Your Guide to Contemporary Windows
By: Architectural Visions
Homeowners have a great deal of choice when it comes to what style they want to convey in their household. Some mainstays include Traditional, Modern, Victorian, Art Deco, Cottage, and Contemporary. Several design aspects significantly affect what style emanates from your home; from the types of doors you install to the furnishings you place to the paint you use. With the light and heat they allow in and out, as well as the views they create, windows are a crucial part of affecting a certain style in your next home renovation.
In building a Contemporary style home, windows are of the utmost importance because of their distinguishing shapes and lines as well the feeling of openness they create. Here at AVI, we’re more than happy to guide you through all the factors that distinguish a window as a contemporary window and how best to choose one that fits best in your next home renovation.
Key Takeaways
- Contemporary design can be hard to characterize because it’s happening right now, but some features include strong curved or straight lines, open space, and understated color tones
- Contemporary windows are often oversized to allow ample natural light in open spaces
- Casement and double hung windows are popular contemporary style window choices
In a household, Contemporary doesn’t mean Modern
Regarding home renovation styles, it’s important to understand that Contemporary and Modern are themselves two unique fashions in which to design a home. Modern house style reflects a distinct and defined early 20th century intellectual movement of the same name. With its greatest prominence in the 1950s and 60s, Modern house style is heavily defined by minimalism as well as style choices such as bold straight lines, open spaces, metal doors, and earthy tones of bright paint.
On the other hand, Contemporary style has to do with the current state of house design, literally right now. Contemporary can be difficult to define therefore because by its nature it’s constantly evolving and always looking towards the future. It does draw from predecessors, however, and overlap can be seen in Contemporary’s preference for a combination of strong curved and straight lines, openness of space, understated color tones and attention to minimalism.
What is a Contemporary Style Window?
When distinguishing Contemporary as a stylistic era, we often mark the 1970’s as the style’s inception point. It can be difficult to box in what all incorporates Contemporary because we are currently in it, but since the ‘70s Contemporary home style typically lends towards curved lines joined with long and bold straight ones as well as neutral, natural colors such as white, black, gray, and tan. A big factor in Contemporary households is openness of space, and windows are key to creating this effect. A contemporary window will therefore tend to be over sized and promote natural light.
Contemporary window design tends towards simplicity, with intentional use of texture and clean lines. Another contemporary renovation option is window mulling, allowing for large windows to open into large, impressive views. As you can see, windows are your workhorse for creating a large open space for your contemporary home.
Weather Shield premium double hung window
What Types of Windows Create A Contemporary Feel?
The type of window you use and the treatments to these windows will really lend to a contemporary feel in your household. Casement and Double hung windows are popular contemporary window choices. While a casement window uses a crank to open and close, a double-hung window moves up and down in a frame. Consider how a casement window can move outward, really bringing that feeling of openness to the forefront. An awning window that pushes out can also have this same effect. Bay and Bow windows that extend from a wall also offer the perception of a larger space. Obviously, a sliding window door has the same effect. For the greatest creation of open space, a floor to ceiling window gets the job done.
Casement Windows
What are Contemporary Window Trends?
As previously stated, Contemporary style is always evolving, but one consistent theme is that form and function share equal priority. The materials and the colors used must articulate this idea. Wood, fiberglass, and vinyl windows are all popular choices that function to create a sense of openness while their clean lines signal an understated simplicity. Window frames with natural hues of white, black, gray, and tan will also add to the contemporary feel.
What to Consider When Choosing Contemporary Windows
With any home renovation, you must consider the current design of your home and whether adding contemporary windows will be a good stylistic fit. As Contemporary style borrows from its predecessors, there is the possibility for a lot of overlay while maintaining a cohesive household theme. As windows and doors are the gateways into your home, you’ll definitely need to consider matching contemporary windows with contemporary doors to avoid unpleasant thematic clashes.
Naturally, Contemporary windows fit best in a Contemporary style home, but if you keep in mind those stylistic similarities, you can achieve a pleasant unified style for your household. Remember that you are trying to create a feeling of openness, and lots of light, space, simple clean lines, and understated colors help achieve this effect.
Finding Contemporary Windows in Your Area
When considering Contemporary windows for your next home renovation, the experts at AVI stand ready here to help you choose the best windows for your home. With our online and in-person services, AVI is your one stop shop to browse, choose, and install windows that will help create the Contemporary style home you’ve been dreaming of.
Get in touch with us online, by phone or in person or at one of our Southeast locations today:
Interested in learning more about other window styles?
- Your Guide to European Windows
- The Benefits of Large Windows & Popular Large Window Styles for Homes
- Your Guide to Modern Windows