Living room decor tips
How to Decorate a Living Room: 11 Designer Tips
Whether your style is traditional or modern, relaxed or formal, bold or subdued, your living room should be a place where you can feel comfortable, let down your guard and spend quality time with friends, family or just yourself. There’s an art to decorating a room that looks great and works well for you. So before you dive into a living room redesign with your pro, arm yourself with a few designer tips and tricks. Here are some of my favorites.
Urbanology Designs
1. Mix Light and Dark
When a living room is all white and bright, it can feel too “clean” and unapproachable. When it’s all dark, it can feel like a cave. But mixing dark and light colors creates a dynamic look that has depth and balance. The design of any space benefits from the inclusion of at least a little white and a little black.
Osborne Construction
2. Contrast Your Neutrals
Beyond including some white and some black, decorating a living room with a variety of contrasting neutrals goes a long way toward making it feel rich and welcoming. In this example, the white walls, caramel leather, brass hardware, gray sofa and blue-gray cabinets all contrast with one another, which highlights their different finishes and undertones. This makes the palette feel rich even before other key elements, such as color, pattern and texture, are added.
Shop for sofas on Houzz
Tamara Rene Designs
3. Play With Texture
Texture is easy to overlook when decorating a living room, especially since we don’t see it so much as touch it. But it’s important for making a living room feel cozy, and that goes for plush textures that appeal to the touch and harder textures that add contrast. Include leather, cotton, wool, metal, stone, glass, plant life and as many other textures as you can.
Find an interior designer to help you decorate your living room
Cohesively Curated
Pillows are a great place to start, especially if you’re decorating a living room on a budget. Look to other accessories and furnishings to add new materials to the palette, even in small doses.
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Johnson Squared Architecture + Planning
4. Work in Some Wood
We can’t talk about texture without talking about wood, one of the top materials for bringing a sense of warmth to a living room.
There are so many ways to add wood, any of which will make a space feel a bit more inviting. Consider wall paneling, side tables, movable stools, picture frames, sofa legs and carved pieces of art as just a few of the many options.
Mark D. Williams Custom Homes, Inc.
5.
Mix Up Your Upholstery
Sure, most furniture stores give you the option of purchasing an entire living room set in matching upholstery, but that doesn’t mean you should do it. In a formal seating area, matching upholstery can give a sense of maturity and order, but if you want a living room to feel cozy and welcoming, mix and match your upholstered pieces to give the design a bit more personality.
Lawless Design
One of the safest ways to do this is to mix leather chairs with a fabric sofa or vice versa, so the materials contrast in an obviously intentional way. It gives the living room design some diversity, which can also give members of the family different options to suit their seating preferences.
Croma Design Inc.
6. Choose Practical Fabrics
Speaking of upholstery, it’s especially important for living room seating to be not only comfortable but durable.
What this means will depend on your family. You may have babies or small children, pets or not, and they may be messy or tidy. In general, mid-tone fabrics are the safest bet, as very light or dark shades will readily show soil and wear.
KELLY + CO DESIGN
Leather is a great material for avoiding stains because it can be easily wiped clean when a spill occurs. However, it’s usually more easily scratched than most fabrics, so it may not endure animals as well. A leather that already has a broken-in look or a pattern can age especially well.
See how to clean leather furniture
VAS Construction Inc.
Denim and corduroy are two other materials that can be inviting yet durable. Plus, they add an unexpected twist compared with the typical plain cotton or wool upholstery you often see in stores. When choosing fabric for your living room furniture, look for a material with a blend of natural and synthetic fabrics to get the practical features of both, and if possible do a bend test of a fabric swatch to make sure the weave appears tight and doesn’t reveal the backing material.
A tight weave will be more durable than a loose one (which leaves lots of space for dirt to hide), no matter the material.
LDa Architecture & Interiors
7. Add a Dash of Color
While you can create a beautiful space without any vivid hues, adding even a little bit of color to a living room can go a long way toward creating a relaxed and inviting atmosphere.
LDa Architecture & Interiors
When in doubt, look to a cheerful blue — it’s a hue that usually everyone can agree on. It perfectly contrasts warm elements such as leather and wood, and it feels just neutral enough to work with basically any other future accent colors.
Shop for blue sofas on Houzz
Studio K Inredning
8. Add a Patterned Rug
Pattern is a powerful design tool, infusing a living room with energy and minimizing the appearance of stains or wear.
A patterned rug brings these benefits to the “fifth wall” — the floor — simultaneously anchoring a seating area and giving the whole room a sense of life. Even if you already have carpeting, consider adding a rug to your seating area. The first time you roll it up to go to the cleaners after a big spill, you’ll be glad you had it there.
See 11 area rug rules and how to break them
ML Interiors Group
9. Choose Movable Tables and Stools
Lightweight tables, stools, ottomans and even side chairs that can be moved around easily make a living room much more comfortable, giving you and your family lots of options on a daily basis for putting your feet up, setting a drink down or seating an extra guest.
Use a few smaller pieces, such as the upholstered footstools seen here, to allow for movement of pieces closer to and farther from the main seating as needed.
Katie Monkhouse Interior Design
10.
Consider Conversational Distances
No matter how big your living room, there’s a limit to how large a seating group can be and still make sense for intimate conversation and cozy gatherings. A good distance between seats to facilitate conversation is about 8 feet, meaning if you have several sofas or a sofa and side chairs, the seating area should have a diameter of 8 feet, or 4 feet out from the center.
A huge, 12-seat sectional sofa may look great and be perfect for a party, but if you’re looking to create a cozy living room, it’s usually best to use fewer, smaller seating pieces and push them a little closer together.
Imbuia Construction Inc.
11. Don’t Take It Too Seriously
A living room is a great space to embrace thoughtful disorder, such as through an artistic gallery wall, mix-and-match throw pillows, open storage baskets and fun furniture like this tepee-inspired tent.
Trying for perfect order will mean that anything out of place will stick out like a sore thumb, whereas accepting a bit of controlled chaos will mean the occasional dropped toy or draped blanket will look right at home.
Your turn: Have you decorated a small living room to make it feel more welcoming spacious? Or have you made changes to a big living room to make it more cozy? Please show us your makeover in the Comments!
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20 Ideas and Common Mistakes
- Room Ideas
- Living Room
It All Comes Down to Spacing and Sizing
DISC Interiors
Interior designers spend their lives studying the little details that make a room just perfect. Similar to a beautifully directed movie, a well-decorated living room is instantly engaging and impressive while also being functionally designed for comfort and ease of use.
And, sometimes, what is slightly off in our own living rooms can be difficult to pinpoint. But you know it's there. To shed some light on the most common living room design mistakes that may be plaguing our spaces, we talked with interior designers and a residential architect.
As it turns out, there might be one little thing that makes all the difference. Or, perhaps, the issue could be quite large. From everything like choosing the wrong rug size to adding a bit more warm light, your dream living room may not be so out of reach if you consider the most common living room decorating mistakes.
Ahead, find the 20 most common mistakes people make when designing their living room and how best to avoid—or fix—them.
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Design: Workshop APD; Photo: Donna Dotan
Designers agree: A great living room starts with a great sofa. "So often, I come into a house, and the owners have good taste, but they already have a sofa that they want to work with," explains stylist and TV host Emily Henderson.
"They don't want to replace it because it's not that old and they don't mind it. I've had to break the news over and over that, with a sofa like that, they would never get the room they want."
02 of 20
DISC Interiors
Another mistake that plagues living rooms everywhere, according to New York architect Elizabeth Roberts, is going for the "showroom feel." In other words, a room that looks like it's all been purchased from the same store. "It's important to us to mix new and vintage elements in order to create an interesting, eclectic, and individualized room," she says.
03 of 20
Emily Henderson
For Henderson, one of the main offenders in living room decorating is the poorly sized rug. "America has been suffering for too long from 'small rug' syndrome," she says. "I see it virtually every day, and it pains me—especially when it can be so easily avoided." Huge rugs can be expensive and feel like such a scary commitment, but, according to the stylist, it's one of the most important aspects of a room.
04 of 20
Design: Vanessa Alexander; Photo: Tessa Neustadt
While it may be tempting to push a sofa against a wall facing the TV and call it a day, Roberts reminds us that there is much more involved in planning a great living room layout. "It's important to consider and create conversation groupings, especially if the room is long and narrow like many townhouses and lofts," she says.
05 of 20
Studio Ashby
"Art hung the wrong way on a wall is like a character in a movie wearing a really bad wig," Henderson says. "It's just kinda hard not to see it, and you wish so bad you could just rip it off, knowing that everything would be so much better without it. It doesn't ruin your experience, but it's just terribly distracting." She adds, "If the wall were cut up vertically into four sections (going from bottom to top), think of the art being in the third quadrant (counting from the floor)," says Henderson.
06 of 20
Elizabeth Roberts
While the days of unused "sitting rooms" and plastic-wrapped furniture are long gone, Roberts still insists on paying attention to making your living room fit the conveniences of daily life.
"Select textiles and rugs that can take the wear and tear of everyday living," she recommends.
07 of 20
Ben Pentreath
Sometimes, people feel limited by the architecture of their home and select furniture based on it. Try not to feel stuck. In one Georgia home, the design firm merged contemporary furniture with traditional crown molding, Moroccan antique rugs, African beaded benches, and contemporary art.
08 of 20
Design: Emily Henderson Design; Photo: Tessa Neustadt
Roberts has one indispensable trick for combining periods and styles: "When mixing new and vintage elements, pay attention to furniture heights, as traditional furniture is typically higher than modern pieces."
09 of 20
Design: Emily Henderson Design; Photo: Sara Ligorria-Tramp
According to Roberts, "there are some great outdoor fabrics that we're using indoors that dogs and kids cannot destroy. It's important to select rugs that will wear well. Beware of the seductive silk rug.
" Instead, consider a wool rug.
10 of 20
Design: Arlyn Henandez; Photo: Sara Ligorria-Tramp
It's very important to consider views from major seating elements. "In a large open room, it's nice to be able to sit on a favorite piece while addressing the rest of the room," Roberts says. "In a small room, it's important to consider the necessary window views." She adds: "In a room with a fireplace, it's often difficult to know where to put the TV—large TV cabinets are cumbersome and don't fool many. My favorite solution is a projector that projects onto the white wall above the mantel."
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Design: Mandy Cheng Design; Photo: Madeline Tolle
To avoid feeling like you're in a store, Roberts also recommends leaving adequate room in the budget for lighting, textiles, and accessories after large items are selected. "The small pieces are what add personality," says Roberts. "We also prefer to light the living room with low lighting instead of overhead light.
Floor lamps and table lamps are best for living rooms."
12 of 20
Mandy Cheng Design
"No one loves a simple sofa more than me because they are so easy to style," says Henderson. She recommends staying away from overly ornate details like curved legs, winged arms, tufts, and nailheads.
13 of 20
Mandy Cheng Design
There's more to choosing a coffee table than swinging over to your favorite home goods store and selecting one on a whim. Let your lifestyle and functionality (kid-friendly, storage for remotes?) guide the materials, height, length, and clearance space needed to ensure your coffee table sings in harmony with your living room.
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Design: Mandy Cheng Design; Photo: Madeline Tolle
Designers like Bobby Berk say cheap art can really drag down a room's aesthetic. Instead of going generic, opt for a custom art service, where you can commission affordable, original art. "There are lots of cool custom art services available now, such as Minted and Leftbank Art," Berk says.
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Design: Mandy Cheng Design; Photo: Madeline Tolle for Home Polish
Hanging curtain rods just above the window can close in a space. Instead, hang the rod half a foot above the window frame. This will give the room a feeling of added height and openness.
16 of 20
Brad Knipstein
"Updating lighting fixtures can be an inexpensive way to really help improve the overall aesthetic of any space as well as give a sense of sophisticated elegance and comfort," says Suzanne Donegan, a designer and creative director. It's also one of the most often-overlooked design features yet most versatile—light fixtures can move with you.
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Fantastic Frank
Too many accessories, no matter how expensive, are considered décor overkill. For a less-is-more vibe, "accessories should be grouped together to create a pleasing vignette, whether it's on the cocktail table, buffet, or bookcase," says interior designer Marlaina Teich.
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Design: Mandy Cheng Designs; Photo: Madeline Tolle
When designing your living room, the floor isn't the only option to place furniture and décor—think vertically.
Mandy Cheng, a Los Angeles interior designer, said to consider using floating shelves and hanging plants. "We're so used to furniture that sits on the floor that, once things stop fitting on the floor, we give up."
19 of 20
Sarah Jaye Weiss
“A common layout mistake I see people making with their living room is having all the furniture pushed up against the walls,” Elite Decorist designer Mikayla Keating says. Try floating your sofa or accent chairs closer to the center of the room to balance out the layout.
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Katherine Carter
Though counterintuitive at first, investing in one statement accent is a financially better move than spending on multiple inexpensive pieces. Homepolish designer Ashlie Mastony says: "In the end, the little things cost just as much, and the space feels cluttered rather than cohesive.”
Sorry, These 5 Design Mistakes Are Making Your Living Room Look Cheap
Helpful Expert Tips — INMYROOM
Tips
Paint the walls in a neutral hue, add some bright accents, choose comfortable stylish furniture - these and other steps will bring you closer to creating the living room of your dreams
It is customary to allocate the most spacious room in the house for the living room in the house - for a good rest and reception of guests.
This is where the family gathers in the evening to play with the kids, watch movies, share news and have a cup of cocoa.
First of all, it is important to create a family relaxing atmosphere here - this can be done with the help of the right finishes and accessories. Of course, the design of the family room reflects the inner world and interests of the owners. In order for the interior of the living room to please all family members and not give off old-fashioned, it is enough to follow certain rules and not be afraid to experiment with style.
Designers from the Romanoff & Wood studio told us what to look for when decorating a living room.
Romanoff & Wood interior design studio was founded in 2010. For 5 years, the company's designers have been developing and implementing design projects for residential and commercial interiors, decorating interiors, seasonal and festive decoration of shopping centers. During its existence, the studio has implemented many projects of varying degrees of complexity.
1. Create a neutral background
When choosing wallpaper or wall paint, choose pastel, warm and light shades. These color combinations help to relax and feel comfortable. The best option would be white, beige, pale green, light brown and blue. For the general background, do not use overly bright shades. Instead of creating an atmosphere of peace, they are annoying and unnerving.
The color scheme should consist of 2-3 primary colors that can be used for various design elements. For example, bright curtains will make the window the center of the interior composition, diverting attention from the design flaws of the room.
2. Add bright details
Complement a calm and unobtrusive background with a few bright elements - vases, furniture or colorful pillows. In the interior it is necessary to use several similar touches: the main thing is not to overload the space.
A good solution would be to place a fluffy or fleecy carpet on the floor in the living room, which will simultaneously create a cozy atmosphere and become an original detail that attracts the attention of guests.
Rectangular carpets can be replaced with models of original shapes that follow the contours of the furniture or the room.
3. Use a variety of materials
Decorating the interior of the living room, experiment with materials, combine different textures - use wood, glass, metal. Plastic will be appropriate in minimalist high-tech living rooms. Despite the high functionality, such interiors cannot boast of a homely atmosphere, but they impress guests much more than classic ones. The balance between comfort and impressive interest is the key to the perfect living room. Textile furniture, pillows and draperies can be selected in the same color - in this case, use a different texture.
4. Choose stylish furniture
Furniture sets made in the same style lost their relevance 5 seasons ago. Combinations of various models of furniture, united by one element - material, upholstery color or texture, are enjoying increased popularity today.
In a modern living room, a large easy chair is indispensable - it is it that acts as a symbol of comfort and homely atmosphere.
An ottoman and a coffee table will become indispensable elements of a modern interior. In addition to the obvious practicality, these versatile elements easily fit into any design concept.
5. Experiment with decor
Decorate your living room walls with things that reflect your interests and hobbies. It can be shelves with books or some trinkets like porcelain dolls, paintings or photographs. Remember that light walls with a small number of objects on them and mirrors visually make the room larger - a spectacular technique in case of limited space.
One area of the wall can be painted in a different color to match the decor of the furniture or upholstery. Hang pictures or decorative items here, or leave the space empty.
6. Don't forget the right lighting
Use complex lighting fixtures with multiple lighting modes for your living room. This is a multifunctional room - you may need both bright and subdued light. In addition, proper lighting also visually increases the area of \u200b\u200bthe room.
Dimmed light works best in the living room - it creates a cozy atmosphere in the evening or at night. Hang a discreet central chandelier or a few wall sconces above the sofa - simply and effectively.
Stylish living room: 7 simple tips
TipsRooms
1. Complete order
Correctly and intelligently organized space with a minimum of unnecessary things and carefully selected details is a must have for any beautiful living room. Get serious about storage, get rid of small things that clutter up the room, and you will get a living room that looks both clean and stylish.
- Photo
- Maxim Maksimov
2. Correct curtains
The right curtains are one of the tricks that will allow you to visually make the room larger than it really is. Hang them near the ceiling and let the fabric flow down to the floor.
3.
Mix different textures, styles, and materials There's nothing wrong with staying consistent, but don't be afraid to mix styles, materials, and textures to create a dynamic interior. Cold marble with crumpled linen, graphic black details and romantic velvet? Why not! They are so different, but together they form an elegant, stylish whole.
4. Don't forget the carpet!
A well-chosen rug helps hold furniture together and can really spice up a living room. Smooth, long-haired, patterned or unpatterned, there are many options. Choose the one that suits you personally!
House in England. Project by Oleg Klodt and Anna Agapova.
- Photo
- Simon Upton
5. Correct lighting
Of course, the chandelier is the main character of any living room. However, just as earrings complete a luxurious necklace, smaller light sources like floor lamps, table lamps, and sconces are the perfect complement to overhead lighting.
