Decorating ideas for living rooms are virtually endless nowadays in terms of materials, finishes, styles, colors, shapes or sizes starting from furniture items, lighting fixtures, fabrics, carpets, to painting, wallpapers, antiques, accessories, etc., so you just need to find a professional interior design to put into practice your visions. Yesterday we spoke about the importance of lighting in living rooms and we suggested you to use table lamps as accent lights because these design elements are not only a source of light, but also fashion accessories and besides the fact that they will help you to achieve an inviting and cozy atmosphere, creating visual interest for specific areas, combined with other types of lights will create a charming effect as well.
Photo © Camilla Molders
Today, we want to continue to share with you ideas for designing user-friendly living rooms, spaces that in this modern days shouldn’t be so formal and stiff, but creative and comfortable. To add interest, personality and utility to a living room, you should think outside the box and find design solutions that you hadn’t even thought before, if you don’t have the possibility to work with an interior designer. The internet is full of amazing home decorating ideas, tips and products for all bugets, which will make your room decoration project much easier.
If you choose a focus, arrange the right furniture in the right configuration and combine colors and fabrics, be sure you can pack a lot of style into both a small living room or a large one. Whether you lean towards modern and minimalist, classic or you like to go boho eclectic, remember a living room is mostly for conversation, enjoy family gatherings and do generally pleasant and relaxing things such as watching TV or gazing at the fire. Therefore, it should be comfortable and transmits an inviting feeling. As a basic principle, which is in fact available for any other room whatever its size is, try to make a design plan that includes only items that are necessary, are used regularly and without them your room may not look the way you want. Get rid of those things that don’t serve a particular purpose and overload the room, keeping in this way a clean and stylish design layout. Here are some decorating ideas you can apply for a living room:
- Painting. Whether you hire a professional decorator to help you select the painting for your wall or you do it on your own, consider this stage very important as it could ruin all your other efforts. Colors have the ability to induce certain feelings, moods and if you combine them properly, you’ll witness fabulous results. Living Room Paint Ideas and The Psychology of Color for Interior Design are two posts we’ve written to inspire you and to show what you can obtain by taking into consideration this aspect regarding colors. These tips are available for wallcoverings as well, so whatever your choice is, be careful of what are their psychological effects.
Photo © Busybee Design
- Furniture. Pieces of furniture should be more versatile and placed in such a way as to serve more purpose than one. For instance, some models can be a sofa during the day and a bed in the night. One idea you can’t go wrong is to opt for items that are of neutral shades or white. The classic style is a great choice since it won’t look at all outdated over years.
- Lighting. According to your style and preferences and needs, there are lots of lighting fixtures to choose from when it comes to decorating a living room. It depends also on what type of lighting you want to achieve: general lighting, also known as ambient lighting to navigate around the room safely (chandeliers, ceiling or wall fixtures and even track lights), accent lighting to create focus on statues, plants, paintings or anything else in the living room (table and floor lamps, spot lights) or/and under-cabinet lighting to showcase objects that we have displayed in cabinets (spot lights). Another aspect regarding lighting is to know what ambiance you want to create: white cold light or warm light (incandescent bulbs, halogen lamps, fluorescent bulbs and LED lights available in many colors). The key to success it to learn how to balance the different lighting accents.
Photo © Walter Studio Interior Design
- Accessories. Decorative statues, pillows, vases, paintings all have their place in a living room design, if chosen with style and good taste. For example, if you think statues are a great choice for decorating gardens, find out that they can add personality to a living room too. But before buy one, check out what it represents, the symbolism it has. Pillows make your armchairs and sofa look more fashionable and comfortable, and may bring a certain theme to the space, while paintings offer many advantages if you decorate your living room with them. Have a look at some fresh ideas with abstract art here.
Photo © Abbe Fenimore Studio Ten 25
Photo © Andrew Snow Photography
- Flowers and plants. Bring nature inside your living room by including plant life. Whether they are potted plants or fresh-cut flowers in full bloom, they bring that “outdoor” feel to the space, adding in the same time therapeutic effects thanks to that amazing combination of green tones and bright hues. Very popular nowadays is the new revolutionary concept of vertical gardens and colored lichen wall arts. They help you create an original décor and natural-inspired edges.
- Fireplace. It can be the focus of any living room and is also very popular these days in interior design. The thing is you don’t have to arrange furniture to be facing it, on the contrary: you can place it in an intimate arc, square or rectangle around it.
Photo © Jane Lockhart Interior Design
- Awkard areas. If you have a large living room and you’re not sure what to do with the leftover space, try to be inventive and imagine creative strategies orf those empty walls or corners. A reading chair with a contrasting color scheme or a set of dining chairs and small table placed next to the bay window would create a cozy area and extra seating for entertainment.
Photo © Rachel Reider Interiors
Photo © Karen Maximo-Fernando