Living room decor ideas based on bold colors and textures add a touch of wonder and warmth to your living space. A brightly coloured sofa repeats itself across the walls, artwork, pillows and area rug, for a unified touch.
Raid thrift shops, borrow from family members and bring back collectables from vacations to curate a welcoming aesthetic in just about any room in the house. Film-inspired interiors include large bright windows, wide doorways, cottaged-in brick staircases, and an abundance of natural light. Artwork – whether created or picked up – features an eclectic mix of international textile patterns and folk art at every angle.
Focal Points
Focal points are necessary elements of a room’s layout because they’re the places where your eye goes automatically when you first walk into a room. If you choose these points well, they’ll set up an environment that is welcoming and balanced for you and for your guests.
Focus points should be areas around which your eye naturally pulls; fireplaces, large pieces of artwork or dominant accent walls all serve as good dominant features that will pull guests’ eyes into your living area.
Other points of focus can be created through an architectural feature (such as an elaborate ceiling design or some accent moulding), or by using a strong wallpaper pattern or paint colour.
Fireplace
Fireplaces naturally act as a central focus for a room and offer a great opportunity for decoration. While you can decorate around gas fireplaces with a clear see-through design, traditional gas fireplaces and open fireplaces always look good with decorations that suit your personality. You can further add to the atmosphere of your living room or bedroom with a fireplace that matches your style.
A mantel can be enhanced just by putting a mirror on it, turning the fireplace into a focal point. Play with varying shapes and sizes of large mirrors to add depth and interest to your mantel; finish the hearth with fresh foliage, flowers or a decorative object such as an urn for extra accent.
And the look is completed if you paint an accent wall with a chimney. Does your room not have a fireplace? No problem! An accent wall with a unique pattern in a neutral shade is sure to catch people’s attention.
Mirrors
A living room gains both practical and decorative functionality through the presence of mirrors: they are a functional – even essential – decorative centrepiece that speaks volumes about the room’s character. As a decorative element, gold or silver frames enhance black, white and wood tones beautifully and contribute a glamorous opulence that is equally at home in either traditional or contemporary decors.
if your ceiling is high, a heavily-framed mirror can draw the eye up, or else balance other aspects of a room that you want to draw attention to, like a high piece of artwork or a series of high shelves. Or, for completely classic looks, you might consider going with no frame at all.
Rustic Elements
Materials like woods and stone get an earthy edge when they’re left raw. If you’re decorating with rustic living room ideas, choose honed marble, sandblasted limestone, or scraped, painted floorboards. Older metals that still look slightly grubby, like wrought iron picture frames or wall hooks, work just as well.
It’s easy to accessorise with something rustic in this enduring style – an accent wall in chestnut brown, pine green or an earthy tone is easy, as are mason jars in rustic hues or uncoated painted with a matte finish that make great light fixtures for a seasonal floral arrangement or simple decoration. A dash of modernity with a few pieces of furniture for a unique and inviting living room vibe that will have your guests feeling at home.
Slipcovers
The very word ‘slipcover’ indicates their nature as protective clothing for furniture, shielding it from spills, stains and scuffs and sopping up any drips, but remaining easy to launder and replace. This makes them ideal for ownership of newly upholstered furniture by families with kids or pets, or by anyone who wants to maintain their heirloom rights over an entertainment centre without having to spend three figures on reupholstery when anything goes awry.
But slipcovers also allow for some unexpected flourishes. They play well with both the slobby and the sophisticated: interior designer Ken Stuckenschneider, for instance, makes a point of changing his covers as the seasons shift – replacing the hardy brown tweed jumpers of the winter on the wicker sofas of his country house with flouncy caftans of light green floral cloth for the summer, so as to ‘match’ his surroundings in his landscape.
Should you choose custom-made slipcovers, be sure to request details on available fabrics and care, selecting durable fabrics, such as cotton basket weaves or twills, over flat friezes and damasks.
Storage
Storage is one of the most important roles that home decor living rooms can offer, which keeps the house nice and tidy, while hiding things like throw blankets, board games, books and things that you need to use for entertainment.
Floating shelves is a good and stylish ideas of living room storage. Painting it with the same shade as your wall could help it to blend into the wall; or you could paint it in a contrasting shade to make it standout.
Kaelyn Guerin’s crafty storage furniture preserves the playing fields for the living room. Decorative items can be arranged on surfaces while display-worthy items such as flowers or coffee-table books can be kept on display. Drawers and cabinets provide place to stow essentials.
