While Colorado’s domestic migration has slowed significantly in the past two years, the interest and hype around Colorado Modern interior design has continued to grow. This style is popular, regardless of if you’re trying to build a mountain getaway or bring the mountains into your flat-land home.
It combines sleek, contemporary design with natural elements, creating a warm, practical, and inviting space. Inspired by the state’s stunning landscape, wildlife, and fauna, it captures the best parts of Colorado and places them in your home. Expect to find clean lines, neutral colors, and natural materials like wood, stone, cozy textiles, wool and leather.
This style is perfect for those who want a modern, sophisticated look without sacrificing comfort and coziness.
What is Colorado Modern Interior Design?
Colorado modern interior design is a sleek and contemporary style that combines minimalism and functionality with a touch of rustic charm. It embraces Colorado’s natural beauty via clean lines, neutral colors, and natural materials.
These materials are often left in their natural state, with minimal processing or treatment. This includes real wood, local stone, and simple metal pieces. Neutral colors like white, beige, and gray are the backdrop of natural color pops, like watery blues, forest inspired greens, or sunrise yellows. This creates balance and harmony in the space.
This style focuses on creating a space that is as functional as it is beautiful. Each room is simple and uncluttered, with plenty of open space. Also, the more natural light, the better.
If you’re hoping to design a low maintenance home, inspired by nature, Colorado modern could be a great fit.
The Key Elements of Colorado Modern Interior Design
To design your home in a Colorado modern style, incorporate nature while maintaining a minimalist space, with true functionality.
Incorporate Natural Materials
A key characteristic of Colorado modern interior design style is thoughtful integration of natural elements. This involves deliberate selection of native materials like beetle-kill pine or aspen wood. You can also use river stones or raw metal like silver or copper hailing from the state’s rich mining history. Even sandstone and granite can come straight from the Rockies!
Elements like antler sheds, woven grass window treatments, cowhide or sheepskin rugs also infuse a Colorado touch. Similarly, clay pottery and hand-blown glass items echo the state’s artistic heritage while complementing the overall design.
Usually, each of these materials are kept true to their original form.
Emphasis on Functionality
While each design component adds aesthetic appeal, it also usually serves a valuable purpose. This can look like built-in storage in the form of cleverly concealed cabinets or under-stair nooks, ensuring a clutter-free living area.
Multi-purpose furniture is also very popular. Think expandable dining room tables, sofa beds, and ottomans with hidden compartments to utilize the entire space. The pieces are spread throughout an open floor plan, another hallmark of this style, making movement from one area to the next fluid.
Incorporating the Great Outdoors
Speaking of fluid movement, the living and outdoor spaces also often feel like one cohesive space. Big sliding glass doors and large windows accent the views and make it easy to move from inside to outside. Weather-resistant deck furniture, a fire pit, or an outdoor kitchen are all common for this style.
We love a dual side fireplace that can be enjoyed outside during the summer, and inside during the winter.
Minimalist Approach
Every design element is carefully considered and edited to ensure it serves a purpose and contributes to the overall aesthetic of the space. Clean lines, simple forms, and neutral color palettes take center stage.
Plus, given Coloradan’s love of the outdoors, the less you have to take care of the better. More time for hiking, camping, biking, fishing, brewery hopping, gardening and kayaking!
The Impact of Sustainability
This design style is greatly influenced by sustainable interior design. When your space is so greatly influenced by nature, you want to take actionable steps to protect it! From energy efficient appliances to sustainable material, Colorado modern lends well to an eco-friendly home.
Energy Efficient
Products and materials that are designed to reduce energy consumption are common in Colorado homes. Here are some examples you can consider:
- LED light bulbs
- Energy efficient windows, doors, and insulation
- Energy-wise appliances, like refrigerators, ovens, and dryers
- Low-flow water appliances, like toilets, dishwashers, and washing machines
- High efficiency HVAC systems
- Smart thermostats that adjust your home temperature to save on energy
- Tankless water heaters
- Solar panels
All of these little changes add up to a more sustainable home!
Sustainable Materials
Materials that have a low impact on the planet are also often used in Colorado Modern homes. Here are some examples of sustainable materials:
- Furniture made from reclaimed wood or recycled materials
- Organic, fair-trade, or ethically made products
- Flooring made with low or no VOCs
- Clay, in all its shapes and forms, from pots to tiles
- Wool
- Natural stone
- Eco-friendly paints and wallpaper
- Zero-waste toiletries
- Cool roofs
Sustainability has a significant impact on Colorado modern interior design in a subtle, yet impactful way!
The Future of Colorado Modern Interior Design
We’re not big on following trends at Spark Interiors. We prefer to blaze our own paths based on what our clients want and need from their living spaces. That said, it can never hurt to look towards the future while designing your home.
No one wants to look at something they thought they loved a year later and think, “Shoot, this is now out of style.”
Things Are Only Going to Get More Sustainable
As a society, we’ve dipped our toes in the water when it comes to sustainability. As more folks prioritize sustainability in their builds and remodels, more businesses are seeing the benefit in creating sustainable products and materials. We predict this is only the beginning!
In the last couple of years, we’ve seen additions like:
- Rain harvest legalization
- Gray water tanks to legalization
- Green roofs
- Geothermal heating
- Tiny home living
Not to mention we’ve seen a huge rise in gardening and composting across multiple age groups!
Bold Colors and Textures
While Colorado Modern tends to lean more towards neutral colors and clean lines, we’re expecting to see more bold colors and textures in the future – which we love! Think deep blues, rich greens, warm oranges, moody reds, and bright yellows, paired with fabrics like velvet and leather.
These pops of color and texture can add depth and interest to an otherwise minimalist space. Not to mention, it’s the perfect way to show off your unique personality and make your space your own!
New Technology
Technology can make our lives easier and more comfortable – so it’s likely it will only play a bigger role in the Colorado Modern style in the future. Whether that’s a voice-activated sound system that really gets the dinner party going, or heated floors that reduce overall energy cost, tech isn’t going anywhere.
Are you ready to incorporate this style into your home?
Given Colorado’s breathtaking landscape, it’s no wonder and interior design style has evolved to keep the mountains close to home. From purple peaks, to lush forests, and abundant wildlife, there are lots of ways to incorporate the Centennial State into your home design.
Yet, there’s no better expert to help you step in and execute this style than Spark Interiors. Whether you’re creating a unique rental home experience, building your dream cabin, or updating your home to reflect your love of the mountains – we’ve got you covered.
Fill out a form to discuss this style further with our principal designer, Megan.
If you want to learn more about the Colorado modern interior design style, check out this blog on 5 Colorado Interior Design Mistakes to Avoid At All Costs.
