Modern homes are very much focussed on space. Whilst additions such as wood floors and the presence of a wide range of task and accent lighting (as opposed to just simple overheads) will all help to add to a modern feel, if you cannot create extra space in your home, it will still feel much more traditional than you might like.
There are many ways to open up space in any home, from utilising more effective storage to knocking through walls and in turn creating much wider thoroughfares. Modern furniture is also designed with this fact in mind, being far more compact and interesting than traditional furniture, adding not only modern style in terms of its looks, but allowing you to have far more floor space at the same time.
The way you decorate your room will also help. Not only will certain colours feel more modern, but the right colours will also create the illusion of far more room, again increasing the feeling that you have a great deal of space. The colour of your contemporary furniture will often dictate exactly what those colours should be, but they will usually be plain, allowing your modern furniture to almost feel like it is disappearing into your decor.
A renovation of any room will give you the perfect opportunity to be ruthless in terms of the items you keep. The more clutter you have, the less spacious any room will feel and whilst some clutter can be stored in spaces such as the attic, the majority of us have more than enough items that can simply be sacrificed to allow us to achieve our design goals.
To get a truly contemporary feel to your home, focus should be paid to every area of your home, from your contemporary furniture right through to the window coverings you choose, but ultimately, without enough space, your home will still feel trapped in the past.