Living Room

Color and Style: Living Room Decorating Ideas

For me decor means making the most of the main pieces in the room, not really so much in adding decorations, accessories and small decor items. So when it comes to living room decorating ideas, here are the main areas and pieces to focus on.

The Coffee Table Area

The coffee table is going to a major focal point in a living room. This is because it takes up a lot of space, it is usually in the center, and everything else in the room is arranged around it (the seats, the TV). So the design of the coffee table matters and what you put on top of it.

Coffee Table Designs

Depending on the style you want to create in your living room, try and get creative with your coffee table so it makes a statement in the space – just like the coffee table in picture (1). If you are going for a modern look, then opt for a clean cut coffee table. For a more rustic or vintage style, use a trunk, log, or antique table (2). You’ve got Moroccan style metal coffee tables for a more exotic look. Or you can simply drape your favorite fabric design over a normal coffee table to add some style.

For more coffee table design ideas and a mood board have a look at my post here: Creative Coffee Table Ideas.

Coffee Table Decor Ideas

The next step after sorting out your coffee table is figuring out what to put on top of it. It is better to only go with a few items, as this space can easily get cluttered – you’ve already got remote controls to deal with.

2-3 coffee table books is one way to go. Choose books that you want to see everyday, rather than what would look good to visitors. Other decor ideas include using lanterns, candles, and small plants. One way to keep a clean and well designed look on the coffee table is to group everything together using a tray – just like in picture (3).

For more ideas have a look at my mood board here: Creative Coffee Table Decor Ideas.

The Seating Area

The seats in the living room also take up a lot of space. You can style and add color to your seats through the pillows you use (4). Play with the fabrics – you’ve got patterned designs, or simple but elegant textures. Keep all the pillows the same size or mix up the sizes.

You’ve also got blankets that can be draped over the couch. These blankets can use a fabric design that adds to the style of the room or can be a solid color that adds to your living room’s color scheme.

On the Floor

When it comes to the floors, you can decorate and define spaces with area rugs. For example, putting an area rug under the coffee table helps define that space. The style and and color you use for your area rugs also adds to the design of the room. Choices include: the popular chevron rugs, shag rugs for a vintage style, or Persian rugs for a more exotic look.

Floor pillows can also decorate the floor space and add some informal seating to the living room. Again, the fabric choice you use for the floor pillows will help decorate and add style to the room.

On the Walls

For living room wall decor you have the normal route of hanging up art and photography. Or hanging up a number of pieces to create a gallery wall – seen in picture (5). You’ve also got more structural design elements such as trim, crown molding, and wainscoting that can add style to the walls (6).

The curtains in a living room take up a lot of visual space, especially when they are closed. So the fabric you use can really add to the styling of the space. Even the curtain rod and how you tie back the curtains adds to the room’s style. For a modern look, it would be best to go with hookless curtains, that way you won’t need tie backs as they create a more traditional look. In my Decor Style: Vintage Living Room Ideas you can see vintage door knobs being used as tie back hooks for a shabby chic and vintage styled living room.

Lighting Tips for a Cozy Living Room

Here are some ways to create a cozy setting in a living room by using lighting:

Turn down the ceiling lights by hooking them up to a dimmer switch. Or turn them off and use table and floor lamps instead
Candles are the ultimate mood lights. To reduce the fire hazard the candles can be put into a lantern, or floating candles can be used in a bowl of water. You can also get battery powered candles that look just like real ones – some will even flicker
Hang up some string lights for a whimsical vibe. LED string lights give off less heat which means you can wrap them in a light fabric to create a very soft diffused glow
A lamp or LED strip behind the TV creates a nice soft glow in the room
Look to get a mood lamp if you white walls in your living room. This mood lamp can bathe your walls in a color of your choice, or can slowly cycle through different colors

Have a look at my mood board post here for more ideas: Relaxing and Cozy Living Room Lighting Ideas

Style + Storage Living Room Decor

The goal is to try and get every piece in your living room to add to the decor and style of the space. So even your storage pieces can come into play, especially if they are out in the open. What style are you going for in your living room? See what kind of creative and stylish storage solutions you can use in your living room. Some ideas include:

Using a ladder to hang up blankets and magazines. This can be an old rustic wooden ladder, or a more modern sleek looking one – seen in picture (7)
Wicker and wire baskets add style to a living room
A cheap galvanised bucket can be used as a trash can, to store extra pillows, magazines, or fire wood.
Shadow boxes can be used on the walls
Trunks can be used as a coffee table or side table

For more stylized storage ideas have a look at the images in these mood board posts:

For more general living room storage ideas have a look at these mood boards:

Creating a Color Palette and Living Room Design Scheme

To create a strong design in your living room, you want to try and keep the decor focused. For example if you want to create a blue color scheme in your living room, then you’ll want to focus all of your decor pieces to blue shades, and neutral colors such as white, cream, grey, black. This means taking out decor pieces that are not blue. An orange pillow, a purple area rug and a green picture frame takes away from your blue color scheme. You can have two colors or maybe even three in a color scheme, but you still want to focus all your decor items to the overall color scheme – and take pieces that are not inline.

For ideas on color schemes for your living room have a look at my posts here:

The same also applies for the style of the room. If you want to go for a vintage look, then you’ll want to avoid having modern pieces. Each decor piece that is off the main style you want, slowly reduces the overall style. 1/2/3/4/5/6/7

For style related posts have a look at these mood boards:

March 27, 2014 in Decor, Living Room

Creative Coffee Table Ideas

The Focal Point of the Living Room

For a lot of living rooms the coffee table space is the focal point. When you walk into the room, this is where the eyes are drawn to. This is because the coffee table is usually is in the center and everything is arranged around it (the seating, the TV, rugs). This makes the coffee table an important piece in the living room. The style and design of it can really set the tone for the room. Here I go over more creative coffee table ideas and DIY projects. For style specific table ideas, check out my living room mood board collection page here.

Repurposed Rustic Chic

There are a lot of materials that can be reclaimed and turned into a budget friendly and good looking coffee table. Spools, with their round tops and bases make for excellent coffee table DIY projects. I’ve seen some that are left as is, which creates a really rustic style. Picture (1) shows a spool that has been painted all white for a more shabby chic look. While the spool in picture (2) has had an acrylic top fitted to it, and galvanised piping has been used to create the base. The refined glass looking top makes the coffee table look a lot more modern, refined, and luxurious.

Crates and a reclaimed window have been used to create the rustic coffee table in picture (3). Check out my post on reclaimed windows for another coffee table made out of a window – this one can be opened for storage: Home Decor Ideas: Using Reclaimed Old Windows. Or how about using old doors (4)?

There are a 101 things that can be done with pallets, and one of them is to create your own coffee table. The ladies at The Merry Thought used pallets to create a chevron patterned coffee table (5). Another coffee table has been created from pallets, seen in the shabby chic living room (6). Again, an elegant top (this time glass) has been added for a less rustic look.

Far Away Lands

These next two ideas are my favorite since they relate to travel. The first idea is to use an antique trunk as a coffee table. It adds a lot of charm to the living room (7) – ideal for a more bohemian, shabby chic, or vintage style space.

The second travel inspired coffee table idea is a Moroccan style table (8). Here you will find a metal dish, sometimes decorated with elegant detail, which has a wooden frame as a base.

More Unique DIY Coffee Table Ideas

Planks of wood and piping make for great homemade coffee tables that you can customise to the size and shape of your living room (9) – ideal for making small coffee tables for small spaces. Or for a more refined design, yet still semi-industrial, have a look at the DIY project in picture (10). Copper piping and a slate board were used to create this coffee table.

This last table idea is another one of my favourites, because of how simple it is and that it brings nature into the living room. The log coffee table in picture (11) can be bought from West Elm, but it is simple enough to go out, find a log, strip it of its bark, sand it down, and seal it. For more table space, 2 or 3 of these can sit side by side. Or how about getting a long log, cut off the sides to create a flat top and base, and lay it sideways. It will be low down, but will look good.

Some quick notes on other coffee table design ideas to consider:

If you want a more minimalist looking living room, one without any clutter, then use a coffee table with draws underneath. This way you can store and hide away items that always find their way on top of the coffee table (Stress Free: Minimalist Living Room Ideas).
A wicker coffee table adds texture to a room. Which is ideal if you don’t want to have too many decor pieces around.

The great thing about having such a unique and eye catching coffee table like the ones above, is that you don’t really need to have any decor pieces on the table. Because the table itself is a decor piece. But if you do want to add decor pieces, have a look here for some great ideas: Creative Coffee Table Decor Ideas. 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11

Creative Living Room Storage Ideas

January 17, 2014 in Living Room

Relaxing and Cozy Living Room Ideas

What makes a living room cozy? Is it a place to curl up relax. A place that feels secluded, warm and safe. A place to call your own. If so, the cozy living room ideas below will help you transform your space.

Secluded Seating

Try and have everything in arms reach. Say you like snuggling up on the couch. Then look to have a side table with a table lamp or floor lamp – close enough to reach. The side table is also great for putting down drinks without having to get up. And how about having a quilted blanket sprawling over your couch that you can curl up in?

Some other seating ideas include getting down on the floor just like in picture (1). Having a soft cushy rug and floor cushions makes for a bohemian style living room (or Moroccan). Have a look here for more ideas:

Having a deep and long couch lets you have space to lie down, and fill up with big cushions (2). How about hanging up a hammock in your living room (3)?

How To Add a Relaxing Indoor Hammock to Your Home

Those of you with large living rooms, look to create a little hideaway nook (A Cozy Getaway: Reading Nook Ideas). This can either be done by a window, by having a separate living room section with a floor table and floor pillows, or walling off an area (with curtain dividers or book shelves). Surround the space with piles of books and have a lamp nearby (Ideas Mood Board: DIY Room Dividers).

Calming Greens

Plants always have a calming and relaxing effect. So have a few around the living room (4). You can get fancy and have them play a more decorative role in the living room by either using vintage bottles as planters, or leather/rope hanging planters. How about having a terrarium?

A Softer Space

Try and add as much fabric as you can to your living room space. Use lots of cushions, area rugs, fabric wall hangings, even drapes that hang down from the ceiling. The fabric will really soften the space and make it feel cozy.

You can soften the walls of your living room by hanging art pieces. A gallery wall of canvas pieces, fabric, and photos would be a good addition.

Color Scheme

The color of your living room also helps create the cozy feeling you want. Check out some of the color style posts I’ve put up. Bright colors makes a room feel bright and spacious. While darker colours will make the room feel secluded, smaller, and more intimate (Ideas for Living Room Colors: Paint Palettes and Color Schemes).

Lighting Your Mood

In the day, a great feeling living room will be bathed in natural day light. So look to bring as much in as possible.

To create that cozy feeling at night, look to bring the lighting down. This means avoid using the ceiling lights and instead go for table and floor lamps, lanterns (6) (with battery candles), or a bowl of water with floating candles. For a more whimsical vibe hang up some string lights (5) (Home Decor Ideas: Beautiful Ways to Use String Lights Indoors).

Another idea would be to have a mood lamp like the one below. When it is grey and dull outside, paint the walls with yellow. If you are feeling all romantic, fill the space with dark purple. Or let the mood lamp softly change colors on its own.

The Yantouch Jellyfish mood lamp is available here from Amazon

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January 16, 2014 in Living Room

Creative Coffee Table Decor Ideas

For me, the simpler the better when it comes to centerpieces and coffee table decor ideas. Let’s start off with the main piece in the space – the coffee table..

The Coffee Table

The coffee table itself can be a decor piece. If you go with something unique like a trunk, a reclaimed and upcycled spool just like in picture (1). Or how about a reclaimed window, a pallet coffee table (2), or a wicker one (3). Now most of the focus will be on the coffee table itself so you won’t need to do much when it comes to the centerpiece and the decor on top. For more creative ideas have a look at my post here: Creative Coffee Table Ideas.

Decorating Ideas for Coffee Table Centerpieces

The less you do, the more each of your decor pieces will stand out. Here are some ideas on what decor pieces to use:

1-3 Coffee table books. Make them books that are meaningful and inspiring to you. It is your living room and you will be coming face to face with these books everyday. A lot of people will think of what will look good for when people visit. Go with what’s meaningful to you.

Candles, housed in glass or ceramic lanterns (5). There are also floating candles and battery powered ones. If candles are your thing, have a look at creating a modern candle arrangement – using different colors and heights (6).

A bird cage can be used to house a plant or candles. Check out my post for more ideas and pictures using bird cages around the house here: Home Decor Ideas: Using Bird Cages.

Plants: The design and color of the planter (and even the plant) you use can set the style of the coffee table space, check out the different styles in pictures (7) and (8). How about using vintage bottles just like in my post here.

Clutter Free Design

The coffee table is one area where clutter can build up. So try and keep things organised and clutter free here. Even when it comes to your decor – try and keep the number of pieces down as much as possible. Check out pictures (9) and (10), where trays are being used to group together and frame the few decor pieces on the table. A tray is a must have as it really creates a well designed look on the coffee table. Wicker baskets also work. 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10