Interior Style - Laid-back Contemporary

Easy, breezy and supremely liveable, our Laid-Back Luxe theme ticks every box if you’re looking for a no-fuss style you’ll love for years. Airy, light-filled spaces decorated with warm oak, clean-lined, contemporary furniture, and chunky textures create a home that effortlessly transitions from everyday family living to convivial entertaining space, making it a winning choice for busy households.

Best of all, it’s a look that’s easy to create. Build your scheme around a palette of gentle neutrals, with accents of eucalypt green, peach and terracotta, then add in simple furniture and lighting in oak and white, woven rugs, abstract art in tonal hues, and handmade ceramics with clean, organic lines.

Fresh & inviting

Laid-back Contemporary - Living

Deep, low-profile seating, low-maintenance flooring, and durable oak finishes set the scene for an easygoing lifestyle.

See this look on display at Truganina
Fresh & inviting

Laid-back Contemporary - Theatre

Plush furnishings, soft textures, and muted colour palettes create an atmosphere of casual luxury.

See this look on display at Truganina
Fresh & inviting

Laid-back Contemporary - Kitchen

Combine modern design elements with a relaxed, inviting atmospheree, featuring clean lines and a neutral colour palette.

See this look on display at Donnybrook
Fresh & inviting

Laid-back Contemporary - Master Suite

Create a space where high-end elements coexist with a comfortable, easygoing ambiance.

See this look on display at Donnybrook
INTERIOR DESIGN MANAGER, JESSICA HODGES image

“If you’re looking for a versatile and easy-to-live-with scheme that you can update down the track, this is ideal – simply switch out your cushions, artwork and ceramics, and you’ve got a whole new look.”

INTERIOR DESIGN MANAGER, JESSICA HODGES

Create the look

Exterior colours

Design a façade that embodies modern Australian style with swathes of smooth render in shades of warm grey that ranges from soft pebble to rich charcoal, paired with slender charcoal window frames, and touches of dark timber in your roof or balcony detailing. Opt for a glazed front door that fills your interior with light, and enhances the connection between inside and out.

View gallery

Interior flooring

Create a warm and low-maintenance base for your scheme with wide, light oak floorboards, or large, matt-finish floor tiles in an earthy shade with some movement in the pattern, such as marble-effect Tundra grey. When it comes to rugs and carpets, opt for chunky weaves and light tones.

View gallery

Feature lighting

Choose understated light fixtures with smooth, organic lines and matt finishes that won’t overpower the rest of your scheme. Consider curved metal pendants in white, soft sage or pebble grey above the kitchen island or dining table, simple floor and tables with touches of timber or travertine in the base in your living areas, and frosted-glass orb wall lights in bathrooms.  

View gallery

Kitchen styling

Draw your cues from nature, with textural, dual-tone joinery in white-washed oak and cream or grey-green, topped with soft grey benchtops. Keep detailing to a minimum with simple chrome tapware and either sleek stainless steel handles or push-touch cabinet mechanisms.

Maximise natural light and the sense of space with a white-tiled splashback, white bar stools, and a trio of curvaceous matt white or pebble grey pendants over the kitchen island.

View gallery

Bathroom bliss

Strike the perfect balance between low-key and sophisticated with beige or soft grey stone-look tiles on floors and the lower portion of walls, with crisp white paintwork above them, a wall-hung vanity in oak with minimalist handles, a streamlined basin, and curved chrome tapware. Style the space with raw timber display shelves and artwork in fine oak or white frames.

View gallery

See the Laid-Back Luxe look on display

Furniture & Styling

Keep it casual and uncluttered with simple oak furniture upholstered in beige or pale grey cotton and linen, paired with cosy woven throws, and scatter cushions in a medley of warm, earthy neutrals, muted green, and soft terracotta. If you’re keen to introduce some pattern, avoid busy styles and steer towards stripes and bold abstract prints.

Bring in some texture with battened-oak side tables or consoles, a rattan-backed accent chair or bedhead, drum side tables in coloured concrete or a tactile stone like travertine, and one or two leather pieces. Curvaceous, handmade ceramics and round oak-framed mirrors will add a low-key, contemporary touch.

Here are the shopping destinations our interior designers recommend:

Learn more about creating the Laid-back Contemporary look

Carlisle newsletter

Sign up to get the latest news from Carlisle Homes including exclusive offers, new home designs, and the latest trends and inspiration.