When it comes to home improvements, the living room is often a tough subject to tackle. It’s not that homeowners just don’t want to spend the time or money; it’s also hard to find a space in the house where you can make such a big change without clashing with other family members. This guide will take you through some of the best ways you can spruce up your living room without creating too much turmoil.
What to expect from a living room renovation
When decorating a living room, it helps to know if you’ll be staying in this home for the long-term or not. If you are, then don’t change any existing structure, paint colors or furniture just yet. Save up for some new pieces and then decide what you’ll phase out. This can help to avoid any unnecessary clashes with your other family members.
Focus on What You’ll Use Most
Before you start tearing up the floor and putting down a new rug, sit down and really consider what you do in your living room and where you spend the most time. If it’s with the family watching movies, then a good seat is going to be first on your list of priorities. If it’s by yourself with a great book or listening to music, then storage for all those books might be what’s most important. If you’re working from home, maybe a comfy office chair is a must-have. When determining what has to go in the living room before new pieces can be added, it will save you some headaches down the road.
Try Redecorating in Smaller Steps
Instead of replacing everything at once, you can always renovate bit by bit. There are a few ways you can go about this. First, look for just one place in the room that needs updating. It might be the focal point, like a fireplace or entertainment center; it might be a seldom used corner; or it could even just be a few throw pillows on your couch that need updating. Once you’ve made one change, you can think about what else needs to go in the room to really make it shine again. If a couch is way outdated, maybe an upholstered chair would help you to relax. If the throw pillows are too small, you might want to opt for some bigger ones.
Look for Areas Outside Your Home to Renove
It’s fun to have a nice yard or flower bed in the area immediately surrounding your home, but it’s also a great way to hide clutter and really make your house look nice and fresh. Buy some new flowers and go out there with a rake and pull everything away that you don’t need anymore. Then, do a little landscaping with some new shrubs and vines around them. When the ground is still a little wet, plant some annuals in containers and keep them watered. After that, take a look at all those clippings from your yard and create a nice compost pile. Once it’s been properly turned over and the leaves are gone, you can start to spread it around in some more decorative areas of your living room.
Look for Older Pieces That Can Be Used Again
In today’s world, almost everything comes with “cool” modern finishes or fancy painted accents. This isn’t always true, though, so maybe don’t spend huge amounts of money on brand new furniture if you have vintage pieces that could work just as well in the space instead. Check your attic or basement for some older furniture that could be brought back to life. See if you have any furniture that doesn’t match the rest of what you have in the room, but it might be just what you need to make it flow better.
Make Sure You Have Some Good Lighting
One of the biggest no-nos in any living room is dark spots where people can feel awkward or out of place. You can avoid this with a few well-placed lamps, plus a few overhead fixtures that can cover up those dark corners and keep your eye moving through the room. With some soft lighting and nice window treatments, you can also go away from floor lamps and make your space seem more open and inviting.
Reclaim Your Floors with Rugs
The great thing about living rooms is that they’re often open and the floors can be used more than any other room in a home. You can use rugs to fill in the biggest open spaces, plus pile them up into small corners you don’t usually use so they’ll be easier to see when you walk by. Add some bright, colorful accents with throws or decorative pillows to really give a room some life when it can feel very laid back otherwise.
Keep Walls Clean and Simple
If you want your living room to look impressive, don’t clutter it up with too many art pieces or furniture sets. Instead, keep the walls bare and make it easy for people to appreciate the room how it looks right now. This will let you change out old pieces when they look out of place, instead of being stuck with a painting that’s never going to be updated. There are paintings in almost every home, but try to steer clear of anything that might look dated before you hang it up.
See What Looks Great in Other Spaces
When you’re decorating a living room, there are no hard and fast rules about what can be used or where things should go; but there is a lot of inspiration from other great spaces around the world.
Final thoughts
If your living room is looking a little neglected or dirty, you don’t have to throw out everything and start from scratch. Instead, consider how you can make the space feel more welcoming and comfortable for everyone in the house, whether it’s just the family relaxing together or if someone is working from home. Once you’ve decided what needs to go or where there are areas that need some help, slowly update and renovate room by room until it feels like a brand new place.