Whether you live in a sprawling country house or a bachelor loft, space should be your primary concern when sizing up your home for some decorating. One of the latest moves in the interior design world is to combine clutter-free minimalism with space-saving functionality. You want to use the space that you have to its fullest, so try thinking outside the box a bit. If you have a guest room that is only used once or twice a year, consider adding a bookshelf for storing and making crafts. Or combine your book collection with your office, bring in a plush couch and spare table or two, and you’ve got an instant home library. Be sure to keep your home’s design ethos in mind when maximizing on space, and play around with what you have.

Sometimes interior design trends are more of an idea than any particular style. In today’s busy world of deadlines, gadgets, family demands, commutes and the like, there is an increasing demand for an area of calm. As an individual, you need to design your living space to act as an oasis of serene, uncomplicated being. However you want to approach this, whether it is by taking elements of modern and minimalist style or by collecting items from flea markets, your home should be a haven where you can relax, feel safe, and unburden your body and your mind. You don’t have to follow any interior trends to build an oasis, so ask yourself what makes you feel comfortable and start to spread that attitude into your home.

There’s nothing wrong with daydreaming about summer cottaging while you’re at home, possibly snowed-in by a blizzard or rained-out by a sudden thunderstorm. Modern interior design trends have taken up this longing with a passion, and have created the summer cottage movement. With this look, you can capture the spirit of a cottage, with its weather-worn wood, jumble of flowery patterns and mash-up of styles. Soft purples, pinks and yellows pepper this trend, usually dotted onto fabrics as flowers. Think about what makes your cottage, or your friends’, so great, and try incorporating some of the elements into your home for a rustic, relaxing, and nostalgic modern atmosphere.

Trends seem to run in a circular fashion, and what goes out of style will usually come back in, eventually. Going the full color spectrum, interior design has moved from black to earthy tones and back again over the past few decades. The recent tones that found their stride were the earthy browns and greens as the deep tones, and cream or pink as the accents. Now, black and white are starting to make their comeback, and it’s in a powerful way. You don’t have to go as stark as the image above, but by filling out one or two of your rooms in the bold duality of black and white, you can add mystique as well as sophistication to your home.

We’ve all felt that it’s the little things in life that matter – and now that statement comes home to interior design. A lot of your “comfort” activities happen at home, like taking that first morning sip of coffee or lounging around on a Sunday afternoon with your favorite book. These things can be enhanced by choosing furniture that is designed for ceremonies. This doesn’t mean you have to break the bank for a new set of good china, but rather purchase the pieces that make you feel good. Don’t be afraid to make an emotional choice, because it will likely be a great aesthetic choice too if the tea set or the lounge chair you fell in love with is going to be the one you go to, time and again, to enjoy the little things in the comfort of your home.

While you’re thinking globally, why not dress up that modern but stark and bare couch with some accents from local merchants? Buying goods locally – anything from throw pillows to standing vases – can help boost your local economy as well as give you a unique interior look that you’ll likely not find elsewhere. With the over-saturation of the furniture market – those stores that sell copy after copy of the same over stuffed couch, available in your choice of three colors – it’s nice to go on a hunt for some unique, hand-crafted accents, or full pieces themselves, to prevent your home from becoming a replica of this month’s glossy interior design magazine centerfold.

Embracing the new, the unknown, the daring is something that a true student of modern design should be itching to do. By incorporating global designs that are inspired from the far-reaches of the world into your home , you can dare to be different, while enlivening your sense of culture along the way. All aspects of our lives, from the food we eat to the cars we drive, is touched by globalization, so it’s no wonder that modern interior design would follow suit. Ethnic chic is a movement that involves patterns, structure and materials that are not necessarily common to your own culture. Try branching out a little and see what you discover about design and hopefully about those outside your usual sphere.

You might think that Sha-Do is a company that produces snowflake designs for your wall, or even lacy doilies by looking briefly at the images on their portfolio. However, upon closer inspection, you’ll notice that at the center of each of these patterns is a light – crafted with meticulous detail, projecting beautifully patterned shadows on the wall. The innovative use of light and non-light by Sha-Do is unparalleled in creativity. Repeated patterns of light and shadow are splashed across the ceiling whenever a Sha-Do light is turned on, and when it’s off the cut-out shape of the light itself will stand out. Any modern home would add a touch of uniqueness and intrigue with one of these fixtures.

A modern take on the glamor movement of the first half of the twentieth century has seeped into interiors around the country. Furniture that is ornate and glamorous is now becoming more sought-after than the fading “chunky”, or over-sized look that has dominated the design world lately. Look for forms that have subtle embellishments, mostly solid pieces, either with exaggerated, tall legs, or seats that have gotten rid of the extras like back cushions in favor of a more unified, tight upholstery. With this movement, it’s all in the details – you might find gem-like hardware on drawer handles, fine inlay on the edges of cabinets or strong-grain wood.  For inspiration, compare the two pictures – above: original glamor movement, circa 1940; below: modern glamor interior.

A new obsession with form has exploded onto the modern style world, and has become distilled down to its very essence – the silhouette. When choosing anything from love seats to kitchen tables, pay attention to the outline you’ll see when walking into your room. Patterns, colors and materials all have a lot to do with what makes a successful modern space, but the silhouette is something that is often forgotten. By combining like shapes in a single room, or by juxtaposing curves with sharp corners, you can create a uniquely textured look that will add a new dimension of visual pleasure to your space.