Designing a Living Room with Modern Minimalist Design

It can sometimes be difficult to decide upon a living room decorating style, since there are so many different options available to choose from. However, you might want to consider a modern minimalist style of decorating if you find yourself attracted to a modern edgy style with minimal distractions. If you are considering this style of decorating, here are some design aspects to take into consideration.

A Place for Everything

If you've always thought that minimalist designs had to be sparse and somewhat unwelcoming, think again. Today's minimalist designs definitely pare things down as compared to the crowded look of many other decorating styles, but this style is really about having a place for everything. Instead of numerous knick-knacks, you'll find accessories in defined locations. If you don't like clutter and desire a home that looks well organized, this style of decorating is for you. Although it can sometimes be a bit challenging to achieve and maintain this kind of look in a busy household, it's definitely worth the effort involved. If you'd like to use modern minimalist design in the living room, take a look at dual-purpose furniture, which can help streamline and simplify your style of decorating.

Furniture Choices

Furniture pieces with simplified styling and sleek lines are usually the best choice for the modern minimalist living room. Instead of oversized and fluffy sofas with stacks of pillows, you'll find that a sofa with sleek lines and simple colors will work best. A sofa that provides storage drawers underneath can be a great choice. A chair that can do double duty as a sleeper bed would also work well. An ottoman with storage under the top could be used to store a blanket and pillow out of sight. Bookshelves with drawers or doors can help minimize visual clutter. The overall goal is to create a look of open space, keeping unnecessary frills to a minimum.

Design Considerations

When arranging the living room, try to form intimate conversation areas by creating furniture groupings. For example, two sofas facing each other would be preferred as compared to sofas on opposite sides of the room. You can also group chairs together so that they are engaging and easily accessible. Although you want to keep your design simple, you don't want to minimize the room's comfort level. Use area rugs, curtains, lampshades and other decorating accessories to add splashes of color throughout the room. Choose wall decorations and accessories that have a modern look and feel, but that also show a lot of enthusiasm and vibrancy through their use of color; for example contemporary metal wall clocks or modern metal tree wall sculptures make perfect focal points.

If you are creating a new living room or giving a more traditional room a serious overhaul, you might find that you'll need to purchase new items in order to give the room the proper modern minimalist look and feel. However, you also might find that you can adapt some of the pieces that you already own to match your new minimalist style. For example, try painting existing furniture pieces in modern shades of white, chocolate brown or espresso. You could also use a slipcover in a solid shade to give a traditional patterned sofa a sleek new look.