The sleek look of the last century is absolutely back in fashion.

Recently, modern and contemporary décor were prominently featured in many of the showrooms at World Market Center Las Vegas during the summer market.

Many believe that the hit TV show “Mad Men” is what’s now influencing home fashion. Things always go around and come back into style, but people are watching this TV show and are now being influenced about what they want to put in their homes.

Modern design is making a strong comeback. In movies like “The Great Gatsby” and television shows like “Downton Abbey” we are seeing a certain time period which exhibited a strong style direction. The 1920s through the 1940s were filled with art deco which is characteristic of symmetry and rectilinear shapes.

Many clients are absolutely requesting modern and contemporary décor in their homes. They seem to be tired of clutter and tired of taking care of a lot of fussy details and so they love the idea of simplifying their homes especially here in Las Vegas where the desert home seems to call for a more modern approach.

In a word, modern and contemporary décor focus on clean lines, textures versus patterns and less stuff overall.

It ‘s important to point out that although they are similar and have roots in the same design principals, modern décor is not the same as contemporary décor. In interior design they are not the same thing. Modern design refers to a period of time and is a design style that was created between the 1920’s and 1950s. Contemporary design is always in a state of change, It’s now – of the moment.

Contemporary design is influenced by the world around us, everything from pop culture to the economy. Technology now allows us to sit in our home and find home furnishings, accessories and décor from all over the world, and so the interiors of our homes are a reflection of this movement.

In a word, today’s designs and the trend for the future are more contemporary with modular designs being very popular as they allow people to easily change the look of their room.

The modern and contemporary styles are known for their use of neutrals like cream, white and grey – especially in the modern settings. And I predict that trend to continue. Grey is now the new beige and looks good with everything.

Other materials such as linen and leather are key in this kind of design and again likely to remain so. Contemporary design today also incorporates many reflective surfaces as well as graphic patterns. But contemporary design is of course ever evolving so there are new colors and styles being used and introduced all the time and this will of course continue to be the norm.

Finally, modern design does best in a larger spaces such as the living room as it needs a little breathing room to be at its best. It’s not the type of design where you place a lot of pieces close together and clients seem to realize that and it’s a trend that will no doubt continue. And because the furnishings have clean lines, they naturally will blend well with other design styles for a more eclectic look.

And of course, the most interesting rooms will always be those that introduce an unexpected element or a different period piece in the mix. i.e. an antique settee paired with a new upholstered ottoman or cocktail table in a crocodile texture.

Of course there are still those who believe style shouldn’t matter; that if you love a piece or it makes you happy, then it’s a piece that will work in your home. And that’s a trend that will no doubt continue as well.

Learn more about Stephen Leon on his websites, www.soleilcustom.com and www.soleildesigninternational.com, and his Haute Design Network Profile.

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The client looked into my eyes with an expression I had seen any number of times before – sort of a mixture of puzzlement and concern – almost bordering on complete dismay. What could have caused her such anxiety you wonder.  No, it wasn’t my bill, but the realization that the custom furniture I had designed and installed in her husband’s executive office – the furniture she had only a short while ago so loved and praised - was not made of solid wood – but veneer! I then had to explain to her, as I’ve done numerous times before with clients, the pros and cons of using one or the other.

There are still too many of us that believe that solid wood is better than veneer when it comes to furniture. Today more than ever before this idea couldn’t be further from the truth. Veneers offer any number of advantages over solid woods and are the preferred materials of many of the finest furniture manufacturers. But nowadays furniture is most often a combination of solid woods and veneers as is the case with most of the pieces that I design and manufacture such as my client’s executive office.

The solid woods give much needed strength to edges, legs and aprons and other supporting components of a piece of furniture. No substitutes can compare to solid hardwoods when it comes to holding nails and screws and withstanding the stresses, loads, shocks and abrasions of daily use. Additionally, solid woods can usually be easily repaired and/or refinished.

But for areas such the sides of desks and entertainment centers where solid woods would likely crack and warp (which can often be the case when wood inherently expands and contracts due to fluctuations in humidity) a veneer is usually glued to the top and sides over a solid substrate such as plywood or MDF (medium density fiberboard). And this is a good thing as both of these materials are extremely strong and stable and bonded under high pressure for utmost durability and resistance to warping.

So just what is a wood veneer? Well, first and foremost it truly is real wood from real trees that have been finely sliced and then most often applied to the stable substrates just mentioned. Furniture makers use veneers because it allows them greater freedom with their designs than they could ever achieve working only with solid woods while at the same time making the finished piece more stable and even more cost effective to produce.  They come from two basic sources of wood – trees that are available in solid stock as well as the exotic trees where solid stock is now almost impossible to find.

Veneers are the best way to achieve the craftsman’s vision of beauty for a piece of furniture and only the finest of the woods are saved to be veneers.  The clever Egyptians knew this over 3500 years ago when the process was first used. Furniture covered with precious and exotic woods eventually became a highly prized art that called for artisans with great training and experience which holds true today; though with the advances in technology there really is very little chance for anything in the veneering process to actually go awry.

Yes, it’s been known for centuries that the only way to really achieve perfectly grain-matched and uniformly colored areas on a larger piece of furniture is to cut veneers from a single tree because as the saying goes, “no two trees are alike” is really true.  To create the same effect with solid woods is far more difficult and costly. Exotic woods such as burls for example are comparatively small pieces and can be expanded into color and pattern-matched surfaces only by being sliced into veneers to create the necessary larger areas. This is often referred to as a “book-matched” pattern. (See illustrations.)

Add to the wisdom of using wood veneers the concept of sustainability and “green design” so much on peoples’ minds these days and you too will no longer question the merits of veneer versus solid woods. If we can be environmentally kind (producing over 42 surfaces of wood veneer for every 1 of solid wood  – and with no wood even wasted as sawdust!) while at the same time creating something of lasting beauty, then we have indeed achieved a rare and perfect balance.

Visit Stephen Leon's Haute Design Network Profile for further info.

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