Contemporary Vs Modern design The main difference between the contemporay and modern is that modern design specifically refers to the style of architecture that was popular between the first 1900s and 1950. Whereas contemporary design belongs to the present period of time . ... Modern homes have straight lines and contemporary homes have bold and sweeping curves. What is Modern Style? The modern style is that the design and decor of the modernism movement, which began within the very late 1800s. Birthed by the German Bauhaus schools of design and therefore the Scandinavian design emphasis on simplicity and performance , the fashionable decor style is extremely old. generally terms, modern decor is linked to the start through the center of the 20th century—the 1900s through the 1950s.The modern style eventually morphed into mid-century modern (the 1950s and '60s) and postmodernism (1970s and '80s). While mid-century modern looks ton...