Contemporary Design Style
Contemporary design is a broad, perpetually evolving category that absorbs the influences of the current cultural moment. It can be warm, layered, and welcoming, comfortably incorporating natural wood tones, gently curved forms, soft textiles, and a range of accents alongside its characteristic clean lines. If you love the idea of modern design but still want your kitchen or bath to feel casual and relaxed, Contemporary design may be your style.
Ultra Modern Design Style
Ultra Modern, by contrast, is an uncompromising aesthetic and that is precisely its appeal. It pushes further into precision, high contrast, and a certain bold, unyielding correctness of form. Where Contemporary design might pair a slab door with a slim shaker cabinet door in a warm wood accent and an inviting farmhouse sink, Ultra Modern insists on the purist slab door with an ultra-simplistic material, and no decorative detail whatsoever. Color palettes in Ultra Modern spaces tend toward the extreme ends of the spectrum: the most luminous whites, the deepest blacks and charcoals, the most architecturally precise greys. Natural wood can absolutely appear in Ultra Modern spaces, but it does so sparingly and with great intention, often in a deeper, more dramatic stain that reads as sophisticated rather than casual.
Think of the distinction this way: Contemporary design invites you in graciously; Ultra Modern takes your breath away the moment you cross the threshold.