Modern Furniture: Finding Your Perfect Fit

If you admire the simple, clean, minimalist lines of contemporary, modern design, you can incorporate them into your space with modern furniture – regardless of the age of your home – because modern furniture looks great anywhere. When selected with care, it doesn’t require a backdrop of modern architecture to look well aligned with your existing space. If you’re interested in upgrading to more modern furniture, the good news is that you won’t need to live in a fancy condo or purchase a sleek new modernist home for your new furniture to fit in perfectly.

Bridge the Gap

In fact, modern-style furniture can invite a sleek simplicity that accentuates the most impressive aspects of older homes, bridging the gap between eras and highlighting attractive aspects of both the home and its contents. Though it’s not a universal reference point and doesn’t always apply, this approach to interior design is sometimes referred to as Vintage Modern (or Modern Vintage), which can mean modern furniture in an older home, or vice versa.

Accentuate the Positive

When you’re thinking of incorporating modern furniture into an older home, first think about the distinctive features that make your home unique. What stands out to you? What features would you like to highlight? Older homes are often known for their “good bones,” meaning solid, sometimes even striking workmanship behind the walls, at times extending to visible features like elevated ceilings, crown molding, woodwork, plaster, built-in shelves, brick walls or fireplaces.

Complement, Contrast and Discover the Past

You can honor these classic elements by complementing their historic look with the smooth simplicity and elegance of modern furniture. Consider the power of contrast between the home’s vintage textures and features with the clean, smooth and understated minimalism of modern furniture. Taking into account both balance and proportion, avoid the temptation to mimic what’s already there. Opposites attract and can work together well, so allow the simplicity of modern furniture to highlight the more ornate design features in your historic home. Look at your home’s specific history and how it was used in the past as a gateway into highlighting its historic charms.

Color and Shape

Another way to tie vintage and modern styles together is with a theme based on a single color or shape. Orienting a room around either or both can be an excellent way to align the modern and the historic within a single space, creating an inherent feeling of belonging for both elements and bringing their disparate looks together for a unique look that is certain to impress.

Remember, like many approaches to interior design, there aren’t any unbreakable rules. It always helps to inform yourself on the possibilities and general guidelines, but at the end of the day, everything amounts to mere suggestions and personal preferences. Still, there’s something special about the premeditated pairing of perfectly sleek and modern furniture with a classic, historic home. The right combinations can truly bring out the best of both eras and make for a perfect fit.