Before You Start
Your living room is one of the most public areas of your
home. In many households, it's attached to your kitchen or foyer, and it's the
first room that your visitors will see. It's the place where you entertain
guests, and it's the place where you hang out with the family.
Some households are lucky enough to have more than one
living room: a public and space for entertaining guests and a more private den
for comfortably lounging around.
No matter the size of your home, make sure that you have at
least one comfortable living space. You don't necessarily need a formal living
room, but you do need a place to hang out with your friends and family.
In homes with only one living room, comfortable living
spaces can be just as well-designed, classy, and attractive as a formal living
room. It's a myth that you need to be super-wealthy to design a great space for
spending time with the family and entertaining guests.
Rule #1 for decorating a living room: As with any other room
in your house, let your personality shine through. Your space needs to be
functional, especially if you don't have a lot of room for lounging in your
home. Bring out the family portraits, artwork, and eccentric couches. Showcase
your love for indoor gardening, and let your television or fire place be the
focal point of your room. Mount your HDTV and video game console in a place for
all to see.
These days, especially with innovations with wireless
devices, technology can be just as beautiful as expensive artwork. Reserve at
least one space where you and your family can watch TV and movies. If you need
to forego the formal dining area-so be it. Formality can wait, but your
happiness and comfort can't. If you're lucky enough to have a home with
additional space, you'll have more flexibility to design living rooms that you
use less often.
Selecting A Living
Room Theme
A theme can be anything that you want. It can be
characteristic of design theories such as motifs from the Victorian or Modern
era. You can pick a theme based on the decorative style from a country such as
Japan, France, India, or China. The United States even inspired some design
theories, especially during the '40s and '50s. Your room can be fashionable, or
it can be minimalistic. You can choose to emphasize nature, or you can choose a
layout that highlights your gadget and tech goodies.
Themes can be as simple as colors, patterns, or shapes. You
may choose a monochrome color scheme with artwork that emphasizes inorganic
shapes like rectangles and polygons. You may prefer the same color scheme with
a hint of red or teal with an emphasis upon organic, circular shapes.
If you think about your objectives and how you want your
space to look, chances are, you'll be happy with your product. Think like a
designer and prepare a sketch of your room before you put everything together.
Or, you can throw everything together with a basic plan - see what happens. Add
the final touches when you are finished.
The Eclectic Comfort
Space
Style Tips
Three themes that mesh with a comfortable hangout area are
modern, country-classic, or old-fashioned. Most likely, the theme that you
select will depend on the overall style of your home. In many situations, this
style is related to your home's age and may reflect architectural concepts of a
particular era. Embrace your home's architecture: it's one of the reasons why
you moved into your house in the first place.
Living rooms come in all sizes, large and small. Before
buying furniture and décor, think about how much space you have for wiggle
room. If you have a spacious living room, you will likely need bigger furniture
items so that your space appears cozy. If you have a smaller space, you will
probably prefer smaller items to help your room appear spacious. No matter your
room's size, living room layouts are all about striking an aesthetic balance
between space and design function.
Always remember: practicality first, trendiness second. With
enough planning, you can easily make a practical space aesthetically pleasing.
Just think about the room's parts in terms of the whole effect and your overall
objectives - which should include key concepts of functionality, practicality,
and balance.
Color Schemes
As a general decorating rule, you should choose no more than
three or four colors for decorating a living space. Choose one or two bright,
dominant colors like pink, red, yellow, blue, orange and purple. The rest of
your colors should be neutral shades like cream, black, beige, brown, tan, or
white.
Make sure that your furniture, walls, artwork, decorative
items, and to a lesser extent - your electronics-fit within your color scheme.
Everything means everything from couches to curtains to bookcases, rugs, vases,
cushions, and more.
Furniture
Start with the basics that you need for comfort: a couch and
a coffee table. Add more depending on the size of your room: an armchair,
loveseat, bookcase, dining area table, entertainment cabinets, display cases,
floor lamps, and shelving. If you have a large living room, you will likely
need to add more furniture so that your room does not look barren.
If your living room is small, you will want less furniture
so that the room appears spacious. Don't buy furniture because you think that
you should have it - buy it because you need it. Work with your living room's
architecture to create a layout for your room's design. If something looks
crammed or out of place, then it probably doesn't belong.
Because your home's architecture is unique, you are in the
best position to judge what fits and what doesn't. It may be helpful to draw a
sketch of your living room layout to plan where to place your furniture. You'll
avoid hassle and unhappiness if you plan exactly what you want and where to put
stuff before you buy it.
Remember: you can add luxury to a practical room, but you
probably can't add practicality to a space that is superficially luxurious.
Walls
Wallpaper and paint are the most common options for your
living room walls. Some living rooms can pull of finished, hardwood walls as
well.
Décor
When you plan out your walls, have an idea of whether and
where you wish to hang your mounted HDTV, tapestries, paintings, framed photos,
and other decorations. Be careful not to over-do it since you may end up
crowding your space. For most living rooms, one dominant visual element is usually
decorative enough. Smaller photos and artwork are ideal for complementing a
dominant visual.
When it comes to decorating a living room, family photos are
an absolute-do. Nothing showcases a comfortable and welcoming environment more
than photos of your life and family. Your guests will thoroughly enjoy seeing
your family photos, memories, and favorite vacations. To add a touch of
sophistication to your photos, invest in some high-quality photo frames. Just
be sure to select pictures that are flattering!
Floors
Choose a floor that looks good and is practical for your
needs. The most common options for a living room are finished hardwood floors
and carpets. You may prefer the look of one material over the other, but
ultimately, you should decide which is right for you.
Hardwood floors are relatively easy to clean and are ideal
for people with allergies. With very little planning, they can make a room
appear luxurious and spacious.
Unfortunately, the floors may be tough to maintain,
depending on your lifestyle. Floors need regular refinishing, and special
cleaning supplies are required to prevent the finish from becoming stripped. If
you have pets or young children, hardwood floors may become scratched as a
result of accelerated wear and tear. If you have a baby or toddler, she may be
prone to slipping and falling, especially when learning to walk. Older adults
may also have injuries and difficulty walking on a slippery surface. A hardwood
floor may be dangerous for people who are not steady on their feet. If you
decide to install hardwood flooring, consider investing in a large floor rug to
add an element of decorative style.
Carpets add an element of coziness and comfort to any living
room. Pastels and neutral colors can make a room look spacious and bright.
Plus, carpets are excellent solutions for people who need floor traction and
who enjoy walking barefoot.
Like hardwood floors, carpets come with disadvantages. They
can accumulate dust and cause breathing problems for people who are prone to
allergies. They can also become stained and may require a professional steam
cleaning several times a year. If you like to wear your outdoor shoes around
the house, carpets can become dirtier, faster.
Dark colored carpets may mask stains, but they can also
cause a room to appear crammed and less spacious than it actually is. Try to
select a bright color for your carpet. A pet lover's carpet may be ideal for
people who foresee substantial wear and tear. You can also explore
hypoallergenic options for carpets at you hardware store.
Lighting
For a comfortable living room, think of your lighting
options in terms of layers. Sometimes, you absolutely need a bright space for
visibility, but other times, a dimly lit area is essential for relaxation time.
If you have the space for it, invest in a combination of
overhead, floor, and table lighting. Use different bulbs to experiment with
lighting color. Compact fluorescent bulbs are usually very white, while LED
whites are slightly blue. Halogen bulbs are slightly golden. Compact
fluorescent and LED lights tend to be the more energy-efficient options.
Experiment with the color and luminosity of your light bulbs to create varying
aesthetic effects.
For overhead lighting, you can choose lamps, or you can
choose recessed lighting. Consider options for adjustable dimness.
The Children's Place
Style Tips
Imagine this room as the ultimate play area for your kids.
This room doesn't necessarily need to be beautiful. Instead, it should be
practical -embracing the spills, wear, and tear that affect every home with a
child.
This isn't necessarily the room that all of your visitors
see, but it's an area of the house where your kids can go watch TV and play
videogames with friends. You have to admit that as an adult, you need space
that is separate from where the kids do their damage.
You don't necessarily need a kiddie-theme for this type of
room. Instead, plan for a room where they can keep their books, favorite shows,
video games, and everything else. Keep your theme and furniture practical.
Pay attention to the style tips for designing a comfortable
living room, and adapt them to the needs of your kids. Make the room
adult-friendly too so that you have a fun place to hang out with the kids.
Your kids will love having their own space to play, hang out
with friends, and be free to be young.
The Formal Area
Theme Ideas &
Style Tips
This is the room where you showcase your love for all things
elegant. Literally: showcase your expensive décor and artwork that you can't
keep anywhere else in your home. Wondering where to keep your gorgeous antiques
and grandfather clocks? Your formal living room is probably the place. There's
no point in keeping your prized possessions in a storage unit. How are you
enjoying them there?
If your artwork, sculptures, and elegant dishes are worth a
fair amount to you, you may want a glass curio cabinet to keep everything
together, protected, and under strict lock and key. This is one piece of
furniture that you will want to earthquake-proof. Have it fastened to the wall
so that it can't topple over. Secure your artwork, vases, sculptures and dishes
so that they cannot move a significant amount.
You could try to incorporate modern elements with your
room's design. In general, modern themes are minimalistic with very little
décor. Everything in this type of room has a function: the beauty in a modern
design has to do with the style of your everyday items. Invest in high-quality
designer furniture, a few paintings, and sculptures for a room that brings you
beauty in every corner.
Victorian themes are common for formal living spaces. A
designer rug, elaborate curtains, crystal vases, and elegant couches are what
you need to pull off this theme. "Victorian" is a self-descriptive
word, so use it when you look for your décor. This type of formal living room
is dimly lit, and you may opt not to install overhead lighting at all.
Traditionally, a formal living area is not a room with a
television. Instead, you may wish to install a high quality sound system for
playing music for guests. As a suggestion, you may want to keep your high
quality gadgets in a room that you use more often - chances are that you won't
be using your formal living area very often. Think of it as a special occasion
area for holidays, family events, and guests. Your comfortable living room will
be the place where you should plan on doing most of your everyday hanging out.
No comments:
Post a Comment