Traditional home decor has become the backbone of interior design trends of decades past. Filled with rich wood furniture, neutral color schemes, and matching sets, traditional design offers a sense of familiarity and comfort to people of all ages. Modern home decor, on the other hand, emphasizes clean lines, pleasing geometric shapes, and effortless simplicity. It focuses on using fewer pieces of furniture with the intention to put together living spaces that feel bright, open, and airy.
While at first glance traditional and modern home decor seem to be vastly different, when strategically curated, they can work together to create a harmonious blend of old and new pieces. If you’re looking to breathe new life into your home by giving your living spaces a modern update while paying homage to your tried and true traditional furnishings, the trusted Star Furniture design team is here to help. Check out these simple tips to get started.
The Allure of Traditional Furniture
As interior design trends come and go, there’s one home decor style that will always have a place in our hearts (and our homes). Traditional decor offers a timeless style and effortless comfort that makes it easy to incorporate it into virtually any space. While traditional decor can encompass a wide range of furnishings and accessories, there are some common themes that you can expect to see in any traditionally decorated room, such as:
- The use of quality materials, such as dark wood furniture, rich upholstery, and ceramics.
- Rooms that embrace symmetry while pairing together mismatched pieces.
- Highlighting elegant patterns, such as florals, stripes, and plaid.
- Combining pieces that feel as glamorous as they do relaxed, makes everyone who visits your home feel at ease.
The classic yet stately design of traditional furniture, including dining room tables, sofas, and beds, makes them a natural focal point for the rooms they’re in. Traditional furnishings don’t aim to impress you in terms of creativity or trendiness; instead, they offer a familiar, comfortable, inviting aesthetic that can be the ideal backdrop for a family home.
Introducing Modern Elements
For homeowners who crave living spaces that are simple, open, and uncluttered, modern home decor is a great option. This interior design style has grown in popularity thanks to its subtle charm and fresh details. Modern home decor uses every piece of furniture and accessory for a specific purpose, doing away with any item or detail that isn’t necessary. The result is living spaces that are sleek, well-organized, and endearing.
If you’re interested in bringing furnishings into your home that are inspired by this sought-after design style, be sure to look for pieces with these distinct features:
- Pieces that are made from natural materials, such as metal, glass, unpainted wood, and leather
- Neutral, earthy color schemes
- Pieces that are simple and unadorned, not intricately detailed
While modern home decor is known for being unfussy, it’s important to note that it doesn’t come off as stark or cold. On the contrary, living spaces that embody a modern atmosphere feel fresh, current, and welcoming. Each piece serves a specific purpose, making modern-inspired rooms as practical as they are comfortable and attractive.
Choosing Your Base: Selecting Traditional Pieces
When it comes to mixing traditional and modern furnishings within your home, the best approach is to take it one step at a time, piece by piece. Rather than randomly pairing different items together, it’s a good idea to create a foundation with the furniture in the space, and then pull the look together with accessories.
The stateliness and undeniable presence of traditional furnishings make them the ideal starting point for nearly any room in your home. If you’re searching for the perfect traditional pieces to welcome into your home, be sure to shop with a trusted furniture store, such as Star Furniture, so that you’ll know they’re made with quality and comfort in mind. Here are some of the Star Furniture design team’s favorite traditional pieces for every room in your home:
- Natural beauty and understated elegance radiate from our Oxford Sleigh Bed which features charming details in its rich wood finish.
- Our Castella 5-Piece Round Dining Set will be the star of your dining room thanks to its sophisticated style and lovely upholstered dining chairs.
- Your living room will instantly feel more cozy and inviting with our Picasso II Sofa that boasts handsome, brown leather cushions.
- Working from home will be a pleasure once you add our Tribeca Executive Desk to your workspace, complete with ample storage space for your office essentials.
- Add a touch of classic style and functionality to any space in your home with our stunning Mercedez Accent Table, perfect for table lamps, photographs, a cup of tea, and more.
Modern Twists on Classic Designs
Once you have created the foundation for a space in your home with quality traditional furniture, it’s time to freshen it up with some modern pieces. When it comes to putting a twist on traditional home decor by incorporating modern touches, it’s important to find the right balance. Rather than overwhelming your living spaces with modern pieces that clash with the timeless aesthetic of your traditional furnishings, the juxtaposition of the two should let each item shine in a way that feels fresh and visually appealing.
One way to put a modern spin on the traditional furnishings you adore is to breathe new life into them with some modern upgrades. It’s important to remember that just because a particular piece may be considered an antique or vintage doesn’t necessarily mean that it must be preserved in its original condition. It’s perfectly acceptable to reimagine how your grandmother’s antique side table or a dresser you found at the thrift store could be elevated. Keep these simple tips in mind to give a traditional piece of furniture a modern update:
- Replace the original upholstery of the piece with a more playful fabric, such as dramatic stripes or a feminine floral print.
- If you’d like to brighten up an area of your home or add a pop of color, consider painting a traditional furnishing.
- Swapping out the hardware on your traditional dresser, side table, or china cabinet with modern ones is a quick, easy way to instantly make a piece of furniture feel updated.
Changing up the appearance of your traditional furniture with modern touches isn’t the only way to combine classic and modern home decor. Pairing traditional and modern pieces can also help your living spaces feel refreshed and up-to-date. To mix and match interior design styles like a professional, check out these tips from the trusted Star Furniture designers:
- Create a sense of cohesion by pairing materials that go well together regardless of their style. For instance, hanging a gold mirror over a wooden table is a safe decorating move in nearly every interior design style. With this in mind, consider pairing a traditional side table, buffet, or entryway table with a simple, modern mirror for a charming result.
- Be sure to balance the intricately detailed style of traditional furnishings with the clean, sharp lines found in modern decor. For example, an elegant wingback chair would look fabulous next to a simple glass coffee table.
- Soften the ‘heavy’ look that can sometimes come with traditional pieces by incorporating modern wall hangings above them, such as an assortment of matted black-and-white photographs in simple gold frames in your dining room.
Balancing Color and Texture
One of the biggest challenges that comes with bringing together traditional and modern furnishings together in a way that feels balanced and cohesive is choosing the appropriate color palette. Even with its understated simplicity, contemporary color schemes can often be more vibrant and distinct than the ones of decades past. If you’re struggling with how to curate colorful living spaces that feel intentional and harmonious, have no fear. The trusted design team at Star Furniture can help you use color and texture in your home like an expert. Here’s how:
- Use a traditional area rug with lots of details and colors to act as the statement piece of the room. Bring modern furniture adorned in neutral colors into the space to tone down and balance the colors of the rug.
- Brighten up the dark traditional furniture in your home with a piece of modern art that includes bright colors and designs.
- Make any space in your home feel bright, airy, and inviting with flowy curtain panels.
- Add texture and modern charm to your traditional sofa or bed with colorful accent pillows that feel stylish and fun.
Color can sometimes be used to bring an unexpected flair to your living spaces while helping traditional and modern pieces work together. When in doubt, however, you can’t go wrong by sticking to a neutral color palette. Combining the richness of the dark wood furniture found in traditional home decor and the lightness that comes from white upholstery, metal features, and earth tones in modern decor can easily come together to create living spaces that feel homey and inviting.
Accessorizing with a Modern Edge
One of the simplest ways to marry traditional and modern furnishings in a way that feels authentic is to pair traditional furniture with modern accessories. This is especially practical if your home is already decorated with traditional pieces and you’re striving to give it a modern spin. Check out these tips from the Star Furniture experts to add a modern edge to your living spaces with the right accessories:
- Elevate the space with eye-catching artwork, such as vibrant pottery displayed on a bookcase or a bold painting used as the focal point of the room.
- Add one unexpected item to a room. For instance, if everything in your living room is neutral and subdued, consider adding throw pillows on your sofa in a playful shade of color, such as hot pink or yellow.
- Brighten the room (and mood) of your home by replacing your traditional lighting solutions for modern ones, such as this one.
- Layer an area rug on top of a larger one to create dimension and texture in your living room or bedroom.
Spotlight on Innovation: Modern Materials and Techniques
Gone are the days when furniture was made exclusively from wood, metal, or glass. Modern furnishings no longer describe exclusively their appearance; it can also refer to how a piece is made. Innovative manufacturing techniques have made it easier than ever to achieve specific styles, functionality, and durability. Because of this, you can bring the visual appeal of traditional home decor into your living spaces with superior features. For instance, wood can be engineered in a number of different ways, such as plywood, veneers, and fiberboard, to achieve particular results.
While it looks as beautiful and natural as solid wood, engineered wood can offer features that solid wood cannot, including being water resistant and immune to warping in humid conditions. Additionally, investing in faux woods rather than traditional wood gives you the option of incorporating the appearance of wood grain on furniture but in colors that you wouldn’t be able to find in nature, such as varying shades of gray.
Modern home decor encompasses so many other types of materials than merely engineered wood. Metal also works beautifully in modern living spaces, helping them bring in the clean lines, sharp corners, and sought-after shine that homeowners are drawn to. When it comes to pairing different modern materials with traditional pieces, the sky’s the limit. Just remember that the furnishings you group together should complement each other in terms of scale, color, and overall style. Your home decor should seamlessly flow together, not compete for attention.
Add a Modern Touch to Your Traditional Furniture with Star Furniture
Who says you can’t have it all? If you love the comfort and familiarity that comes with traditional home decor but would also love to put a modern touch on your living spaces, the trusted design team at Star Furniture is here to help. By taking the time to balance colors and textures, choose pieces that work together rather than compete, and repurposing your traditional furniture when possible, you’ll be well on your way to creating a home that is personal, stylish, and inviting. To find everything you need to get started on bringing timeless charm and modernized flair to your home, including modern coffee tables, visit us online today!