Kitchen Island Chandelier Ideas & Design Guide

Shop The Textural Modernism Look

Cluttered rooms, tired décor, and dated light fixtures dragging you down? We’ve all been spending more time at home lately, and if you’re anything like us, you’ve looked around at least once over the past year and wondered, Where did all this stuff come from? Has this room always been so dark? and Who decided this chandelier was a good idea?

We get it. The more time we spend indoors, the more we long for and admire a beautifully serene modern design concept. Open spaces, soothing colors, and unfussy décor make modern interior design attractive to just about any DIY decorator. Fortunately, the traits that make modern interior design so trendy also make it easy for anyone to create a sleek modern space, with the right tips and tricks. If your home (or just a single room!) is in desperate need of a modern makeover, these modern room ideas will keep you on track and on-trend.

Understanding Modern Design: The Basics

What’s the Difference Between Modern & Contemporary Style

While ‘Modern Design’ and ‘Contemporary Design’ have a lot of overlap, they are not identical styles or concepts. It may sound a touch counterintuitive, but modern design was birthed over a hundred years ago! In design spaces, the word ‘modern’ refers to design trends from a distinct period of time beginning around the start of the 20th century and ending roughly around the 1970s and 80s with the rise of postmodernism. Modern design embraces minimalism, clean lines, reflective surfaces, and natural materials, and allows form to flow from function. Modern design trends reached a peak around the 1950s with incredibly popular Mid-Century Modern décor, which is still fairly prevalent in current design trends.

Contemporary design, on the other hand, is a much more fluid concept. Contemporary design is all about the now and refers to the most recent trends and styles in décor. Contemporary design is always evolving, meaning it is a perfect fit for decorators who like to update their décor often and stay on the cutting edge of style.

Current contemporary design, however, takes many cues from the modern design tradition. Both styles embrace minimalism, simple color pallets, natural woods, and bright metallics. Modern design— especially mid-century modern design— tends to make more use of accent colors in bold retro red and orange, while contemporary décor has a more neutral black and white color scheme. Both are airy, inviting, and elegantly simple, hence their evergreen popularity in design trends.

What Makes a Light Fixture Modern?

The word ‘modern’ can have two separate meanings concerning light fixtures. A modern light may be a light that aesthetically matches modern design concepts. However, sometimes ‘modern’ may also be used to describe a light that uses the most recent lighting technologies, like LED lamps, color, and brightness adjustability, and integrated smart functionalities that link with other smart home gadgets.

From a purely aesthetic standpoint, a modern light fixture is usually simple in shape, features bold straight or curved lines, and is made from bright, reflective materials like glass, chrome, and polished nickel (although black and brass finishes are also used to beautiful effect). These light fixtures will often have a minimalist or futuristic feel to them that can be quite striking.

In many cases, a light will be both modern in design and technological innovation! LED arrays are smaller and more versatile in shape than traditional incandescent lamping. For this reason, they have expanded many available shapes and designs in lighting, leading to slimmer, simpler styles that help underscore the functional minimalist theme of modern décor.

How Do You Build a Modern Design Concept?

When styling a room with modern design inspiration, aim to embrace simplicity. Clean, straight lines in modern furniture and lighting will accent an airy feel essential to modern style. Simple colors— black and white and calming neutrals— create a soothing backdrop and allow the occasional bold accent color to truly pop. Clear glass, chrome, and polished nickel will add touches of that futuristic feel modern design is known for, and bringing in natural wood tones will add warmth and comfort to this understated aesthetic. This style is uncluttered and trimmed down to the bare essentials, so keep surfaces clean and move shelves packed with decorative knick-knacks and tchotchkes to another room.

Modern Light Fixture & Ceiling Fan Trends: What’s in Style Now?

While the basics of modern room design tend to stay consistent, the particulars can shift with current trends. Today, modern rooms feature bold geometric shapes like globe shade pendants or angular wire frame ceiling lights, with airy finishes of clear glass or metal accents and frames. Eco-friendly LED fixtures make up a large portion of these trendy lights and some offer customization of light intensity, color, and/or color temp so you can adjust your light design exactly to your liking.

Modern Hanging Light Trends

Chandeliers & Lanterns

Modern hanging lights make dramatic statements with minimalist designs. Modern chandeliers with rectangle and square frames in black, brass, or chrome finishes are super trendy options that simplify styling the rest of the room since they tend toward uncomplicated, unfussy shapes. For a more striking option, mid-century modern chandeliers often feature globe-shaped elements and mixed finishes that are sure to wow.

Pendants

Modern pendant lights can be just as striking as chandeliers or lanterns, but these fixtures often have a smaller footprint, making them ideal for petite spaces, breakfast and reading nooks, or hung in multiples over vanities or kitchen islands. Globe pendant lights have a futuristic air and can help soften sharp angles in other décor elements. Clear glass shades pendants make a room feel more open and spacious. The right finish or mixed-metal accent can take a simple pendant design to a new level of style. Look for LED pendant lights, or install LED bulbs in fixtures with medium- or candle-base bulb sockets to make any fixture more energy efficient.

Modern Wall Sconce Trends

Black sconces, glass sconces, and chrome sconces are all staples of modern wall light design. As with hanging fixtures, modern sconces tend toward geometric and minimalist shapes. Simple silhouettes mean these fixtures can be as striking or as unobtrusive as you’d like depending on what décor they are paired.

Modern Vanity Lighting Trends

When selecting vanity lights for a modern bathroom or powder room, look for geometric silhouettes and complementary finishes. Bar vanity lights are sleek, simple options that often include integrated LED arrays and will give any bathroom a modern facelift. Glass vanity lights will give your room an uncluttered feel and are easy to match with existing décor.

Modern Ceiling Lighting Trends