What Is Your Home Design Style: Modern, Industrial, Contemporary, or Minimalist?

What’s your home design style? Some prefer the trendy looks of contemporary, while others prefer the edgy industrial interior style. Perhaps you prefer the time-tested modern design style or the simplicity of minimalist design.

Modern

Modern interior design is clean, simple, and smooth. This popular design style favors geometric shapes, particularly squares, rectangles, circles, and ovals.

Modern design values quality over quantity, especially when it comes to decor. In this way, it is similar to a minimalist approach. This design style focuses on creating clean, unbroken lines with flat surfaces.

Wood and plastic are both often used in the modern style, though wood is more often than not painted over. Glass, plastic, chrome, and stainless steel are all commonly featured because of the smooth, even surface and textures they provide.

Modern design is known for its use of bold primary colors to create contrasting accents in a room. While the majority of a room will feature neutral shades of black and white, you might see a bright red couch as a punch of color. Chairs, art, pillows, sliding or swinging barn doors, rugs, and even a single accent wall, are all possible ways to create this interesting contrast. It’s all about creating a focal point.

Industrial

While other design styles conceal the structural elements of a building, the industrial style celebrates the raw elements of architecture like the support beams of the ceiling or utilitarian objects. The industrial style showcases wood, metal, and neutral tones (though one or two bolder colors sometimes make an appearance if the designer wants something to pop).

This urban style has an edgy appeal that pairs seemingly paradoxical design ideas together. It’s unfinished and cohesive. It’s raw and refined. It’s exposed and complete. It’s a sleek style that’s not afraid to stand bare.

Afraid your space is too finished for the unfinished industrial style? Don’t worry. There are many ways to feature industrial design without ripping out walls or ceilings. You can add in elements such as hanging, metal light fixtures, stainless steel surfaces and more.

Contemporary

If you enjoy the sophistication that comes with simplicity, then you may appreciate contemporary design.

Empty space is just as important as things and decor in contemporary design. It focuses on getting rid of the visual clutter while still ensuring a space is comfortable. Instead of featuring lots of furniture, contemporary design focuses on a few pieces that really make a statement.

The contemporary design relies on geometric shapes in everything from accessories to structure to create clean lines, though curves are far more common than you’d find in modern design. You’ll often see bare windows, high ceilings, recessed lighting, and color blocks to continue the effect.

Black, white, and other neutral colors often serve as a base in the contemporary style. Walls are often painted in neutral tones, though an accent wall is not out of the question of neutrals are used throughout the rest of the design. Pops of bold color are used to draw attention to specific elements of the room.

Sliding barn doors are a great option for contemporary rooms because even their movement emphasizes the desired clean lines.

Minimalist

If “less is more” is your motto, then minimalist interior design may be the perfect match for you.

As the name suggests, minimal design is all about concision and space economy. You’ll find no extra pieces of furniture or decor just for show save perhaps a couple of well-placed paintings. Everything has at least one purpose. Multi-use furniture is popular in this style, and appliances are often built in.

The color palette is simple. At its core, minimalism features white, brown, black, and gray. Natural colors are permissible as accents along with brick, metal, and treated wood. Metal or wood barn doors can be a great way to add a touch of sophistication within the minimalist style.

Minimalism also features a lot of light. Big windows and several sources of artificial lighting are common.