The living room is one of the most exciting areas of the home to renovate and redecorate. Here are 6 stylish living room decor ideas to transform your space. You’ll find these tips useful whether you’re a homeowner wanting to maximize your home’s style, or a novice interior decorator looking for inspiration.
Mix and Match Furniture
The matching furnishings trend is long gone, replaced by a more eclectic approach to furnishing a living room. This entails curating a collection of diverse pieces that, while distinctly unique, share a common thread.
Different styles, materials, and textures can be combined for a beautiful effect, but remember that furniture still needs to be functional. Add a practical yet stylish modular 2-piece sectional with a chaise and introduce extra charm with peripheral pieces.
Combine the classic-style sofa with vintage side tables or modern abstract art pieces. Or whatever other combination appeals to you. By mixing it up in this way, you create a living room that offers both functionality and aesthetics.
Choose a Color Palette
The color scheme you use to decorate a home is one of the biggest influences on your home’s style and overall mood. But this is especially relevant in the living room.
The living room is where the whole family assembles for entertainment or leisure activities, and it needs to appeal to everyone in the home. Homeowners may also receive guests in this space. So it makes sense to choose colors that have a wider appeal.
Personal tastes differ, but a neutral theme is the most relaxing and easiest on the eye. That said, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using color, as it can liven up even the dreariest of spaces. However, it’s believed that home interior colors can impact mental health, so choose the color palette wisely.
It’s often best to opt for more subdued shades on larger surface areas like walls and floors. Medium shades are ideal for larger furniture pieces and area rugs, and brighter hues are best for accents like throw pillows or artwork.
The important thing is to keep the color scheme in harmony with the overall personality of the room.
Add Textures and Patterns
Neutral or minimalist themes will always be popular, but they can quickly become a bit boring. When your color palette is very neutral, such as all-white, or shades of cream or gray, add visual interest with textures and patterns. It’s the fastest way to go from drab to fab.
There are various ways to do this. Adding throw pillows, area rugs, curtains, and wall coverings with different textures is simple, yet effective. Many people struggle with combining patterns and prints, but with a bit of forethought and planning, different patterns can look great together.
The trick is to avoid using prints that compete with each other. A variation in size, shape, and scale is a must. Team large stripes with small florals, or large florals with tighter gingham checks, for example. Select up to two or three patterns, preferably with at least one color in common.
Introduce Indoor Plants
More and more people are waking up to the reality that plants are good for the home, and we don’t just mean their aesthetic appeal. Indoor plants clean and freshen the air, as well as add texture and color, with very little expense.
The thing to remember is that while some plants are suitable for indoor use, not all are. Consult a gardening expert if you aren’t sure which plants are living room friendly. Some plants are toxic to animals, so if there are pets in the home, this is an important consideration.
There are several beautiful flower choices for indoor decor, too. There's a wide range of colors in the world of flowers. Everything from bold reds, oranges, and yellows to subtle shades of white, not to mention every shade of violet imaginable. They make excellent side-table accents in neutral living rooms.
Utilize Wall Art and Decorative Accessories
Art therapy has become mainstream, offering mental health benefits to people of all ages and from all walks of life. Research now suggests that even looking at art boosts mental well-being.
But you don’t have to go to an art gallery or museum to enjoy these benefits when you incorporate art into the home. Paintings, wall sculptures, and even decorative mirror frames can be used to great effect. But try to tie them in with the overall theme of the room.
Create a Focal Point
Every living room, and every other room in the home for that matter, should have a focal point. It draws the eye, creates interest, and ties together the other elements in the room for a balanced look. This is often an architectural feature like bay windows, a fireplace, or any other stand-out feature.
You can draw attention to this focal point, by using gorgeous drapes or a window seat for the windows, or interesting mantelpiece ornaments above the fireplace. But any of the above ideas can be used to create a focal point in the room, too.
