Trending Living Room Decorating and Design Tips
Does your living room need a refresh? Whether you’re looking to totally redo your space or just bring it up to date, the trending living room decorating and design tips presented in this video by The Home Depot will help you get the look that you want:
Wall color plays a big part in freshening up a room, so it’s a great place to start. You don’t necessarily need to paint all the walls. Break up a larger room by applying a complementary or contrasting color to one accent wall. Don’t be afraid to go bold with your color choices.
Also, consider wallpapering one or all or your walls. Wallpaper is back – a popular new trend – and today’s wallpapers offer a wide array of bold patterns, vibrant colors and unique textures. Your paper selection can reflect your existing decor or stand out in a fresh unexpected way to make your room pop.
Once you’ve created your focal point, you can start positioning your furniture. Start by positioning your largest pieces first, and then layer in rugs, tables, chairs and accessories. Create a conversation area by keeping furniture close together in intimate groups. Don’t spread things too far apart, but do allow enough room between pieces for passage. Two feet is a good rule. Your conversation area can feature a mix of sofas, loveseats or chairs, whatever best suits the size of your room. If you do place furniture along the edges of your room, float pieces a few inches away from the wall. This allows the room to breathe so that it doesn’t feel cramped.
Gallery walls are a huge trend. You can create something balanced and symmetrical or go for a more free-flowing and organic feel. To figure out your gallery wall, lay all of your pieces down on the floor, move them around and play with what looks best next to each other. Or you can design your gallery wall by using paper cutouts of each art piece. Experiment with arrangements before deciding. There are also online templates to help. Ideally one of your larger selections should serve as an anchor point for the arrangement. Try mixing in other shapes, textiles, or sculptures to tell your personal story. You can also display your art pieces on decorative wall shelves so that you can easily rearrange your art as your tastes change.
When shopping for textiles like pillows, window treatments and area rugs, it’s helpful to bring along a sample of your wall and furniture colors. Coordinating these design elements will help tie the whole room together in one cohesive look.
If you have neutral colored furniture, add pops of color with pillows. When mixing patterns, make sure they complement each other in either tone or color. Start with larger random patterns and mix in smaller repetitive patterned pillows around them. Limit the number of pillows you use so that they grab attention.
Area rugs can help create different sections within a room as well as reinforce your overall color scheme. When shopping for area rugs, consider choosing an outdoor rug; they are typically more durable, fade-resistant and easier to clean than indoor rugs, plus there are vibrant patterns and colors that you may not expect to find in outdoor rugs.
An important element in any room is lighting. It can showcase certain aspects of a room and help set the tone. Floor lamps and sconces are great options for mid-level lighting. Table lamps work well for low-level lighting. Here’s a bright idea: change out your bulbs for ones with updated LED or smart technology. The new LED bulbs not only lower your energy bill but also offer better color function and design options than bulbs that came out just a few years ago. Smart bulbs let you dim and program your bulb’s brightness and on times. They make it easy to create overall directional and ambient lighting in each room.
