Tag Archive 'living room decorating'

Apr 09 2010

Perk Up a Tired-Looking Room with Color

Have you lived in your home for years and feel that it’s time for an update? When you’ve had the same colors and accents for a long time, you may feel that you want a change. Perhaps you’re finding that your kitchen and living area have begun looking tired and drab. If you can’t afford a home makeover at the moment, then what are your options?

Spruce up your home using vibrant colors and add a few new accents. It’s amazing how different things will look when you’re through. The best part is, even though you’re not spending a bundle of money, your home will look as though you did.

In the Living Room
This is one area you really want to be appealing, especially since this is the room where family and friends congregate to visit and enjoy each other’s company. Have you been stuck on contemporary or modern décor for years, but now you’re ready to do something bold? Be daring, and move away from the black, beige, and tan that are the usual hallmarks of your design style.

If you want a look that’s fresh, energizing, and demands attention, work with vibrant blues, tropical greens, and peaches. Choose a light celery green for the walls, and then paint the baseboards and doors a dark forest green. Hang bright botanical prints on the walls and then add a few fruity- or tropical-scented candles. As a final touch, add a little silk greenery casually displayed in clear glass vases on a wooden coffee table, and you will have achieved a totally different look for your room.

If you have solid-colored furniture, don’t be afraid to add throw pillows in bold patterns and colors. By mixing floral designs, stripes, and plaids, you can add interest and originality. Just be sure all the colors are complementary, and you will have created an incredible look.

Add Pizzazz in the Kitchen & Dining Room
If your kitchen and dining room look a little worn out and drab, then add more color. Coordinate the color theme with what you’re doing in the living room. This is especially important if these areas run together. Citrus colors work great in the kitchen. Add some bright curtains to the windows. Sunflowers, strawberries, and other bright-hued prints can really infuse this room with energy.

For the dining room, consider laying a brightly colored runner along the center of your dining table. Then place a straw basket filled with fruit there. Choose a vibrant color for the dining room walls, and then add splashes of contrasting colors using a feather duster for an exciting look. Anything goes-just use your imagination! Any accent or idea will work, as long as it’s bright and cheery.

In end, the point of all this is to make your rooms in your home come alive. For years, you have been living with the same dull and boring colors day after day. It’s time to add some vibrancy and excitement to your home. When you combine many bright, bold colors, you add some depth to a décor that makes a room look much more interesting. You’ll find that accents and furniture stand out, instead of blending together and getting lost in a sea of white. You’ll find that every area of the room begins to take on a life of its own.

Go for the gusto! Don’t hold anything back! If you’re looking to give your home not only a brand-new look but an exciting feeling as well, bright, energetic colors may be just what you need. Go for drama and flair and forget those rooms with no personality. You will have a feeling of renewed energy and vitality each time you set foot in your home.

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Mar 05 2010

Change the Look of Your Living Room

The living room is one of the most used spaces in most homes. This tends to be a favorite room for relaxing, entertaining, and spending time with the family. The more time you spend in that room, the more you may feel you need to change the look. Fortunately, if you want to change the look of your living room, you don’t necessarily have to spend a fortune. If you’re looking to renovate your room and make it exciting again, here are a few suggestions.

Rearrange the Furniture
You can get a whole new look without spending any money by rearranging the furniture. The best place to start is to find a different focal point for the room and then rearrange things to focus on that new area. Not only is this simple to do, but you can give the room a completely new look and flow. Rearranging doesn’t require any new furniture, but if you’re really looking to mix things up, try adding an inexpensive piece like an end table.

Change the Paint Color on the Walls
Paint is great, as it is fairly inexpensive but can change the look of a room dramatically. Your best bet is to choose a color that’s already in the room’s color scheme. You can develop a whole new feel for the room by choosing a matching or complementary color. If you don’t have the time or money to paint the entire room, you can simply choose one wall and make it an accent wall. By painting it an accent color, you can give the room some more interest.

Add Inexpensive Accessories to the Furniture
It’s not necessary to spend a fortune on furniture accessories to change the style of a living room. If you have any inexpensive decorative pillows, throws, flower arrangements, vases, baskets, candles, or lamps in other areas of your home, perhaps you can bring them into the living room to add to the décor. The simple placement of new decorative pillows on a couch can create a totally different style. With different pillows you can easily transform a neutral couch from a country to a contemporary style. If you have wood end tables and oak bookshelves in the room, you can add candles and baskets to mix up the décor.

Change the Window Treatments
You can completely change the look with different window treatments, which may allow different amounts of light to enter the room. The great things about window treatments is you can change the colors, patterns, and type of material fairly easily. Another option is to add other window treatments to the existing ones. For instance, you could add a fabric valance to a window that already has blinds.

If you don’t have a lot of money to spend but you want to change the look of your living room, with a little resourcefulness and creativity you can come up with a new style. By simply following one or more of these tips, you can create a living room your friends and family may not even recognize.

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Jan 26 2010

Design Styles for Living Rooms

There are dozens of different design styles that you can choose from when you decorate your living room. It’s important to remember when decorating your living room that you want to like the style and be comfortable in the room, since you’ll most likely be spending a lot of time there. Here are some different living room design styles for you to consider.

Mission Design Style
Built using the traditional materials like oak and cherry wood this style adds a bold and and elegant look to any living room. Started at the turn of the last century, the Mission or Arts & Crafts style has endured for decades due to its simple designs that were a direct response to opulent Victorian area furniture that was popular at the time. Inspired by minimalistic designs of the Japanese, the British and American influences made this style unique blend of East and West. Whether you’re decorating an entire living room or simple a getting a view accent pieces like a Morris chair or an oak coffee table this style is perfect for every home.

Contemporary Design Style
Typically, a contemporary living room will have very neutral colors and elements with just a few pops of color and design here and there. For instance, you might have a dark gray sleek couch in the room with two purple throw pillows added to it. The lines of the room should be kept soft and rounded. You want the room to look very minimalistic. Another approach to a contemporary living room is to keep the colors monochromatic and then add a splash of white here and there to break up the color.

Cottage Design Style
When you use a cottage design style, you want to aim for plenty of color with graceful patterns and lines. Cottage style usually brings floral patterns and pastel plaids to mind. A living room decorated in cottage style should look both comfortable and inviting. Comfortable and plush furniture with puffy pillows work great with this decorating style. Great colors for this design style include: cream, pink, light green, and light blue.

Romantic Design Style
A romantic design style is a great way to create a formal look for your living room. A living room decorated in a romantic design style will use light and airy fabrics. Expect to see a lot a white, cream, silver, and other pastel colors in this décor. You can add a twist to things with some touches of floral. You can also add some interest with a lightly colored area rug or a few decorative pillows. You want the furniture to be delicate and light, and not overbearing in any way.

Eclectic Design Style
If you are having a difficult time settling on just one design style for your living room, consider choosing a few different ones that are your favorites. With an eclectic style, you can incorporate several different design styles into one room. For instance, your walls can appear modern, while your furniture might look like it can from a cottage style room. However, there are certain ways that you should pull the look together. Make the room appear more cohesive by using common colors, textures, or patterns in the décor.

Once you figure out what you want from your living room, you will be able to figure out what design style might be appropriate. For instance, if you want a more formal room, then you might go with something like a romantic design style. On the other hand, if you want a more casual space, then a cottage-styled room might be a better fit. Just remember to find a style you can live with and won’t want to change in just a couple of months.

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