Modern design style is clean and linear, elegant and uncluttered. It is characterized by highly streamlined furniture accented with geometric shapes defined by asymmetrical lines. This style boasts neutral colors including grays, whites, browns, and blacks. Splashes of color are used to add vibrancy in this style. Framing black and white photos in a black wood frame with white matte is frequently found in this style. This style of design possesses some of the attributes of eclectic and contemporary design and decor.

Accessories - Focus on simplicity and clean lines. For example, hang abstract pieces of art or black and white pictures on your larger walls. One popular trend is to buy two pictures with a common theme and hang them side by side. Again, keep it simple and avoid cluttering walls with too many pictures. If you have hardwood flooring, adding a shag or sisal rug under in the center of your room under the furniture is common. Do you have bookshelves? A great idea is to place books upright or on their side and supported with pieces of art such African masks or smaller statuettes.

Lighting - Look for mood lighting to make your accessories pop. Modern design can come across as slightly colder in design due to its simplicity, so installing a dimmer switch can soften the roughness that might be portrayed when designing in this style. Look for lamps that have a similar shape of your accessories to maintain clean lines and geometric balance.

Materials - Let stainless steel, granite, concrete and shiny surfaces be your guide. Stainless steel is found in sinks and bowls of kitchens and baths, including faucets and cabinet handles and even appliances. Granite and concrete is used for counter and table tops. These materials are clean, smooth and polished. Use lighter colored hardwood or cork flooring to balance with your cabinets and round out this style. Heavy glass is used in this style as well, look at glass bowls or cylinder vases filled with stones or bamboo sticks as accents.

The ambience found in a modern room is sometimes said to be very Zen- like because nothing is overdone. The word simple is never forgotten when designing with this style.