The word "modern" is translated as "modern", but more than a hundred years have passed since the appearance of this trend in interior design. So it has nothing to do with really modern style.
Modern at its most expressive incarnation lasted just over 30 years, from the 1880s to 1914. It replaced the Victorian style, which was distinguished by luxury, excesses in decoration and a penchant for frilly lines, bulky draperies.
Despite the short period of its popularity, this style has given us a lot of interesting ideas and design solutions. And today, the Art Nouveau living room will speak of the refined taste of its owner.
Features
Modern is a very controversial style. On the one hand, it suggests elegance with a hint of luxury, on the other hand, conciseness, functionality and simplicity. But if you are seriously thinking about the design of the living room in the Art Nouveau style, then the following characteristic features should be traced in it:
- Main interior material -wood. Not only furniture is made from it, but also decor, wall cladding, floors, etc. The wood should be hardwood, medium color intensity or dark.
- Lack of symmetry. Ornate lines and bizarre curves on walls, patterns on textiles and wallpaper, niches, arched openings are welcome.
- Attraction to natural motives. Living room in Art Nouveau style will be distinguished by an abundance of floral and floral ornaments.
- The presence of stained-glass windows. This is almost a mandatory attribute of this style.
- Forged items. Not mandatory, but often used technique. Artistic forging may be present if it suits the taste of the owner of the premises. Most often you can see it on stair railings, fireplace accessories, in the design of windows and balconies, in small decorative elements. The wrought iron pieces also feature curved asymmetrical lines and floral motifs.
Walls
The interior of the living room in modern style suggests that the walls here will only be the background. Their task is to delimit the room, while maintaining the feeling of the most open space. Therefore, often the walls are simply painted in light colors - beige, milky white, pearl gray, cream, light yellow or pale green. Sometimes, to create a special atmosphere of comfort and privacy, more saturated, but muted colors are used - wine or brown, black as a contrast.
But plain walls are too boring. Therefore, the walls are decorated with vegetableornaments. A characteristic feature of the style is the vertical arrangement of the pattern.
One of the most common techniques is the separation of walls. The lower part is decorated with wooden panels, the upper part is decorated with light-colored wallpaper.
A good option for decorating walls in the Art Nouveau style will be wallpaper, but certainly combined. You can use plain colors in combination with a canvas with floral ornaments. Dividing wide curb strips will also be useful.
You can use stucco as decoration, but in small quantities.
Floors
For the floor, you can choose one of two options: wood - classic parquet or light-colored marble. According to an unspoken rule, the color of the parquet should overlap with the color of the furniture. Instead of real marble, ceramic tiles are often used (this is the second option): they are laid out in the form of a mosaic panel or in complex patterns reminiscent of the ornament of expensive oriental carpets.
One of the characteristic features of Art Nouveau is the zoning of the room with the help of the floor. So, the Art Nouveau kitchen-living room can be divided into functional areas using a pattern on the floor covering or a border (junction) of two different materials. Zones often have different floor levels - Art Nouveau is characterized by the inclusion of small podiums and steps in the interior, but not straight, but curved semicircular or asymmetrical.
As an exception, carpet is allowed. Only it should be in light colors, with an interesting asymmetrical ornament. Better if only part of the floorwill be covered with a fluffy carpet. A good option would be to arrange several small rugs - this will additionally delimit the space, parquet or marble will be visible.
Ceiling
The ceiling in the Art Nouveau living room (pictured) will always have a fancy design. For this direction, multi-tiered compositions, to which art deco gravitates so much, are uncharacteristic. But everything else is welcome - ornaments, artistic painting, full-fledged paintings, classic stucco with voluminous decorative elements.
Also, the ceiling is often decorated with beams and wood carvings. The ceiling, covered with a fabric with a complex pattern, will look expensive and elegant.
All decorations on the ceiling are also characterized by curved asymmetric lines characteristic of Art Nouveau and floral motifs in the decoration.
Lighting
Lighting plays a very important role. Unlike the Victorian style, Art Nouveau does not tolerate twilight and deep shadows. Therefore, for an Art Nouveau living room, you need to develop a lighting scheme consisting of several sources located at different levels.
The center light, a large chandelier, will be responsible for providing direct, bright, non-glare light in which to perform various tasks such as reading, knitting or writing. Background lights, which include floor and table lamps, spotlights, LED stripsand sconces, should ensure that there are no deep shadows in the corners of the room.
The main goal of the lighting system is to create a soft, diffused, but strong enough light that will not leave dark spots and visually expand the space.
Textiles and decor
In the Art Nouveau living room, it is best to choose plain textiles or fabrics with floral motifs. It is best if they are natural, light, translucent and flowing. Those fabrics that glare a little and reflect light will look good.
Special attention should be paid to curtains - their shape should be asymmetrical, while the color and pattern of the fabric should be chosen not too catchy. Curtains should be in harmony with the entire interior, without drawing all the attention to themselves.
Upholstery is dominated by textiles with floral or floral patterns, with an interesting texture.
The following elements are also characteristic of the Art Nouveau style:
- porcelain vases and figurines;
- clock on a shelf or wall;
- mirror in forged frame;
- translucent screens;
- exquisite canvas frames;
- bronze lamp holders;
- chinaware;
- embroidered pillows.
Furniture
Modern style living room furniture is distinguished by the absence of right angles: all lines are smooth, rounded, with intricate carvings and decorative ornaments. In such an interior, a sofa with a rounded back, with tapestry inserts, on chiseled wooden or elegant forged legs will look harmonious. In company to the sofayou definitely need to pick up a couple of chairs, it’s not bad if they contrast with him in color. The table is available with a glossy top and elegant carved legs.
It is best if the furniture is modular, not tied to one point in the room. As for its quantity, it should be the minimum necessary. The more open space the better.
Conclusion
Creating an Art Nouveau living room interior (pictured) is not easy. This is an ambitious and costly project. For its implementation, you need to have an initially suitable room - spacious, with high ceilings, since this direction does not accept crowding. You will have to work with expensive natural materials - wood and marble, while you will need to spend money on the characteristic stylistic techniques that distinguish the Art Nouveau style, for example: artistic forging, creating stained-glass windows and mosaics on the floor, raising the floor, decorating with wooden or stucco ceiling elements, etc. e.
It is also recommended to hire a designer - this is the case when one is simply needed. If there is a desire to create your own project, then you can follow a simple path - use some of the features characteristic of modernity in the interior, and make everything else neutral. You will get a fusion of modern and real modern style - simple, but tasteful.
