Modern & Contemporary Furniture

Essential to any functional home, furniture is designed to accommodate your needs as you live, work, and entertain at home. Furniture compels people to engage with a space and lays a functional foundation for a home’s design scheme. Office furniture promotes productivity; living room furniture encourages conversation and relaxation; dining room furniture creates a welcoming space for savoring meals. Furnishing your home requires thoughtful consideration. Home furniture is available in a wide range of styles that can impact the function and design scheme of your space in various ways.

Modern furniture has endured as one of the most popular furniture design styles, beloved for its balance of form and function. It’s practical, designed to fulfill necessary purposes throughout the home, but also beautiful, incorporating organic shapes, sculptural silhouettes, and high-quality materials and finishes. Durable, well-crafted modern furniture is a timeless choice for any room of the home, from the entryway to the living room – and beyond.

Similar to modern furniture, contemporary furniture exemplifies design-forward principles, featuring sleek, clean-lined silhouettes fit for the modern home. At Herman Miller, distinguish your space with contemporary and modern furniture by iconic designers whose works have stood the test of time.

How to Buy Furniture

Though furniture encompasses various categories – living, dining, and many more – that serve a wide range of purposes, there are some key considerations to keep in mind when buying furniture for any room in your home.

Furnish to solve problems.

Furniture is designed for function, so it should serve an essential purpose in your home. When deciding what home furniture pieces to purchase, think about the problems you need to address in your home – and what pieces of furniture can help you solve those problems.

For example, if you have a small dining room and a large family to seat at the table, look for versatile dining room furniture that provides solutions for small spaces, such as a drop-leaf or extendable dining table that occupies a compact footprint when not in use, or dining room benches that maximize seating and can fit beneath the table after the meal.

Look for pieces of furniture that improve efficiency throughout your home, too. Shop office desks with built-in outlets or USB ports for conveniently charging small devices, or shop touch lamps that enable you to easily control the volume of light with the tap of a finger.

Consider dimensions.

It’s important to consider furniture dimensions, as well as the dimensions of your space, before making a purchase. Furniture that is disproportionately small – a lone loveseat in a spacious living area, for example – can leave you with the same problems you started with: not enough seating, not enough table space, discomfort, or disorder. Alternatively, furniture that is too large for your space can overwhelm a room and inhibit traffic flow.

The best strategy for choosing home furniture that will fit well in your space is to create a makeshift floorplan. Place tape on your floor to create a working outline of your desired furniture setup, and then measure it to determine the furniture dimensions that will fit within that outline. Or draw up a floor plan and use cutouts to play with different furniture sizes and configurations. Keep foot traffic in mind and avoid placing furniture where it might impede movement through your home.

Most importantly, measure your doorways, hallways, and stairwells – and pay attention to the width of the assembled furniture pieces you choose to ensure they’ll fit through the door.

Choose quality materials.

Well-crafted, design-forward modern furniture is an investment in the enduring function of your space. For furniture that will wear well and feel comfortable year after year, shop modern and contemporary furniture made from quality materials, such as solid wood, metal, and glass, and durable upholsteries like leather, wool, and cotton.

Think about visual appeal.

Visually interesting furniture can impact your home’s design scheme and contribute to a cohesive, modern space. Look for home furniture that coincides with your design aesthetic. Modern furniture is an ideal choice for its blend of form and function. At Herman Miller, shop modern furniture from Eames, Noguchi, Nelson, and other iconic designers that will become part of your home’s legacy.