The living room is the focal point of every home. It is commonly used and intended for general leisure and social activities, watching TV, reading, talking, or entertaining friends. It thus makes perfect sense for you to want to make it as appealing and comfortable as possible. Although many people wish to invest in a comfortable chair, couch, and a big smart TV, you don’t necessarily have to spend lots of money decorating the living room. However big or small the living room seems, or what your budget is, the key is to make it appealing and practical without overdoing furniture and décor. Below are a few simple, cost-effective living room decoration ideas you can try. Also, check out Timber Technology for great living room furniture ideas.
1. Choose A Unique Theme
Choose a theme that represents what you love or like. This will act as the baseline for any future décor or styling ideas you might want to introduce. The best part of choosing a living room theme is you can choose to go with whatever style you are comfortable with. You can thus choose a theme based on your favourite colour, interests, likes, and art. Depending on the preferred style and design, you can also choose to use a more modern or rustic theme. The theme will also play a significant role in determining what else you can introduce in the living room.
2. Paint an accent wall
Identify a wall that can be used as the room’s focal point. This can be the wall with a focal piece, such as a bookcase, fireplace, or even where the TV is mounted. The next step is choosing an attractive colour to paint the wall. You can choose to paint brighter hues of your favourite colour or a contrasting one. Bold colours are commonly recommended for accent walls, another reason it would be advisable to take your time to pick the best colour to match/contrast the theme.
3. Choose The Right Furniture
Much of the living room décor revolves around furniture. This makes sense considering couches, sofas, and chairs take up the largest real estate in the living room. Considering their sheer size and weight, proper planning is needed to determine placement and arrangement. The key here is to ensure the furniture is placed in such a way that they promote easy conversations without seeming too crowded. However expensive your furniture might be, your seating arrangement can make or break the room’s overall look, feel, and flow. Placement of the same will also dictate where other items will be placed/positioned. The trick here is to ensure enough space for one to access all couches without tripping on anything, say the coffee table. For this reason, interior designers commonly recommend going for furniture that fits well in your living room, especially those that don’t occupy lots of space. The room will need some breathing space too.
4. Invest In Proper Lighting
Proper lighting is required to complete the room’s aesthetics. That said, it would be advisable to consider and include three essential types of lighting: accent, ambient, and task lighting. You could use an overhead chandelier/lamp, table, and floor lamps for accent lighting. Ensure the table lamps are placed next to heavy furniture or corners. Install wall sconces for ambient lighting. Use accent lighting on the accent wall to highlight the focal point of the room as well. Ensure the living room is well-lit to avoid dark corners, which could spoil the whole idea.