Traditional style draws from 18th and 19th-century European design — Georgian, Federal, Victorian, French Provincial — pulled into the present through continuous use rather than revival. It's the style of grand homes, country clubs, and the high-end suburbs that still aspire to them.
Visual hallmarks: symmetrical room layouts (a fireplace flanked by matching chairs, a bed with matching nightstands), formal furniture with carved detail (cabriole legs, claw feet, tufted backs), oriental rugs, layered window treatments (curtains over Roman shades), patterned wallpaper, brass and crystal lighting, oil paintings in heavy frames.
The contemporary "transitional" style is where traditional has been heading — keeping the symmetry, formality, and quality of materials but losing the heaviest ornament and darkest woods. Think a tufted sofa in a clean linen rather than dark velvet, brass lighting in simpler silhouettes, and one or two real antiques mixed with modern pieces.