Living Room Ideas - Make Your House a Home

The living room is such an important room in the home because as individuals and as families, we tend to spend a lot of time there predominantly relaxing but sometimes entertaining. Coming up with living room ideas when you have built or bought your new home, or when you simply want to update it is exciting but of course it can be daunting too! You want sharp living room ideas that will deliver the living room of dreams which will be a space that when you, a family member or a guest walks in they immediately feel an air of welcome, relaxation and style. This is definitely possible no matter the budget and so we have put together some ways to achieve this goal. So let’s begin with some basic decisions:

Wall Colour

If you are dealing with what you would consider to be a small living room, as a general rule of thumb it is best to stick to a pastel wall colour or paler wall colours. Paler colours give the illusion of a larger space while stronger colours have a tendency to close in a space. Furthermore, walls with patterns are better suited to larger rooms but that’s not to say that you cannot incorporate a small segment of pattern or bold colour in a smaller room; you just need to be measured in your approach and select a small area perhaps choosing one feature wall that gets a lot of sun exposure for example. 

Adding Furniture

If you’re starting from scratch with your living room and you are lucky enough to have a blank canvas, start by choosing your furniture pieces in order of size and work down. Therefore select your sofa first, then coffee table, accent or occasional chairs and finish with the accent colours via the accessories; this will ensure a cohesive finish with a clear theme. Some people might disagree but we recommend to choose your furniture first before your room colour (that is if you’re changing the room colour). The final paint colour that is chosen can be altered in shade, tint or tone to achieve a match to a particular furniture fabric, but by contrast, despite the huge choice of upholstery you will encounter for sofas, you can't simply create a fabric to match the exact undertones of a wall colour. Secondly, by purchasing your furniture first you might open yourself up to accent and/or wall colour that you might not have ever considered.

Living Room Ideas - When You Know What You Want

Keeping your own living room ideas in the form of images you’ve admired in the pages of magazines or on social media is a great way to form a goal of what you want to achieve. Pinterest is obviously a wonderful place to begin as you can keep everything segmented e.g. you can create a board specific to living room ideas. By doing this you will get an overall picture about what you really like. You might find that after building up your board and pins that you can see a cohesive theme such as modern and contemporary or a specific colour favourite and so on.

Modern & Contemporary Living Room Ideas

Contemporary design is often open to interpretation but effectively it’s a design choice that can include modern factors which might include a sleek piece of furniture, modern pieces of art or perhaps stand out wall colours and patterns. If you’re trying to achieve a modern and contemporary appeal to your living room, consider incorporating contrasting colours on the wall for example. Black and white stripes on a feature wall, or a contrast of colours like red and black would certainly be impactful. Stark colours such as an all white look from white furniture to white wall colour to white accessories is one way of achieving a high end contemporary look not necessarily on a high budget. To bring some interest to the room, you could incorporate many different textures such as a white faux fur rug, a white cashmere throw, a white glossy chair and so on. 

Country Style Living Room Ideas

Country themed home interiors are immensely popular and it’s easy to understand why that is the case. They are homely, inviting and also can be easy to achieve. The key is not having anything in terms of furniture that is too angular and glossy. Think rustic in terms of your furniture materials and also your texture choices. There really is no hard and fast rules in achieving this look in your home but incorporating key pieces like older looking items of furniture will evoke a sense of timelessness to the room. Neutral tones on key pieces of living room furniture finished in colours like cream and pastel with some natural wood included will also add a country aura to the room. Mixing and matching is another element of gaining the country style so think wicker baskets to hold firewood, exposed brick walls at your fireplace, textured carpets and rugs, woollen blankets draped on sofas and chairs and so on.

Living Room Ideas Specifically for Small Spaces

1. Cohesive Colour Themes

Keep to one colour theme or palette throughout, add accent colours or brighter splashes if needed by changing accessories such as your cushions or cushion covers. Don’t be afraid to choose different patterns on the cushions but by keeping to the same colour theme or palette on them all, the look will be more cohesive. These cushion covers could be updated easily and inexpensively for different seasons.

2. Smart Storage

Use smart storage solutions to ensure there is no clutter in the space. Clutter will only serve to add to the vision that the room is lacking in space so keeping surfaces and the room generally tidy and free from unnecessary items is important. Smart storage solutions don’t need to be boring and functional. A large sideboard might seem like an odd furniture option for a living room lacking on space but in fact it could be a smart choice. The sideboard (choose a narrow version if possible) will not only be (a) a classic and elegant piece of furniture, (b) it will provide a lot of storage and (c) it can also act as an entertainment or T.V. unit for the room thereby negating the need for a separate piece for that purpose. A smaller smart storage option with added function is an ottoman which often come with hidden storage. Ottomans can add a touch of style to your overall living room look; they provide extra seating and leg relaxation and of course with the hidden storage versions, you have the option to use them to store away smaller items like magazines, photos etc.

3. Curtains

Create an instant illusion of larger windows just by the way you hang your curtain poles. By hanging them a few inches past the actual window on either side, you will create the illusion that the windows are that extra width. Similarly if you want to create an illusion of a tall window, hang the curtain pole a few inches higher than the upper window rim. Another excellent living room idea for smaller rooms is to match the colour of the curtains to the same tone if not the same exact colour as the wall paint. This creates an unbroken line thereby giving an illusion of a larger room. Vertically striped curtains can also make a low ceiling appear higher.

4. Hang a Mirror

Not only will a beautiful mirror add a sense of elegance to the room but when a large mirror is placed in a small room (on a wall opposite a window) then it can assist in making the room larger than it is. The bigger the mirror you choose the better which might seem counterintuitive but if you think about it, a larger mirror will create a bigger illusion of space. Similarly, metallic accessories (lamps, candelabras, mirrored trays etc.) will give a similar result in a small living room by reflecting light and giving a sense of space.

5. Use the Corners

When you’re dealing with a small area, you need to use every opportunity to get the most from what you have. Try to look at the corners of the room and see can you work some occasional furniture in there such as an occasional chair or some corner shelving. Making the most of all of the space that you have and making it work for you be it by giving you an extra seating space or extra storage will assist this.

6. Furniture Selection

When choosing a piece of furniture such as a coffee table which often occupies the centre of the living room, choose a more transparent piece rather than a solid wood option. A coffee table with a clear glass top won’t appear as “blocky” in the centre space of the living room and once again will trick the eye into seeing more space in the room.