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Ideas & Advice > Living Room Decor Ideas > Modern Living Room Decor Ideas

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Modern Living room decor Ideas

Modern is a word that gets tossed around a lot when discussing interior design. But in reality, you can define many different styles—from mid-century modern to modern farmhouse—as modern. So, if you’re wondering how to decorate a modern living room, you’re in luck. We’re here with some of our favorite modern living room ideas and decor tips to help you create an inviting, relaxing space. So, keep reading to find your favorite modern decor tips and transform your home.

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Bright and Cheerful - Modern Living Room Ideas

Traditional Tribute

This is a striking display of traditional decor, from the record player to the bust to the unique portrait of George Washington. We love the MCM accent cabinet, a perfect option to hold a cherished record collection. Notice the eye-catching striped rug used to ground the furniture and define the space. This is an excellent approach in a spacious living room with an accent cabinet or console table that’s displaying something you’re passionate about.

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Bright and Cheerful

White walls are popular in all types of modern living room design because they make the space feel clean, bright, and inviting. Good lighting is a must to capitalize on the glow of white walls, and this living room gets it right—from the skylight to the eye-catching hanging shade adding texture to the space. With neutral palettes and simple patterns, rugs like this one can help tone down the bright effect and balance the area.

Traditional Tribute - Modern Living Room Decor Ideas
Scandi Vibes Modern Living Room Decor

Scandi Vibes

Modern Scandi decor is the new minimalist, emphasizing straightforward furniture and an open, uncluttered aesthetic. Here, we see just four pieces of furniture—a coffee table, accent chair, side table, and sofa—yet the room looks complete. Also, notice the tall potted plant in the corner, bringing some of that nature visible through the large windows inside. Plants add color, life (literally), and interesting lines to your space, and they’re perfect for Scandi styling.

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Cool and Calm

This modern living room makes great use of the geometric rug to make the space more interesting. We love the books stacked in the fireplace, giving you an active clutter zone to keep your current reading materials. In addition, notice how the blue couch doesn’t deviate from the natural color palette, seeing as blue is found in almost every natural setting, from the sky to the ocean and so much in between.

Cool and Calm - Modern Living Room Decor Ideas
Earthy Warmth Modern Living Room Decor Ideas

Shades of Gray

Many interior designers believe that no room is complete without a touch of black, and this rule can add character to almost any modern space. Here, the living room uses a black and gray palette to create crisp contrast with the white walls. We love the light gray flooring and the black to gray gradient on the eye-catching rug. The gallery wall continues to play with this colorway while adding a dash of green with the scenic photo. And the mounted wooden trophy on the wall creates a sense of character.

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Earthy Warmth

This living room relies on earthy colors, exciting patterns, and eye-catching textures to create a warm and inviting look. Notice the role played by the house plants in this space, which add both color and interesting lines to enhance the modern styling. The contemporary rug grounds this little seating area, playing with contrast and making the black accent chair and table seem right at home. And who could forget the beautiful wall hanging as the focal point of this space?

Shades of Gray Living Room Ideas
Split Personalities - Modern Living Room Decor Ideas

Two for One

Two bold area rugs with complementing colorways create the focal point for this relaxed living space. You don’t need a funky shape when your rugs have eye-catching patterns and bold, modern tones. We love the L-shaped platform sofa and the beautiful niches built into the wall above it. Notice the minimalist approach of displaying a cutting in one while leaving the other two empty, allowing the play of light and shadows to add appeal.

Split Personalities

Fun and engaging, this seating area is focused on enjoying good company and conversation. It keeps the decor minimal while playing with the symmetry created by the window nooks in the room. The matching sofas face each other with an artful coffee table in between, uniting the two. Meanwhile, the selection of two different-yet-complementing area rugs divides the room and gives each side its own character. If you have the right space for this, splitting your design while experimenting with symmetry can create a truly unique and modern look.

Two for One - Modern Living Room Decor Ideas

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Boldly Modern Living Room Ideas

Boldly Modern

From the bold, modern accent chairs to the abstract artwork leaning against the wall, it’s hard not to love this space. If you see a piece of modern furniture you absolutely love, don’t be shy—add it to your space! Notice the white walls that reflect the light pouring through the windows, creating a bright and cheerful glow. With an updated traditional colorway and range of exciting furniture, this modern living room design is sure to spark conversation with almost anyone. And don’t forget the large rug, which may have inspired much of the palette in this area.

Peaceful Lounge

Sometimes you don’t need much to enjoy your space, and this modern living room epitomizes that rule. With an earthy neutral palette and an abstract rug, this rustic modern living space invites you to sit and enjoy a cup of tea while gazing out over the yard. Note the single chaise lounge as a seating option and modest end table as the only furniture in the space—this is a perfect approach if you have a small living room. Our advice would be to add only the furniture you need when working with limited square footage.

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Peaceful Lounge - Modern Living Room Ideas
Geometric Seating Modern Living Room Decor Ideas

Geometric Seating

Modern white seating, bright white walls, and warm earthy tones give this living room a stunning modern look. The intricate rug adds eye-catching details that help ground the space while the tall house plants add life. A warm neutral palette like this one of white, tan, brown, terra cotta, and gray-blue is an excellent choice if you’d like to capture an inviting and crisp modern appeal.

Orange Appeal - Modern Living Room Ideas

Playing with Texture

If you think modern decor is boring and uninviting, think again. While modern interior design focuses on neutral colorways and quality over quantity, textures go a long way in making a space feel welcoming. We see exciting textures from the throw pillows on the sofa and accent chair to the woven basket holding the house plant in this living room. It continues with the striped coffee table holding a geometric bowl as an accent all the way to the industrial-style floor lamp.

Orange Appeal

If you love MCM decor, we’re guessing that you also enjoy warm tones like orange in your space. Here, orange adds life and energy against the white walls and dark flooring beneath the rug. The room could be based on either the beautiful artwork hanging behind the sofa or the rug—both valid approaches—and we love the result either way. Try picking one focal point in your room to base the palette around to create cohesive aesthetic appeal.

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Playing with Texture - Modern Living Room Decor Ideas
Small Space Love - Modern Living Room Decor Ideas

Sunny Days

If you have a great view from your living room, you’ll want to step up the decor in the space to do it justice. Here, we see another contemporary geometric rug, adding attractive texture and shape to the space while leaving room to enjoy the open floorplan. We love the sunny yellow in the rug and the beach towel by the door. And that towel rack is an excellent example of intentional design—adding things that you need or will actively use to your space, and little else is a straightforward way to capture this look.

Love the look? Shop Blue and Red Decor

Small Space Love

This small living room makes good use of its square footage, adding clean lines and comfy seating with the sofa and loveseat. And we love the lounge chair to the side, complete with its own end table to add both form and function. Speaking of form, this is another living room that makes use of a fun rug with an unusual shape. The rug adds character, contrast, and a grounding touch of black to the modern decor here. And don’t forget the use of artwork to breathe life into the room.

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Sunny Days - Modern Living Room Decor Ideas
Cool Blues Modern Living Room Decor Ideas

Cool Blues

With a reclaimed wood accent wall and a repurposed fireplace, this beautiful living room uses cool and warm tones to create an exciting space. It’s an excellent example of using white. If you’re not a fan of white walls, take a look at the walls in the background of this home. The addition of a yellow undertone on the walls leading to the hallway takes the edge off, giving it a warm glow that’s still bright and cheerful.

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Artistically Modern

High walls, floor-to-ceiling windows, and large wall hangings give this beautiful room a spacious and modern look. We love the matching sofa and end table arrangements, as well as the additional seating in the background. And the central pendant light is sure to create a soothing glow once the sun has set outside. But the focal point of this room (aside from that beautiful view) is created by the geometric rugs in the center. We cannot stress the value of exciting rug shapes in modern decor enough—they have the power to make your decorating project nearly effortless.

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Artistically Modern Living Room Ideas
Modern Minimalist Living Room Decor Ideas

Soft and Playful

Modern decor is about having both what you need and what you want in your space. And every living room needs comfy seating. Here, we see texture and color added in with unconventional seating—a sectional sofa made from poufs. The GAN area rugs here match the seating options, creating a modular living room that’s customizable, comforting, and even unique. In addition, the textiles create a contemporary look using traditional construction methods.

Modern Minimalist

This modern minimalist living room uses a pair of beautiful area rugs and a large wall hanging to add engaging texture and color to the space. We love the single accent chair and table combo, creating a spot to relax with a cup of tea or coffee. This room could double as a home yoga studio or workout zone with all that open floor space, which is perfect for today’s active lifestyles. Notice the benches at the wall, adding versatile seating without interrupting spacious and open feel.

Soft and Playful - Modern Living Room Decor Ideas

Modern Abstract Living Room Ideas

Modern Abstract

Is modern abstract more your speed? This beautiful style is eye-catching and playful, using bold colors and artful prints to bring the living space to life. With the loveseat-sized sofa and expansive area rug, this would be an excellent option for a living room with limited space. The large rug with the small sofa makes the room feel bigger than it actually is. We love the abstract artwork on the walls, the play of texture on the sofa, and the beautiful house plants that complete the look.

Barefoot Bliss - Modern Living Room Decor Ideas

Layered Love

Speaking of textural rugs, check out this Moroccan-inspired beauty! It brings the room to life with decorative tassels and a high-low pile while adding a touch of black to the palette, grounding the small space. We love the high and wide placement of the window treatments in this space, an excellent tactic for making the window appear larger than it really is. Notice the layered rug approach, with two different natural textures and tones to make this living room more visually exciting. And don’t forget the stunning seating arrangement. Designing a modern living room requires picking quality over quantity for every piece of furniture or decor.

Barefoot Bliss

Relaxing in your living room should be comforting and enjoyable, so why not lay down a rug that you’ll love to curl your toes into when you’re barefoot? We’ve talked about bold and uniquely shaped rugs, but don’t forget textural options. Here, the high-low pile and decorative tassels make the space interesting despite the subdued neutral hue. Notice how the rest of the space continues the earthy neutral tone, using different shades of tan and brown to keep it interesting.

Additional Brown Living Room Decor Ideas >
Layered Love - Modern Living Room Decor Ideas
Charming and Soothing Modern Living Room Ideas

Pops of Color

Do you want to design a comfy and welcoming living room to enjoy with friends and family? These beautiful sculptural seating options from GAN make quite the statement while inviting you to sit and stay for a while. We love the careful pops of color from the sofa and the lampshade, breaking up the otherwise neutral colorway in this modern space. In addition, the mantle decorated with house plants and artwork adds color and warmth without getting in the way of the use of gray throughout the room.

Charming and Soothing

With modern furniture, an understated area rug, and soft splashes of color, this living room is instantly soothing. We love the gentle colors introduced with the accent chair and hanging artwork, as well as the interplay of true and earthy neutrals throughout this charming modern living room. Notice the abundance of house plants, adding to the modern aesthetic, and the efficiency with which the shelves in the back organize books, audio equipment, and even artwork. One of the secrets to great modern design is excellent organization and storage options.

Pops of Color - Modern Living Room Ideas
Mid-Century Modern Productivity

Gray for Days

One reason why modern decor is a good option for beginners is the emphasis on neutral colorways. If you’re not a fan of bright white walls, take some inspo from this space and opt for charcoal instead. Whether you do one charcoal accent wall or you embrace the color throughout your living room, the results will be dramatic and modern. The gray theme continues with the lovely textured rug, attractive throw pillows, simple modern couch, artwork on the walls, and even the end table.

Mid-Century Modern Productivity

This home office might be in the corner of any open living room, adding a much-needed productivity zone for remote work. We love the MCM appeal with the Eames-styled lounge chairs, creating a classic look that’s as relaxing and inviting. And what better appeal for your home office? Notice how the rug defines the office space here, sectioning it from the rest of the room without interrupting the open layout.

Gray for Days Modern Living Room Ideas

Purposeful Patterns

In order to create a cohesive family room design, look for opportunities to use recurring patterns, symbols, and imagery throughout the room's decor. This modern living room shows off diamond patterns in the rug and pillows. In addition to that, sharp triangular shapes are also present in the nearby floor lamp. Thinking outside the box with your use of patterns and shapes is a great way to create a dynamic modern living room.

Simplicity

This mid century modern living room uses iconic chairs, sofas, and coffee tables to convey that trendy style. With that, the rest of the room is fairly restrained with its color palette, lack of detailed patterns, and minimal accents. This works well, since it allows the uniquely shaped furniture to define the room's aesthetic and stand out as beautiful accents. As you decorate your home, don't be afraid to simplify the room's design to create natural focal points and primary details.

Completely Contemporary

To create an elevated contemporary living room, you may consider creating a mini art exhibit for guests to enjoy. While this room features a grand work of art that spreads from floor to ceiling, you could place artwork around the room in different shapes, sizes, and placements to create a stunning art exhibit. Add in a statue, a contemporary rug, and picture lights to lean fully into that modern gallery aesthetic.

Common Spaces

Today's homes often feature open concept floor plans where living rooms, dining rooms, and kitchens share a common space. To set those spaces apart from one another, consider using a rug in the living room and natural flooring beneath the dining room table. This practice is particularly applicable in smaller spaces where the dining table is closely aligned with the living room.

Smaller Rugs

Even if your living room space is a part of a large, open concept floor plan, it is worthwhile to consider rugs for small living rooms. Smaller rugs like 4x6, 5x7, and 5x8 can accent smaller seating areas in the room and establish areas set aside for conversation. In this mid century modern space, a small rug is very intentionally placed under a smaller seating space away from the main sectional. No matter what layout your living room has, small living room rugs may be exactly what your room needs.

Rug Ideas for a Small Living Room >

Stunning Sculptures

Sculptures come in all sorts of different designs, finishes, and sizes to accommodate every home. With that, you can add a large sculpture that showcases your favorite artist, highlights a personal hobby, or displays your favorite animal. Sculptures are a unique decorative element that very fitting for modern living rooms.

White and Wood

You've likely noticed how many modern living rooms use white as the main color on the room's walls, in the chairs, and in other furniture. However, modern white living rooms can still have other colors spread throughout the room's design. Warm woods used in panelled walls, side tables, and surfaces can break up the sterile white tones and add natural warmth to the room's design. Mid century modern is popular for using white and wood, but other styles like modern coastal, modern farmhouse, and modern rustic all use similar methods to create their unique styles.

Additional White Living room Ideas >

Whimsy

Although modern living rooms are often more sleek and minimal in their designs, you can easily create a modern whimsical living room with bright pops of color and jovial accents. Curtains, rugs, pillows, ottomans, floor lamps, and general decor can all serve as vibrant accents in your modern living room.

Pattern Mixing

Pattern mixing is a daunting task, but successfully using multiple patterns in the same space goes a long way in creating a dynamic modern living room. When choosing patterns, consider designs that have similar shapes, images, and motifs. This modern living room features straight lines in most of the accents, whether that be the grey living room rug, the bench, or pillows.

Classic Tastes

Transitional style is a blending of modern and traditional aesthetics. Oftentimes, this look is created with a warm traditional color palette and modern, simple furniture. When designing a transitional living room like this one, symmetry is one of the best ways to exude that style. By lining up the furniture in a symmetrical, balanced way, you harken back to traditional styles even with the most modern furniture and artwork.

Deep Design

Many modern living rooms feature minimal artwork, decor, and accessories. In these cases, you can make the room more visually appealing by adding different textures throughout the elements that are present in the room. Natural wood tones and grains featured in the built in shelf, flooring, and coffee table are three examples of texture, but even the chairs, curtains, and plants share their own layers with their patterns and materials. By using techniques like these, your modern minimalist living room will be anything but boring!

Feeling the Blues

Blue and grey pair wonderfully in modern living rooms to convey numerous aesthetics. If this room's blues were to lean into light and bright territory, the room would convey a weathered coastal style as opposed to its current contemporary elegance. The shades of blue and any other colors you use in your living room each convey their own tone based on their brightness, material, and color palette, so be sure to choose colors that fit your room's style and mood.

Red and Cream

Red and orange colors are both ideally suited for warm modern living rooms. These hues come in many different shades to present contemporary primary reds, burnt oranges, soft reds, and other variations. When choosing red living room decor for your home, consider how those shades impact the room's tone and how they further establish the room's style.

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All That Glitters is Gold

Gold is quickly rising in popularity in modern living room decor. In fact, gold can work even in living rooms dominated by cool grey and black tones. The warmth of the gold can balance those elements to create a more welcoming space, even if those gold tones are used sparingly in the room's mirrors, picture frames, coffee tables, and small accents. A little goes a long way with warm metallic finishes.

Inspiration

Modern living rooms have great potential with so many different options for color palettes, patterns, tone, and style-mixing. When designing your ideal living room, look at photos for inspiration and guidance. We also find it helpful to choose the room's rug first. No matter what room you're decorating, a rug serves as a unique accent that can determine the room's other patterns, tone, and color palette. Shop for your ideal rug first to guide your design and keep you focused on your unique vision.

Subtle Coastal Style

Modern coastal living rooms often evoke the calm, soothing vibes of being at the ocean. As this room shows, you can create a very subtle coastal style by using warm cream colors alongside shades of blue and teal. In addition to that, your artwork, patterns, and accents can boldly or faintly lean into the style. For example, the chairs shown here may not convey a coastal style on their own, but when used in this room, the swirls and branches are vaguely reminiscent of coral. Such details are vital for rounding out the room's overarching style and mood.

Coastal Living room Ideas >

We hope you’ve found some modern living room ideas that have inspired you to give your space a makeover. Learning how to decorate a modern living room doesn’t have to be difficult. Select some of your favorite modern living room ideas and use them one by one to transform your home. If you doubt your interior design skills, it helps to choose one to three images to use as the overall aesthetic inspiration for your space.

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