Showcase Modern Art

This new build living room in Portland, Maine from Tyler Karu Design and Interiors is a showcase for the client’s collection of contemporary art. White walls, unadorned windows, vintage modern furniture, and a retro fireplace nods to other eras while feeling fresh and current.

Choose Black and White

Black and white interiors are classic that can work in virtually any style, but the strict color palette can help a space feel particularly modern depending on the choice of furniture and decor. In this modern living room from Kara Mann, a black sectional sofa and sculptural decor choices give the space a timeless modern feel.

Revisit Wood Slat Walls

In this living room from interior designer Jessica Davis of Atelier Davis, a modern take on classic midcentury modern wood slat walls adds warmth and creates a focal point for decor and objects. Modern furniture in shades of orange and turquoise is another nod to midcentury design that feels as fresh as it did in the 20th century.

Use Natural Accents

This white and gray living room from Louis Duncan-He Designs has a comfortable modern feel with its oversized sectional, wood accents, and stylized natural accents like the round framed preserved moss wall hanging.

Choose Timeless Decor

This modern living room from Cathie Hong Interiors feels current but is timeless enough to last for years to come. With white walls, graphic black accents, simple furnishings, tall pitched ceilings, an abundance of natural light, and a classic layout centered around the fireplace, it’s a crowd-pleasing, neutral-toned space that’s built for modern families.

Keep It Natural

Today’s modern interiors are often filled with natural materials and organic elements that create a sense of comfort and provide refuge from the chaos of current affairs and the stresses of everyday life. This serene Southern California living room from by Laura Brophy Interiors has smooth surfaces, pale colors, wood accents, and treetop views that make it tranquil and relaxing.

Paint the Brick White

Painting the brick fireplace in solid white modernizes this living room from Tina Ramchandani Creative while staying clear of whitewashed faux rustic farmhouse vibes. The generous hearth provides a place to display design objects and books, or to serve as extra seating when the holidays roll around and friends and family are gathered around the fire.

Overlap the Artwork

Leanne Ford Interiors layered two large-scale pieces of simple, unframed abstract black-and-white art above a long sectional sofa that is in keeping with the neutral tones of the room and adds some modern style to the spacious interior. This informal approach to hanging art on the wall creates a casually chic vibe that’s easier to compose and hang than a gallery wall and feels relaxed and modern while making a statement and filling the empty space above the large sofa.

Mix Patterns

This small NYC apartment living room from Studio London Co. has a modern pop art feel with bold use of pattern on the zigzag wallpapered walls and geometric Beni Ourain carpet. Bright gold finishes and pops of color add energy to an otherwise straightforward railroad-style apartment living room.

Maintain Midcentury Character

This living room from Cathie Hong Interiors respectfully updates the midcentury modern character of a 1956 John Calder Mackay home in Mountain View, California that feels as fresh today as it did decades ago. A soft coat of white paint highlights the period ceiling beams, a wall of sliding glass doors creates an indoor-outdoor feel, and pale neutrals mixed with earthy tones and midcentury decor touches throughout create a comfortable and livable space perfect for a modern family.

Supersize Your Floor Lamp

This living room from Leanne Ford Interiors feels effortlessly chic and accessible with white brick walls, overstuffed seating, a rustic coffee table, and an oversized sculptural floor lamp fixture that is both functional and interesting.

Think Pink

Incorporate a Home Workstation

A home-based workstation is a modern essential for a growing number of desk-based workers. This NYC apartment living room from Studio London Co. includes a small home office nestled at the end of the couch near the window. With a sleek white lacquered desk and office chair with the same gold accents found throughout the rest of the space, it offers a place to get down to business that fades into the background after hours.

Infuse It With Warm Tones

Today’s modern living rooms are as much about well being as they are about style. This living room from Yael Weiss Interiors has both qualities, with modern, comfortable furnishings and warm wood accents and natural textiles that create a livable home base for unwinding and recharging.

Upholster the Walls

In this living room from Forbes + Masters, an overall palette of black and soft white is contrasted with gem-toned velvet tufted wall nooks-turned-banquettes to create a sophisticated modern space fit for entertaining.

Add Organic Touches

This bright and cheerful living room from Desiree Burns Interiors mixes white walls, wood floors, and textiles in shades of dark green and blue with organic end tables and a sculptural white lacquer coffee table to create an easy modern mix that’s family-friendly and stylish.

Paint the Walls Black

In this moody living room from Louis Duncan-He Designs, matte black paint creates a dramatic calming backdrop for a colorful sofa, a whimsical white feather floor lamp, an oversized ottoman coffee table, and accents like Moroccan leather poufs, black-and-white photos, and plants.

Add Woven Accents

This bright and spacious living room from Desiree Burns Interiors has white walls, simple built-ins, and woven accents that range from practical to whimsical to add warmth and a playful modern edge.

Use Bright Color

This living room from Louis Duncan-He Designs has brick walls and ceiling beams, but those rustic touches are modernized with colorful upholstered seating in contrasting shades of turquoise and mustard and pendant lighting that adds balance and makes it feel updated and fresh.

Add Texture

This high-rise living room from Forbes + Masters has an eclectic mix of furnishings from various periods and styles, while a textured feature wall helps distract the eye from the wall-mounted TV and adds a modern element.

Mix and Match

This midcentury modern home renovation from Leanne Ford Interiors celebrates original features like a monumental stone fireplace, while a mix of contemporary furnishings, art, and lighting keeps the space feeling current.

Go Coastal

This Nantucket living room from interior designer Kara Mann is a modern black-and-white take on coastal design, with a deconstructed striped rug, a large black sectional sofa, and dark wood accents and organic shapes that contrast with the white shiplap walls.

Choose Organic

This modern living room from Emily Henderson Design has a neutral palette, natural accents, a large oversized sofa with a streamlined profile and a low back, and sculptural black accents from the organic side table to the vase on the coffee table that give it a modern feel.

Modernize the Fireplace

A modern fireplace, a mix of furnishings, and a black-and-white palette make this living room from Laura Brophy Interiors ready for company.

Mix Periods

This living room from Fantastic Frank combines vintage and contemporary furniture to create a textured, minimalist look that feels modern and timeless.

Go Green

This modern living room from Michelle Boudreau Design has a sage green fireplace wall and green accents throughout from the seating to the graphic wallpaper that gives it an of-the-moment feel.

Revisit Retro Style

This modern living room from interior designer Kara Mann has a subtle 80s vibe with its crisp black-and-white palette, mirrored accent tables, and rounded edges on the L-shaped sectional.

Look Out

This Washington State living room from Seattle-based LeeAnn Baker Interiors has a laid back luxurious modern feel with its wood-paneled ceilings and black metal and glass walls of windows that open to the outside and offer a million dollar view.

Bring In Some Blues

Bold blue accents on the striped rug and throw pillows add vibrancy to the white walls and clean lines of this modern living room from Leanne Ford Interiors.

Play With Proportion

This living room from Fantastic Frank has an eye-catching color palette of pinks and mustard yellow that give it a warm modern feel. An oversized sconce with a soft shade is suspended over the seating area to provide ambient light and play with proportions in a cheeky modern way that feels fresh.

Play With Paint

Leanne Ford Interiors modernized the walls of this living room by painting a taupe-y beige matte border around the room that helps ground the seating area while making the ceilings feel taller.

Add a Vignette 

In this spacious modern living room from Desiree Burns Interiors, what could have been a dead space in the shadow of the staircase becomes a mini accent wall with dynamic patterned wallpaper, a curvy waterfall edge console table, and an eye-catching gold-toned lamp.

Use Muted Colors

This San Francisco living room from Cathie Hong Interiors has clean lines, muted colors, and a mix of European and Asian design influences to create a warm and minimalist space that feels modern and inviting.

Make It Monochromatic

This monochromatic space from Marie Flanigan Interiors is a modern take on a traditional family living room with double seating areas, comfortable furnishings, and a toned-down palette that creates a tranquil backdrop for relaxing and entertaining.

Soften Industrial Interiors

This converted warehouse living room from Leanne Ford Interiors has a generous and comfortable seating area anchored by a large rug that warms up the industrial bones and polished concrete of the space.

Layer Natural Textures

This living room from Leanne Ford Interiors has a modern feel with its soft neutral palette and layered natural textures from the wood stump end tables to the sheepskin throw on the back of the armchair.

Use Simple Accents

You can modernize a blank pass through wall in your living room with a few simple touches like a framed color photo of a crowded beach, a simple wooden bench, and a tall vase of pampas grass.

Focus on Form

This spacious living room designed by Ajai Guyot for Emily Henderson Design has a soft neutral palette, overstuffed seating, and a variety of round shapes from the coffee table to the globe pendant light that help to break up the linear lines of the railroad-style space.

Update the Wood Paneling

While you may associate wood paneling with unrenovated midcentury interiors, many modern interiors have embraced wood paneling anew, making it feel modern by lightening up the wood and widening the boards. This Scandinavian country house living room from Fantastic Frank pairs pale oak paneling on the walls and ceiling with polished concrete floors, and an oversized, low-slung, extra-deep tufted pale gray sectional sofa to create a tranquil modern space built for unplugging and recharging.

Update Midcentury Architecture

This updated midcentury modern living room from Leanne Ford Interiors has a neutral palette, a mix of midcentury, industrial, and contemporary furnishings, and graphic black accents that keep it looking sharp and current.

Combine Black and Blue

This modern indoor outdoor Southern California living room from Laura Brophy Interiors mixes modern finishes and graphic accents in black, white, and blue.

Add a Few Splashes of Color

Victoria Bell Design modernized this airy modern farmhouse living room with its neutral furnishings and rustic ceilings and beams by injecting a few choice color accents, like hot pink velvet throw pillows and a colorful piece of art.

Retile the Fireplace

This Southern California home from Laura Brophy Interiors is filled with organic and natural decor elements and shades of green and blue that are contrasted with a gray-and-white patterned tile fireplace with a chunky wood mantel that makes it feel modern and cozy.

Add Texture, Color, and Pattern