Modern vs. Traditional: Know Your Design Style
If you’re in the market to build or renovate a house, you’ve probably heard the terms ‘Traditional’ and ‘Modern’ thrown around a little bit. Traditional and Modern Designs differ greatly and neither design is wrong or right, it is utterly a matter of personal design preference. It is wise to understand how both differing designs work and what separates them to choose your preference, or even if you want a blend of both!
Traditional Design
Traditional design is associated with a timeless aesthetic and a high attention to detail. Some classic traditional styles include:
– Victorian
– Colonial
– Craftsman
– Neo-Classical
A traditional home’s colour palette will ideally be full of dark and rich colours as opposed to a modern design, where the importance is on the muted colour palette. Materials such as plywood panels and dark woods are prominent to add to the moody feel of traditional homes. A core aspect of symmetry can be noticed in large windows spread across the home. Despite the fact that traditional homes are typically larger than modern homes, the space is typically divided into numerous little rooms to fulfil various purposes, placing a greater emphasis on decorating each room uniquely.
To add a traditional style to your home, turn your attention to external architraves, and columns and classical design motifs. Internally, patterns such as florals, stripes, plaid are another sure-fire way to incorporate traditional style into your home and filling all the rooms with plants and flowers to fill empty spaces is another effective way to style your traditional home. Traditional style focuses more on familiar décor and colour palettes that have been used throughout history rather than turning to what is trendy at that moment.
Modern Design
Modern Design is designed to appeal to those who love fresh and natural spaces and is all about clean interiors that are generally quite minimalistic. Modern design embraces natural materials in their home such as:
– Steel
– Concrete
– Unpainted Wood
– Architectural Glass
This style tends to avoid too much interior decoration and clutter based on the idea that the design will lose value as decorations can lose value and style over time. The homes generally follow an anti-colour mix palette as they favour whites and other natural colours unless a bright colour could serve a specific purpose. Since an important aspect of the design is to embrace natural colours and materials, white is the go-to choice, due to its reflective nature that can draw in light to create this natural look. While traditional homes may align with themes of art and traditions, modern homes align with ideas of technology and science to keep the home up to date and relevant with the times.
Modern homes take advantage of large window panels with minimal dressing over them to allow for natural light to flow into living spaces wherever possible. An important feature of modern design are the open floor plans. An example is having a modern kitchen and dining space which is open plan, removing the need for unnecessary walls. This is favoured to allow for a free flow of air throughout the house and to add to the minimalistic feel.
At the end of the day whether your home has a traditional or more modern design style it all comes down to your personal taste. Both have beautiful features and when done well, they can be combined to incorporate the best of both worlds. At Lofty Building Group we are all about sparking inspiration to help you develop your own exciting ideas in building your dream home.
