10 Ideas for Decorating a Living Room

Color Can Assist You in Creating the Right Ambience
The colors you pick for your living room will influence how others view the area. It may stimulate or calm the surroundings depending on how vibrant the color is and how warm or cold it is.

This big living room has a peaceful color palette of pastel blue and white that makes it feel quiet, cool, and collected—a graceful setting for elegant parties. Underfoot, a light tan carpet warms the space while balancing the chilly tones.

Walls and ceilings should be finished.
Because the living room is a public location, the walls are usually more complex or formal than the walls of other rooms. Choose wallcoverings or treatments that mirror your style to create a pleasant space that reflects your individuality. 

A trendy design is wallpapered on the walls of this room. The result adds warmth and texture to the walls while also giving them an antique appearance.

Architectural Trimwork Adds Character
Trimwork serves a functional purpose by concealing seams where floors and ceilings meet walls and providing structural support around openings. However, these aspects are also used for aesthetic purposes. Whether classical, contemporary, old-world, or regional, the style of trim work helps give your home a particular look. 

This white-washed living room has a sense of location thanks to projecting lintels over the door and windows, a deep cornice, and a paneled and beamed vaulted ceiling.

Select Flooring That Is Both Stylish and Comfortable
Choose a floor covering that gives comfort underfoot while also making a design statement, in keeping with the living room’s function as a public space. The basis for a polished blend of florals and stripes is laid by this vivid wall-to-wall carpet. 

If you like a more subdued look, go for a solid neutral floor that enables the focus to be on the furnishings or paintings. Hardwood floors with area rugs are a common choice for living room flooring, but ceramic tile, stone tile, and full carpeting are also viable options.

Establish a focal point
The living room is anchored by a focal point, which helps to attract you into the area. A fireplace is a natural focal point, suggesting hearth and home, yet the television is the main center of attention in most living rooms. Pair them up to keep them from competing. A gorgeous piece of art or a breathtaking view can also act as the focal point of a room. 

In this living room with a basic and stylish style, the fireplace becomes the focal point.

Arrange Conversation-Friendly Furniture
Because living rooms are social meeting places, furniture placement should encourage conversation and engagement. Pull the seats away from the walls and place it so that it faces each other. 

If your living room is huge, divide it into two talking groups for a more comfortable, intimate atmosphere. You can enlarge the circle while maintaining intimacy by using chairs and ottomans that can be pushed into the group as needed. Bright throw pillows, taper candles, a colorful duvet cover, comforter, or bedspread, or an unusual paint color or wallpaper on an accent wall or ceiling, all make statements.

Make a Lighting Plan That Is Inviting
The lighting in the living room should be designed to provide a relaxing and pleasant atmosphere. To guarantee even lighting distribution, aim for layers of light and put light sources in a roughly triangular shape. 

People will be more likely to sit and relax if table lamps direct the light downward. The overlapping arcs of light, rather than the upper walls, illuminate the sitting, signaling that it is time to sit.

Dress the Windows—or Don’t Dress the Windows
Although heavy window treatments are mainly a thing of the past, living rooms are the place to go if you want to go all out. This modest yet elegant blend of relaxing shades and floor-to-ceiling drapes. 

The curtains’ attractiveness stems from their abundant use of fabric—they aren’t ornate, but the deep folds and puddling ends convey wealth. When needed, the shades give seclusion while blocking light.

Construct a Media Center
If your living room also serves as a family room, watching television may be the primary purpose of the space. Whether you have the most recent model or an older one, integrate it into the room’s decor such that it is a focal point but not the focal point. 

A built-in bookcase in this living room is the ideal location for the television.

Make a statement with art and collections.
When you use your living room walls to display art or collections that you enjoy, they come alive. To make an effect, group items together and hang them low enough to relate to neighboring furniture or architecture. When it comes to hanging photographs, the most common mistake is hanging them too high. 

This collection of four huge images is hung low enough to visually connect to the sofa. The lamp in the corner is related to the painting on the neighboring wall, which hangs at standing eye level.