20 Modern Living Room Design Ideas

Consider this collection of chic spaces your inspiration board for modern living room ideas that will stand the test of time.

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By: Lauren Oster

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Panel an Accent Wall

Use a traditional treatment to bring texture to an accent wall by paneling before you paint. Just as patterned pillows on the chairs and sofa here add interest to their solid white fabric, that subtle grid adds dimension to the teal behind the television.

From: Erica Bryen Design

Light It Up

Selecting contemporary lighting can, quite literally, change the look of your space. Not only do modern light fixtures bring interest to your space they can create a cozy and inviting atmosphere, too.

See More Photos: 20 Living Room Lighting Design Ideas

From: Cheryl Kees Clendenon

Re-Cover a Back Cushion or Two

This power move both creates a design moment — we can’t get enough of how the bright cerise in this patterned fabric energizes the sofa’s lavender velvet — and costs a fraction of what you would pay to reupholster an entire piece.

From: Gioi Tran

Divide Spaces With a Backless Daybed

This sleek piece is a suitable perch for sitters in the living room and its low profile doesn’t interrupt sight lines.

From: Zoe Feldman Design

Add Accents to the Coffee Table

Give your tablescape a bit of vertical interest by adding an architectural object or two. Shorter versions of these midcentury-inspired starbursts are tried and true guest stars on shelves and other surfaces. The taller versions, seen here, function to both attract the eye and complement the monochromatic molding on the fireplace behind them.

See More Photos: 20 Living Room Coffee Table Looks We Love

From: Karen B Wolf Interiors

Skip White Walls and Try a White Rug

Pulling off a dramatic look like this would mean committing to a no shoes inside lifestyle. That said, treating your floor covering as your blank canvas and a well-styled coffee table would be well worth the effort.

How to Pick the Perfect Area Rug for Your Living Space

From: Karen B Wolf Interiors

Try Mirrored Trays

Test drive the layered mantel trend by skipping a single, large mirror or a trio of framed art pieces and splitting the difference. These polished, steel trays create an unfussy, unique look that won’t end in seven years of bad luck. Look for vintage dressing table trays to create a similar arrangement with more ornate pieces.

See More Photos: 30 Mantel and Bookshelf Decorating Tips

Pattern Everything

This eye-popping living room is well balanced with each strong tone or piece having an equally vivid element countering it. Fancy a striped ottoman? Tuck an area rug in similarly outgoing tones beneath it. Love patterned throw pillows? Look for a bold piece of art, like this three-dimensional, painting/sculpture to answer the pillows' statement.

From: Erica Bryen Design

Pair Garden Stools With Coffee Tables

This living room is an advanced geometry lesson. The circular garden stools contrast handsomely with the angled legs and rectangular corners on the glass-topped coffee tables, and their slightly heightened profiles add just a smidge of visual interest.

Make It Monochromatic

Designer Jenn Feldman was so enamored of this deep blue tone that she used it everywhere — to great effect. The dark and supersaturated color lets the eye carry straight out to the verdant view beyond the window. Its near omnipresence means that accents like the double sconce, ottoman tableau and throw blanket have even more visual impact.

From: Jenn Feldman Designs

Double Down on Accent Walls

Why opt for a single major design moment when you can arrange for two? A geometric, art deco-inspired paper creates a design moment in this chic space, and shiplap with a coat of cool turquoise paint raises the stakes on the windowed expanse beside it.

From: Erica Bryen Design

Enlist 'Outdoor' Furniture

Vintage-inspired wicker pieces, like these curvaceous rattan chairs, are an excellent way to bring movement and organic warmth to pale spaces.

From: WAKE + LOOM

Keep the Hearth Going

Add interest to a standard living room by letting the ledge before the fireplace carry through your space. In an arrangement like this one, that feature becomes a floating shelf for entertainment accessories, enabling homeowners to maximize open floor space by forgoing a console table or cabinet.

From: THREE SALT DESIGN Co.

Skew (Simply) Scandinavian

Less is unquestionably more in this minimalistic space, where embellishments are elemental and variations on the wood and white palette are understated. The goal here is to relax and clear your mind, rather than to score extra style points.

See More Photos: Scandinavian Style: Functional Simplicity

From: Natalie Myers

Layer All the Rugs

Style mavens have argued for years that topping a rug with another rug is a solid move — but why stop there? Take a cue from this modern, bohemian space and create a glorious patchwork of overlapping textiles; it’s cozy, unfussy and just plain fun.

See More Photos: Oriental Rugs 101

Edit Artwork

There’s undeniable drama in a conglomeration of pieces that carries all the way across the wall and up to the ceiling, but an edited gallery wall is even more striking, as the cool quartet of pieces in this space demonstrates. Resist the urge to hang each and every accessory in your arsenal and pare the collection down to a few pieces that complement one another.

Create Background Drama

The high-gloss black paint on the wall behind this gallery grouping allows the frames to pop in this living space.

See More Photos: Personalize Your Space With a Gallery Wall

From: Bea Pila

Get Graphic

Give your living room a fresh look by deploying a crisp, textural piece, like the one on this living room wall. It boasts an almost tactile intricacy that can go toe to toe with macramé — minus the retro associations.

Install a Mural

The traditional subject of this expansive scene contrasts beautifully with its larger-than-life scale. Its sinuous shapes and delicate details serve as foils for geometric pieces like the room’s end and coffee tables.

Choose Unusual Shapes and Placements

This adventurous living room is all about upending expectations and breaking rules: the coffee table is uncentered (to give that sculptural area rug room to shine), greens are beneath an occasional table instead of atop it, the fireplace serves as a bookshelf and a dramatic wall mirror leans against the mantel. If you feel stuck in the design doldrums, try ignoring instinct and making a few contrary choices.

20 Modern Living Room Design Ideas

Related To:

Shop This Look

Panel an Accent Wall

Light It Up

Re-Cover a Back Cushion or Two

Divide Spaces With a Backless Daybed

Add Accents to the Coffee Table

Skip White Walls and Try a White Rug

Try Mirrored Trays

Pattern Everything

Pair Garden Stools With Coffee Tables

Make It Monochromatic

Double Down on Accent Walls

Enlist 'Outdoor' Furniture

Keep the Hearth Going

Skew (Simply) Scandinavian

Layer All the Rugs

Edit Artwork

Create Background Drama

Get Graphic

Install a Mural

Choose Unusual Shapes and Placements

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