Yesterday I wrote about understanding contemporary style and some of you thought that the style was pretty modern. So what is the difference between a modern style and a contemporary style? Today there is a hair line difference between the two, and no one would ever be able to say that you are making a faux pas using the term interchangeably. In the context of design "modern" really refers to a school of design while contemporary makes references to the time period. So you can easily see that in our period of time, while the "modernism" school of design prevails it is both modern and contemporary. This might be different in fifty years, when another school of design might have taken over the prevalent style of home decoration. Contemporary could also be defined by the period that is represented in a home. You might choose to furnish and decorate a room with colors and objects from the sixties. You would then have a 1960's contemporary room, with every piece in harmony with the others.
A modern decor born of the "modernism" school of the Bauhaus in the 20's is guided by a vision always turned toward the future, new forms and new materials.
Cold angular lines are typical of modern style furniture. Materials are usually aluminum, stainless steel, chrome, as well as glass, concrete or stone. Wood can be light or dark with mattes smooth surfaces. Space is important and should be open, with few walls separating rooms. Areas are more fluid and marked by their use and the furniture that give rhythm rather than cut out into small rooms. Modern style is well suited for lofts. A modern style interior has little use for patterns, fabrics as well as walls are in one color and nothing must interrupt the geometry created by positive and negative spaces.
One of the best known piece of modern furniture design is the "Cantilever Chair" by Designer Mart Stam. This chair design is still widely popular, most pieces bought today are reproductions or adaptation of the original design. Other designers who made popular furniture that have endured are Le Corbusier, Miles van der Rohe, and Charles Eames.
