Furniture design is always evolving. But keeping your home on trend does not have to mean constantly buying new furniture. By investing in key pieces inspired by modern classics, or on the cutting edge of style, you can keep your house looking enviably stylish.

Of course, the best way to stay effortlessly fashionable is to follow your own taste. Modern contemporary furniture gives you the freedom to mix different styles in new and individualistic ways.

Whether you want a minimal Scandinavian look, focusing on pared-down wood and naked steel, or luxuriant and striking new-material designs, or you wish to incorporate different design elements from a range of aesthetic traditions into a bold new look, a carefully curated selection of modern contemporary furniture is indispensable for anyone serious about interior design.

Furniture as functional sculpture

If youve seen one of the classic 20th century designs you can appreciate the enduring sculptural value of a piece of furniture.
Today, there are more design options available than ever, so you dont have to compromise between style and comfort.

Contemporary chair designs are especially pioneering and varied. Star designers such as Kenneth Cobonpue are constantly working on using natural materials in innovative ways to make chairs and other furniture that delight and surprise.

Contemporary offers include daring and colourful steel and microfibre armchairs, understated wooden dining room chairs and classic leather recliners with a contemporary twist.

From retro furniture that echoes the age of high modernism to fresh looks that may herald classics of the future, contemporary furniture design channels the grand history of design while continually breaking new ground.

Great designs dont have to be large pieces of furniture, or expensive investments. Hanging lamps, at their most interesting, are sculptural assets in the daytime and a source of subtle atmospheric effects at night. Polished aluminium or layered wood side tables are practical and elegant. Retro ottomans let you enhance your living space with flair.

Art from nature, nature from art

Oscar Wilde claimed that life imitates art far more than art imitates life. You can appreciate the subtlety of this epigram when you consider the way that the innovative use of natural materials, such as wood and bamboo, in interesting forms can cause us to appreciate nature in new ways.

Contemplating the complex interlocking bamboo hanging lamps, or the clean lines of wooden modular furniture, one is then able to discern new patterns and recurring forms in the natural world.

The way nature inspires design, and great design enriches our experience of nature, may account for the harmonious effect achieved in many of the most fascinating interiors.

Designing a room

Some rooms are designed around one or two landmark pieces of furniture; others by the subtle accumulation of furnishings and dcor accessories. In either case, furniture does not exist in a vacuum, but as part of the general design of your home.

By visiting a contemporary furniture store with a wide variety of quality, carefully selected modern furniture pieces, you can best visualise each item as part of an interior look, as a functional work of art.