Anything we label as modern now is a far cry from what it’s been – or was supposed to be – at the beginning. The modern world has left its mark anywhere and everywhere, though its versions and iterations haven’t always lived up to our expectations.
One area, however, which modernism has more or less treated fairly well, is house interior design, where elements of style abide by reasonable standards that turn into feasts for the eyes!
The Birth of Modern House Interior Design
In terms of house interior design, there is a history there, and the history of home styling is simply amazing. Shifting from one design style to another, every era of home styling has had certain unique features that let us tell design styles apart.
The modern house interior design was born in the mid-20s, and it has been affected by quite a few design styles. Nonetheless, it has some unique characteristics that we’re going to investigate in this article. Let’s begin.
Minimalism
A few steps out of your home and you’ll soon notice an uncomfortable change. The growing chaos of the modern lifestyle that follows you from one place to another till you resort to your home again, nervous, bewildered, and all drained out.
With the outside world making life more and more complex, all we modern humans seek is pure simplicity. That’s why modern house interior design favors simple styles, with a touch of delicacy that subtly runs around.
The outcome has been quite satisfactory. Simple designs and uncluttered spaces provide the comfort and serenity we need at the end of a busy day! That’s why the motto in modern house design is “less is more.” Less ornamentation, more beauty; less chaos, more tranquillity.
Eco-friendly features
Environmental issues have been a growing concern for the past few decades. Whether you label it as a woke agenda or a pressing scientific issue, you cannot argue that caring for the environment is a must.
Consequently, eco-friendliness has become an outstanding feature in modern interior house design, urging architects and designers to incorporate sustainable materials and energy-efficient systems to reduce the environmental footprint of houses.
Today, bamboo and recycled wood are used instead of tree logs for roofing or flooring; certain spaces are allocated to plants in house design; and the appliances are more energy-efficient than ever before.
As for the furniture and decoratives in modern design, fewer non-renewable materials are used. This means that the remains of broken or overused furniture, say a couch, can be reused in some other form again; alternatively, if it’s buried somewhere out there, it won’t pose any threat to the environment.
A good example of this could be Qmonos or Tencel: Two fabrics made from wood pulp and spider silk. After fulfilling their purpose in life, they will degrade and become a harmless element in the earth’s ecosystem.
Open floor plans
An inseparable part of modern house interior design, open floor plans have gained momentum. We’re done with compact, closed spaces that would once create excessive boundaries that encouraged seclusion and withdrawal. Current modern design trends now favor connected kitchens and dining rooms, allowing members to move around freely and interact with each other without anyone having to run around between the rooms!
The absence of so many walls provides enough room for those big trendy furniture that would only fit in large homes, which only a few could afford to build or buy. Another benefit of modern open floor plans relates to the lighting of the house, which we discuss below.
More room for natural lighting
There has never been a greater appreciation of natural lighting in architecture than in the present era. Connected rooms call for big windows that flood the space with sunlight. The larger the windows, the less cramped the inside feels. Contrary to artificial lighting that directs everyone’s attention to the center of the room, natural lighting brightens every corner of your place, letting you appreciate every bit of beauty lying around!
But that’s not all. Financially speaking, natural lighting saves hundreds of dollars from one’s pocket by bringing warmth to the house. This means you don’t have to leave the heating system on through cold months.
Favoring natural colors
Directly affecting our mood, colors have always been of great value to us, and we’ve used them thoughtfully in various aspects of life, from art and design to fashion and personal expression. Once, especially when the Art Deco style was in its prime, bold colors were mixed with glamorous materials to make shiny, eye-catching mixtures.
But things change, and every change in home styling follows a shift in color palettes used in home design. The modern house interior design favors natural colors as they go perfectly well with simple designs.
Salamander, Dragonfly, Sea Breeze, and Pantone’s 2024 Color of the Year, Peach Fuzz, are just some of the natural colors that have become trendy in modern home interior design. The good thing about natural colors is that they are easy to mix and have a longer lifespan.
Integration of technology
Perhaps the most outstanding feature of modern house interior design, though, is the integration of technology, which is taking place in a novel manner and with an unprecedented speed. I’m not just talking about highly advanced building machines.
Integration of technology in modern house design begins with designing the sketch, nowadays done by AutoCAD, SketchUp, Rhino, or similar 3D modeling apps. Such apps allow architects and designers to visualize and manipulate building layouts in real-time, with great detail and astonishing precision. They allow for the creation of highly accurate and scalable models and adjustments in design before any actual construction begins.
When the construction is complete, it’s time to choose a nice design style, and, there again, technology comes to our aid. Having access to a wide variety of AI-powered design tools, designers stage the place virtually to see whether it’s to the owner’s liking. The good thing about AI virtual staging is that there is no limit to it, and it can be done by anyone.
Going one step further, technology reappears again, this time to give us more comfort and flexibility. Thanks to a series of smart home appliances that can be controlled by your smartphone, you can now adjust the lighting, set the thermostat to your preferred temperature, lock or unlock the doors remotely, and set the air conditioner to turn on and off at various intervals…! To name but a few.
Final Considerations
Though I tried to be thorough and precise in my description of the modern interior design features, you may still want to get a clearer picture of how this design style looks. If so, you can upload photos from your house here and command our platform to give it a modern style design. Make sure your photo is bright enough with no one in it. But before that, a reminder!
The purpose of this blog is merely to provide an overview of the most important characteristics of modern house interior design. Although we like this style, and there is really much to admire about it, it’s just another design style that is not necessarily void of drawbacks. In fact, a seasoned interior designer might, like you, prefer other design styles for countless reasons, and that’s only fair.
FAQs
The first features of modern home styling appeared as early as the mid-20th century, but it was only at the turn of the century that the “modern style” became popular.
The modern house interior design was not developed by a single person. It was developed from the great modernism movement that took place in the first decades of the 20th century. Yet, some figures such as Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius, and Alvar Alto, contributed to the growth and acceptance of modern design.
One criticism often leveled against the modern design style is that it doesn’t combine well with other styles. Another point that some have raised is that this style is not suitable for older homes, which is justifiable. Some would also argue that it’s a bit costly!
