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How to Decorate Your Living Room in High-Tech Style

Contributor
By eHow Contributing Writer
(5 Ratings)

The high-tech style living room has a pared-down elegance - plain, sturdy furnishings and an absence of bric-a-brac contribute to the modern feel. Here are some ways to achieve this look.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions

Things You'll Need:

  • Grommet-top Curtains
  • Carpets
  • Chairs
  • Coffee Tables
  • End Tables
  • Flowers
  • Industrial-style Storage Shelves
  • Lamps
  • Light Fixtures
  • Perforated Roller-type Window Shades
  • Pictures Or Pictures
  • Plants
  • Sofas
  • Venetian Blinds
  • Vertical Blinds
  • Plants
  • Chairs
  1. Step 1

    Choose a couch with no ornamentation. It can be built-in, with cushions on a carpet-covered platform. A twin mattress and box spring, both covered with mover's quilts, is another option; a simple futon and frame will also fit the bill.

  2. Step 2

    Select simple toss pillows, without piping, fringe or other fussy ornamentation.

  3. Step 3

    Find chairs that are salvaged car bucket seats or theater seats. Or consider commercial-type stacking chairs (for instance, plastic with a metal frame), aluminum navy chairs, classic metal folding chairs, molded plastic chairs, director's chairs or Breuer chairs.

  4. Step 4

    Use a low-level textile such as a commercial-style carpet or sisal as an area rug. Monochrome, tweed or geometric styles blend easily.

  5. Step 5

    Light the room with modern lamps such as aimable halogens and pharmacy styles. Commercial-style fixtures and sconces are also appropriate.

  6. Step 6

    Place potted plants - a spiky palm or dracaena - in a simple pot. A simple flower (tulip or calla lily) in a plain cylinder vase is also suitable. A few branches of dried curly willow in a simple pot can provide a nice foil to an otherwise angular room.

  7. Step 7

    Select minimal artwork - perhaps a large, unframed, abstract oil painting on canvas over the sofa. Or use a few simply matted black-and-white photos in plain frames.

  8. Step 8

    Purchase a coffee table. Consider a molded plastic style or an ultramodern glass top on a metal frame (black or perhaps left unpainted or rusty), or a stainless-steel cart.

  9. Step 9

    Select end tables - Parsons-style pieces or glass-and-metal versions will fit in nicely. Or make your own - stack car wheel rims and top them with glass, or cover a particle-board cube with carpet scraps.

  10. Step 10

    Choose industrial-looking, plain metal bookshelves.

  11. Step 11

    Leave windows plain or go with a grommeted canvas curtain threaded onto a stretched steel cable. Other options include perforated roller shades, vertical blinds or venetian blinds.

Tips & Warnings
  • Some high-tech pioneers have modified car or bus seats for use as settees.
  • Make your own coffee table using a stack of pallets or a glass top over a platform of glass block.

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