Contemporary Traditional Living Room

Color Palette

• The colors you use in your living room will enhance the mood you're going for. Look to the objects you keep there for color inspiration. Choose a set of three colors from sofa or chair with a patterned fabric, a favorite piece of wall art or rug. Make one color primary while the other two will serve as secondary color. Contemporary colors are generally bright and clean, such as white, while traditional colors are richer and more luxurious. A nice combination of the two is white for the primary color with navy or burgundy for secondary colors.

Furnishings

• Blend contemporary and traditional furnishings by keeping the colors similar. You can combine different styles and keep color tones the same without making your room feel cluttered or unbalanced. Contemporary designs have clean lines and feel light in comparison to heavier traditional furniture designs, which can be more ornate and decorative.

Fabrics

• Contemporary fabric patterns involve lines, stripes, circles and blocks. Traditional fabrics can involve floral patterns as well as other repeated shapes. Brocade fabrics are present in traditional rooms on window treatments and pillows. You can mix the two but you need to work within the same color schemes to keep the look from becoming distracting. If you have leather furniture, go with a traditional print for pillows to balance out the look and add charm to your living room.

Accents

• Contemporary and traditional accents go well together because you can generate interest in your room without too much effort. A contemporary accent that brings a lot of style to your living room is a rug with geometric shapes. When used with vases, lampshades and pillows that use matching colors, the objects work to pull the room together. With a more traditional rug with a floral pattern, look to use glass vases, mirrors and metal frames.