Photo by David Blank

If a subtle but constant desire to enter your home and feel it is the contemporary paradise you’ve always wanted, interior and set designer/decorator Greg Wolfson has a whirlwind of tips to share in converting your habitat into a modern living experience. His set design background in television and movies has laid the groundwork for transforming every imaginable nest into a plush, colorful avant-garde sanctuary. An innate sense of the times, color and materials blended with his vast experience and research work - spotlights Greg as our expert who reveals his modern outlook and trade secrets useful for any budget makeover.

You begin with an overall assessment of your home design, and then evaluate how to develop consistency in patterns, shapes and colors. From geometric shapes to symmetrical patterns in different fabrics set alongside basic tones offset by a splash of bright color from a painting, pattern or object will transform any home into a modern ambiance. The following steps by Greg contain a fast-to-execute and easy-to- understand system for any modern home makeover.

Photo by David Blank

10 Steps to Modernize Any Home:

1. Modern is “about to happen,” that makes it cutting edge! Discover it all around you and envisage fashion, wallpaper, cars and architecture in magazines as a formative pattern.
2. Change the art in your home to modern.
3. Streamline your surveillance and put away personal mementos.
4. Find one accent color to contrast with neutrals.
5. Choose obscure colors like taupe and maroon or grey and burgundy that are both modern and unique.
6. Use bold prints, and contrast them with simple woven fabrics.
7. Avoid micro-fibers and vinyl because they are contemporary and common but not modern.
8. Furnish with low, deep and wide sofas, nothing overstuffed. No slip covers!
9. Proudly display electronics, do not display DVD or CD collections – put them in binders. Armoires are from the past!
10. Anticipate the next modern movement by researching upcoming commercial products and building materials that provide a window to where manufacturing might lead; such as, an increase in green wood use from sustainable forestry.

Photo by David Blank

Budgets Large or Small:

On a Budget: Use classical elements such as modern, deco or French provincial as the basic design to keep your space in fashion so that it never feels trendy, out of date or as if everything was purchased yesterday! Accentuate the preferred style.

No Budget Restrictions: Strictly European because they are five years ahead of everyone! Go to Milan or Rome to purchase new furniture. Find manufacturers with brand new designs before they hit the market and then mix them in with your genre.

Extra Greg Wolfson Tips:

• Purchase works from emerging artists, matching the furniture to the art and not the other way around!
• Keep your personal items (mementos) in the bedroom, as you would not wear your lingerie outside - don’t broadcast what’s private.

Trends: Like fashion, trends come and go and return. The 70’s is back in with paisley fabrics; plus durable and recycled materials that are modern-green.

The Art of It:

Imbue your personality into the way you design your dwelling. Greg says, “It should feel as comfortable as your favorite pair of jeans, but not your fat jeans! Your home should reflect the true you as any outfit would!”