpiece—this is traditionally achieved by a standard 5’ x 8’ rug. A larger 8’ x 10’ rug can also be placed such that it creeps up to half the width of the sofa while completely covering the legs of the armchairs and accent chairs.

Sometimes, the reference point may not even be the furniture but the living space’s walls—for example, keeping the rug evenly cropped about 1 foot away from all the walls. Some interior designers suggest using a larger scale 9’ x 12’ rug, aligning your furniture such that all are included on the rug about halfway, and then ensuring that 18” of floor space is available around the rug.

This is a good, simple rule to follow, however, take note that there is no one rule on how the rug should be placed, and the best layout depends on your personal preference and the actual size of the space.

With two whole walls in floor-to-ceiling glass and sheer white curtains terminating at a corner rounded white column, the brown sectional sofa perfectly mirrors this space’s spatial geometry. A large peacock blue Ottoman was used as the centerpiece for the L-shaped lounge set, and the whole room is decked in a chestnut wood finish for its floor tiles.

The corner of the redwood patio deck terminates cleanly with the black metal threshold, giving birth to a lighter-colored wood plank flooring for the house’s interior. A white shag rug is laid out for the space with a pair of white upholstered Barcelona chairs on one side and a beige Lawson style sofa with blue throw pillows on another. The circular center coffee table with its metallic frame and light wood laminate top matches the open shelves at the end done with the same finishes.

This Contemporary beach style living room is centered on a large horizontal recessed fireplace build-up with TV screen right above. The built-up is surrounded on both sides by tall, slender windows with white wooden shutters. See more couchless living room designs here. The sofa set features white canvas pillows on woven rattan and dark wood body, matching with the dark wood coffee table with rectangular metallic legs. Many contemporary ideas use neutral elements combined with clean lines to create a welcoming and attractive space.

This living space is extremely unique, with the plush purple accent wall panels towards the back, made to look like they are floating via the linear strip lighting above and below the wall panels. Warm, orange wood strips are laid out horizontally, accenting well with the all-white walls and ceilings. More classic furniture pieces are apparent in the brown all-leather L-shaped sofa and bean bag, as well as the wood and marble circular coffee table and Classic tall floor lamp.

Although small and simple, this plush white upholstered sectional couch flushed against the corner looks clean and comfortable. In addition, its L-shape contrasts very well with the L-shaped corner window on the other side, framed in white trim. The walls are in a textured light brown textile that goes well with the off-white carpet and plain white ceiling. Kitschy furniture such as the antique trunk coffee table and bright yellow porcelain stools with Arabesque patterns bring excitement to the space.

This Modern Industrial loft sees the second floor with a view of the high-ceiling living space. The living space itself features a lot of indoor plants, and even a trellis towards the back of the white leather sofas to the corner of the room. An accent partition is also applied via the use of the high white framing with white twine pattern in between, a clear contrast to the metallic grey piping of the exhaust duct over the open fireplace hearth. Other Industrial touches include the ultra-low warm wood coffee table and industrial hanging lamp converted to fish pole floor lamp.

Contemporary living room ideas that use color and patterns can make a big impact on the design. This beautiful living room design effectively utilizes color, with purple velvet upholstery wisely being used for the sofa set, matched with the wavy white and brown area rug. To add to the quirky Contemporary look, a specialty hanging lamp with surrealist handles for each lampshade was used, as well as the entire accent wall’s mirror glaze being inscribed with white circular lines. The beige stone tile finish used for the floor neutralizes all these elements and also matches well with the dark wood and mirror-glazed bookshelf and TV console.

See more elegant living room designs on this gallery page.