Despite having imported furniture, expensive curtains, foreign goodies, royal marble flooring and whatnot, do you still feel that your living room is missing life? You might have hired the top interior designer to get your living room designed in a plush manner but if it lacks the vibrancy and liveliness, all your money and efforts might just go in vain. What if I tell you that just a few twists and turns is all your living room needs to add that quintessential life to your living room? What if you could add life to your living room by simply following seven decorating ideas?
Well, let’s not waste another moment in that dull living room and get started with the easy decorating ideas to add life to your living room.
Add A Touch Of Life With Light
There are tons of lighting options in the market that could be played with to add life to your living room. Whether you choose the inexpensive paper lanterns with the incandescent or fluorescent bulbs, the pendant fixtures for your high ceilinged room, the accent lights with sconces or the false ceiling lights, make sure that it accentuates the mood of your living room. To add a touch of playfulness, you can add fairy lights above the sofas, place bottle lamps on the console table or install focus lights above the beautiful showpiece. Remember, lights can add shine, glitter, space, and life to your living room; play with it to make you living room livelier.
Play With The Furniture
The furniture is the life of the living room. It should be arranged in a manner that it makes your living room look spacious and comfortable at the same time. You have the five primary furniture pieces, i.e., sofa, coffee table, side table, accent chair and the console table, in your living rooms and that too complimenting each other; still, the room seems to be dull and boring. Opt for pale color sofas with lightweight appearance to enhance the visual space. Try playing with the setting of the furniture and interchange places of the pieces. Make sure your center sofa is not clinging to the back wall as it could make the room cramped and congested.
Add Dramatic Colors To The Room
You spent days to finalize the color palette for your living room but now that the final results are in front of your eyes, you don’t seem impressed. Try adding dramatic colors to the living room to bring out the life hidden behind those pale and neutral color tones. Accent or feature walls entered in the living rooms a few years back and are still considered an effective way to add dramatic colors to the living room. Moreover, you can throw in some vibrant and bold pillows and cushions on the sofa and the accent chairs to give a pop of dramatic color. Give a cool look to your living room by adding bold color center pieces, paintings, accessories etc.
Photo by Collective Office, PC AIA
Rethink The Flooring
A bad flooring can be a big turn off for even the most beautifully decorated living room. You can find a number of flooring options like hardwood flooring, vinyl flooring, wood-look laminate flooring, polished marble etc., available for the living room. However, to accentuate the liveliness of your living room, you need to make sure that it goes with the furniture that you’ve placed, the wall colors and the lighting of your room. Make sure that the color of the floor is of the same or darker hue than the wall color to enhance the overall look. If you want to go for a more inexpensive option, you can throw in a statement carpet in the center of the room to hide the flooring altogether. You can add bold color carpets, statement area rugs with vibrant colors and patterns to bring some coziness and warmth into the living room.
Photo by Gristmill Builders, LTD
Try High-Hanging Curtains
Your curtains can have a huge impact on the mood of your living room. To make it look lively, you need to play a bit with the curtain colors and its fabric. While sheer curtains can be a big hit for the rooms for direct access to sunlight, contrasting color curtains can also be used add a pop of color to the room. Depending on the look and color contrast the furniture, walls, and floor of your living room, you can choose between pastel, sheer, monochromatic, patterned, striped, lace-finish, bold or vibrant curtains. Once you’ve chosen the curtain type, you can try hanging the curtains high on the wall to make the room look spacious and the ceilings look high. High hanging curtains can change the look of the room and impart airiness as well.
Photo by Jute Interior Design
Play With Wall Panels & Mirrors
Wall panels and designer mirrors are the latest trends in the market for decorating a living room in a lively manner. While mirrors can trick the visitors’ eyes to make the room look even more spacious, the wall panels can be used to add style and elegance to your living room. You can make one of the walls of the room stand out by adding textured or wood-cut wall panels. Moreover, adding a mirror on the wall right in front of the window will not only reflect the light all over the place but also give the illusion of a spacious room.
Photo by Bruce Palmer Coastal Design
Display The Accents Strategically
The little showpieces placed on your console table, coffee table, cabinets, and shelves can undoubtedly add life to your living room. However, care needs to be taken while adding these accents; over-adding or leaving some places bereft of any accent can be the reason why your living room lacks the life. The accents should be displayed at last once you’re done with the major decoration of the room. You need to strategically place artificial or original plants beside the corner sofa, display the paintings on the feature wall, showcase adventure treasures on the console etc., in order to add zing to the room.
Photo by Horton & Co. Designers
These were some of the decorating ideas that can help you add life to your living room. You can also adorn your interior in a scientific manner by following the same decorating ideas. In the end, I would like to add that keep your room tidy and clean, otherwise, it may look dingy kill the life of the living room.
Author Bio:
Anurag Gupta is the managing head at RealEstateIndia.com and handles the entire content marketing team of this company as well. He has a keen interest in decorating his house as well as the workplace to make it look more welcoming. His write-ups are a reflection of his passion for decorating different places. You can follow Anurag on his Twitter to know more about him.
