Modern vs. Contemporary: When you ask most people the difference between modern and contemporary design, they draw a blank. While the two design styles are easy to confuse, there’s one easy way to tell the difference: the age of the style itself. Modern design appeared in the early 20th century and follows more concrete design guidelines. Contemporary refers to whatever is current in design, focusing on new and innovative ideas. Many designers aiming for a contemporary home will use references to the modern interior design style mixed with new advancements.

For St. Louis homeowner Cody Woods, creating an “open concept” floor plan was key for an extensive renovation of his Central West End home. The biggest challenge for gutting a home that was originally built in the early 1900s? Converting a structure that was definitely not built to be this open.

Homeowner Debbie Gilula subscribes to the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe philosophy. “Less is more,” she says, offering, “I like simplicity to the extreme.” For 40 years, Gilula lived in “a wonderful mid-century house,” she says, by architect Isadore Shank, a contemporary of William Bernoudy. Ready to scale back — prepared to streamline her life — Gilula purchased a 2,000-square-foot condo in Clayton. But simplicity isn’t always so simple!