Your living room goes through a lot. It’s the place where you’re most likely to receive guests when they pop round, and if you suffer from a lack of a hallway for the front door, it’s probably the place where muddy boots track through the most!
It’s also where you like to sit down to relax, and make sure you’re feeling comfortable and cozy in your home space – turn the TV on, have a little snooze after a long day, etc. All in all, the living room is a crucial part of our homes.
Which is why it’s important to decorate them with the right highlights. You want to be able to walk into your living room and be proud of the space you’re standing in – and you want to have your eyes drawn in all the right places! But to do that, you’re going to need to do some research, and thankfully, we’ve compiled a list of the best living room decor highlights below.
Highlight the Door
The door into your living room might need a few touch ups here and there. If you haven’t had it repainted in quite a while now, make sure that’s your first step – an off white, or patchy brown door can be quite the eyesore in an otherwise well put together living space. It’s a cheap and easy way to upgrade your perception of your living room in one go, and will only take a couple of hours out of your day.
And once you’ve taken care of that, turn your attention to the doorframe, because that might need reglossing too! Or if you hate the idea of having to paint inside the lines, what with your nice new wallpaper making it difficult to paint neat, you can just paint it the same colour as the rest of your walls, to help it blend in a little bit better. If you’ve got wood flooring, a nice dark or even light blue will work wonders here!
Clear the clutter
Firstly, ensure the furniture fits the size of the room – too large and it creates a crowded feel. Donating furniture to charity is a great way to support them – just ensure upholstered items have the fire label in tact.
Using boxes and bins to gather TV remotes and video game controllers gives them a “home” when not in use.
Glass display cabinets can be used to store treasures or collectibles with the advantage of reducing the necessity for dusting. In these rooms, creating a daily routine of clearing out old magazines/newspapers and putting away items which don’t belong there, is a necessity.
Frame the Windows
The windows are a pretty big part of the living room, and indeed, a big part of any room within your house. Which is why it’s important to try and focus on them – if you can frame the windows just right, not only do you have an increased sense of privacy about you, but you also have a wonderful looking backdrop for any of your other furniture.
Depending on the interior style you’ve already plumped for, you’re going to want to get your hands on a curtain pole to suit it. For example, if you’re a fan of the industrial interior movement, investing in an Industrial Curtain pole will work best for you, and won’t look out of place or otherwise noteworthy for all the wrong reasons. Instead, it will manage to fade into the background in just the right way, making sure you’ve got a glint of shiny metal or plastic to help brighten the space up, as well as blend in to allow your curtains to do all of the talking!
Add Some Low Lighting
Your living room is going to be used day and night, and who knows how long you’re going to be staying up, reading underneath the overhead lamp that really brightens the space up… But of course, that can turn out to be quite annoying when the clock strikes midnight and your curtains are of the sheer material nature!
Instead, use standing lamps (and desk lamps) liberally throughout your living room. You want to be able to keep on reading or writing or watching the TV, but underneath a more gentle illumination – it certainly helps with the cozy mood. And if you manage to get your hands on some energy efficient bulbs as well, you’ll be doing your electricity bill a huge favour month by month.
Does Your Living Room Need a Highlight?
Of course, most of our rooms do, especially if we’ve not redecorated in a couple of years now. The more you can focus on the touch ups and the details, the better the big picture is going to look, and you never know just how worthy that hardwood flooring really was if there’s no skirting board to properly border it!
Let’s try and make sure you’re completely happy with your living space. You might have some work to do, but it won’t take long – you are just highlighting your space, after all!