Have you always wanted to decorate your living room in a contemporary style? Perhaps traditional furniture bores you and maybe you have absolutely no use for antiques. You love anything modern! If this is the case, from selecting the furniture to ordering special glass tops for tables, here are some ideas that might help you to design an attractive and usable contemporary living room.

The Furniture - Think of words like sleek and simple when you are selecting the furniture for your contemporary living room. Of course, since you like the modern look, you'll probably be drawn to that type of furniture, anyway. Whether you select wood or metal for the base of your sofa and chairs, choose straight lines that have very little detail that might distract from the sleekness of the design. The upholstery you select is important, too. For example, consider choosing basic colors like yellow, black, turquoise or red. Choose throw pillows with a modern look, too, perhaps with bold stripes or big polka dots in the design. Add a bit of drama to the room by adding large floor to ceiling shelves where you can display your contemporary decorative pieces and books.

Special Touches - Besides selecting the sofa and chairs for your contemporary living room, think of adding interest to the room by ordering special glass tops for the coffee table and end tables. You can actually design the shape of the glass top yourself and have it created by a company that does special orders on glass. Consider a unique design, say a kidney shaped glass top for your coffee table and matching glass tops for the end tables. Another idea is to choose a circle or an oval shaped design. No matter what kind of design you select for the glass tops that will go on your coffee table and the occasional tables, think of the shape being different than the shape of your furniture. If your sofa is perfectly rectangular, you'll want to break up the look with the round, oval or kidney shaped glass tops. If you are decorating with no sofa but several chairs of a round design, then you can go with rectangular glass tops for your tables.

Go with a contemporary look for the accent pieces, too. For example, if you love art, consider buying black and white photographs of modern cities like New York or Paris, and put the photographs in brightly colored plastic frames.