Whether your house is big or small, the living room is one area that always acts as the hub of the home – welcoming family and friends. That’s why it’s important to not only keep it tidy and clean but to make it functional while also incorporating details that make a large impact. Looking for a way to elevate your space with a simple transformation? Here are a few tips that can help.
1. Consider the Lighting
Some living rooms can feel so spacious and grand that they’re a little intimidating – not quite warm or inviting enough to foster conversation. Others are cramped for space and that’s the first thing you notice when you walk through the door. A solid lighting plan can handle both those issues (and more) with grace. If you haven’t already, ditch the overhead lighting and opt instead for something a little more personal.
Pendant lights can make a statement while drawing the eye down from a high ceiling. Sconces and other wall lighting options add warmth to a small space that’s short on surfaces for lamps. Many homeowners opt to hire a lighting designer just to lend a professional eye to the scheme of their space, which could wind up being a smart investment. All in all, if you change the lighting, you can change the entire room’s character.
2. Warm Things Up A Bit
Feeling a little blasé about your room’s color scheme? You don’t have to schedule an extreme makeover to add a little extra lush warmth to your look. Consider swapping classic white walls with a creamy ivory shade. Warm up the tones in your window treatments, accent pillows, or even your rug, and you’ll imbue your space with a soft, comforting aura. You could opt to add a few pops of bold color, and that can certainly transform a space in high style. But if you’re not quite ready to iron out the plans for that, select warmer (and possibly more saturated) iterations of the colors already at home in your space.
Conversely, if you feel you need to quiet your space down a bit, don’t hesitate to go for less saturated, cooler shades than you’d normally select. Toning down the wall color a few notches (or just tweaking the accent colors in your space) can work magic.
3. Introduce Color and Elegance in Unexpected Places
We’ve been living with predominately brown furniture for long enough. A brightly-colored tiny table, chic desk, or a game table with a chic lacquered finish sends a clear message: it’s 2020, color is coming out of the closet, and we’re here for it.
Somehow, even though shockingly bright accent walls and shelf backs have risen and fallen with the tides of fashion, colorful furniture has always taken a backseat. But not anymore! A brightly-colored accent table featuring one of your signature shades is the perfect way to breathe a little life into your living room space. Echo that accent with a vivid lamp, vase, or another treasured item, and your living room will feel like new again.
4. It’s All About the Rug
It’s been said before, and it’ll be said again, but no list of living room transformations would be adequate without a fair mention of the rug. If you’re not in love with the one you currently have, it might be time to start shopping for one that pulls your space together more cohesively. A high-end rug will serve you well for years. And if you’re just looking to bring your rug back to life, it might be time to invest in a professional rug cleaner/repair craftsman to restore it to its glory days.
5. Bring in the Green
Houseplants aren’t just for trendy Instagrammers and the preternaturally green-thumbed. Today, large, statement-making plants are finding their way into more and more design magazines – and you don’t have to possess unusually bright natural light in your living room (or any green body parts) in order for them to flourish.
Depending on your natural light sources and the part of the world where you live, you might opt for the ever-popular (and tall!) fiddle leaf fig, a monstera plant that’ll have you dreaming of tropical climes, a philodendron, or a schefflera. A single large tree or houseplant can even improve your indoor air quality, add a much-needed organic touch to the space, and instantly catapult your style to new heights.
Of course, these aren’t the only options for transforming your living room. They’re just a few of our go-to strategies to elevate a living space, and we’ve found they strike design gold every time.