In this video, we talk about modern versus contemporary design styles.
We also talked about transitional versus traditional. That's starting right now.
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Hi everyone I'm Karl Yeh, and welcome to another Homebuyer's School video,
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So today I'm joined by Deborah Armstrong,
Senior Interior Designer with Brookfield
Residential and today we're gonna do a little bit of - I guess, classroom activity,
not that this is Homebuyer's School but - but the question I wanna answer is:
What is the difference between modern
versus contemporary interior design?
So modern is a time period,
typically known as mid-century modern.
It's any design that's - you know, you
could see in the 50s and the 60s. Okay.
A contemporary is ever-changing,
whereas modern you can't change it,
it's always - you know, the 50s and 60s you know.
So what does the - what does that mean?
Like 50s and 60s design, can you give a couple examples?
yeah in the 50s and 60s if you look back, I mean, I can remember those days,
but they're - you know, very clean lines. Everything's very, very clean.
The furniture was raised - you know, off the floor, no skirts on sofas, a lot of wood, teak.
Would hardwood floors be an example?
Absolutely yeah, they were the narrower boards,
they were site finished, but yes, definitely hardwood floors, area carpets.
And then the type of furniture,
what kind of - how would you define modern type of furniture?
Again very, very straight clean lines.
There was a molded furniture whether it
be wood or plastic that we saw back in
those days. Accessories were very clean lined as well, not fussy at all.
Okay and would - and what is the difference between that and
contemporary interior design?
So contemporary is ever-changing.
It is what is current today. So five years
ago, what was contemporary then is not
contemporary today.
so I - so like you said it was ever changing, so let's go back to modern. So what -
what is in a modern home and I think you
talked about that but like - what type of
materials did they use?
A lot of wood, metals, a lot of chrome,
glass, leather, leather yeah.
Leather was very, very popular back - back then too and and even plastic - like to look like leather.
And so there's another thing that I want to talk about too is
in traditional versus transitional, so
how does traditional and transitional go
together with contemporary versus modern?
well they don't really, again because
modern is a time period set on its own in the fifties and sixties,
contemporary is what is current now.
Maybe what transitional you could mix what is
current now with very traditional furniture
so you get a blend of
contemporary and traditional and that's called transitional.
So let's talk about traditional: what is -
first of all what is traditional?
Traditional is usually based on the airs between in the 18th century and the 19th century.
It's quite fuzzy furniture, elegant, heavy draperies, beautiful fabrics. Woodwork was
very ornate - you know, heavy crown mouldings. The furniture itself too - it was
very heavy and ornate. You had certain areas, particularly the Chippendale, the
Sheridan, the Queen Anne furniture. Very common during that
transitional time - traditional period.
So when you say traditional, what in my
mind that brings about like royalty
would that be correct?
It has a - yeah, you could say that, very fussy, very elegant
So like something you probably see in Buckingham Palace?
Yes, yes. Okay.
And today, so what - I guess - in today's
interior design world what is, I guess popular?
Right now we're seeing a lot of
come back with the modern furniture known as mid-century or some people
refer to retro. So again, we're starting to see those really clean lines again,
minimalistic looks.
So I guess you could say that
modern has become contemporary?
Yes you could. And most, I guess most - do most home builders now
appeal to that like contemporary
designer or are there like - not that we want to
name any of them, but like are there any ones - any that are very specific to a
traditional look or transitional look or or is it mostly all contemporary nowadays?
I think most of it's contemporary
nowadays and - and how people are changing the look of their
home is how they decorate it. They're putting their stamp on it
through - through their decorations and maybe some of their interior selections
whether it be carpet or tile, to work around those and in design aspects.
And does this design actually impact how
the house is actually built or no?
No not at all. If you're looking for a modern home exact, it will. Yes, you will build
a home that has the look - much more clean lines yes you know for that modern
feel. Clean, very straight clean lines on the outside. And we are seeing that, we
are seeing some builders, not specifically - I mean it's the home owner's
you know, custom design that's dictating that. Okay perfect, anything else to add in
terms of modern contemporary interior design? No, just have fun with it all
they're all great, you know - and everybody likes a little something different so
anything goes nowadays.
Thank you very much for joining us and we'll catch you next time.
That's another edition of Homebuyer's School.
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