Nearly everyone loves large, spacious rooms, but without the right touch a room that is very large can look stark and cold.  It may lack personality and have an overall blank look offering very little appeal or interest.  This article provides tips and ideas for making even the largest of living rooms warm, cozy and inviting.

The trick to making a large living room look relaxing and beautiful is to break up the space and use accents to add color.

Warm up the walls

Nothing looks more stark or boring than a blank wall!  In a large living room, there’s no need to stick to white when covering the walls.  Think more in terms of soft, warm colors like cream, taupe or butter.  These colors give the room a warm glow that makes it feel welcoming.

To spice up the walls a bit, use tapestries, murals, framed artwork or any accents that you truly love and that coordinate with the rest of the decor.  Consider your decorating theme, and come up with unique ideas for the walls.  For example, a living room decorated in a western theme looks great when a large wooden wagon wheel hangs above the sofa!

Window treatments matter, too

To help further add depth and dimension to the room, choose your window coverings carefully.  In large rooms, heavy or bulky curtains or drapes work well, and help take up more wall space, while a bulky valance in a rich, warm shade of wine adds an elegant touch.  You can also consider textured drapes that fall casually to the floor.

Create smaller spaces within the room

Nothing makes a guest feel more at ease or welcome than a small, intimate space where you can visit and have refreshments without feeling like the two of you are sitting at completely opposite ends of the room. To accomplish this, simply choose one area of the room and arrange two chairs, a love seat and an accent table around a good sized area rug.  Set your furniture at interesting angles to make the room even more appealing.

If members of your family love to read create a special section meant for reading.  Arrange a chair and ottoman near a window, flanked by a floor lamp for extra light.  A small bookshelf or magazine rack filled with books adds a nice touch to this area as well.

Large living rooms look even more beautiful when you place large potted plants and greenery in specific areas, such as a space that looks bare.  Use throw pillows decorated with bold patterns and textures on the sofa; throws can be tossed casually over a corner of a rocking chair or recliner.

When rooms are extremely spacious, it is best not to place furniture against the walls; you want intimate spaces designed for a purpose, such as socializing, reading, or playing computer games.

Use the ideas and tips mentioned above, and make that bare looking living room one that offers appeal, warmth and originality.  Family and friends alike will feel comfortable, relaxed and right at home.

Many homes have living rooms that are small, where it feels like there’s hardly even enough room to walk between the furniture. Unless you like a cluttered look, it’s hard to know what to do with a room no larger than 200 square feet. Fortunately, you have plenty of options.

Use vibrant colors and patterns to dress up a living or family room that feels claustrophobic. It’s a common mistake to try to lighten up the area a little too much. What often results is a boring sea of white, with white walls and furniture, with very little hanging on the walls. The fear of adding to the cluttered look can, in the end, make the room too sterile.

Decades ago, the presiding recommendation was that you “open up” small spaces with super-light colors such as white and linen. But now things have changed. These days, people want a living room that bursts with color and vibrancy. You can not only make the room look airy and spacious, but also extremely inviting. The key is to use colors and patterns that work. Consider the following tips to help you transform your small boring living room into a beautiful room bursting with personality.

1. Paint the room a light shade, but not white. To start, find a swatch of fabric you’re going to use that contains the shade of paint you desire. Consider a celery green or a vibrant peach-two colors that lend a botanical feel to the room. Paint both the ceiling and walls a lighter shade of whatever color you choose. Then you can paint any doors in the room, baseboards, and other trim a darker complementary color.
2. Jazz up any bare, boring walls with botanical prints. You should be able to find some in old books or magazines. Find a shade for the mat that complements the picture as well as the paint color you’ve chosen for the room. You might even group several together on one wall, creating a focal point splashed with color.
3. Use sheer silky curtains to add a light, airy feel to the décor. Place your curtain rod up close to the ceiling, allowing the sheer curtains to touch the floor. Not only will this give an expansive look to the window, but it will make the ceiling appear higher.
4. Find furniture that’s sturdy, but stay away from anything overstuffed or bulky. You want your patterns to include colors that contrast and complement your walls, curtains, and overall décor. You want to use bold, contrasting patterns in this type of a setting. Often bold stripes make the perfect touch to the décor. By creating a lively look, the smallness of the room gets lost in the inviting, vibrant atmosphere.

You might also add a unique and interesting touch to the décor by recovering the seat cushions of a solid-toned couch in a colorful, fun pattern. End tables or oak coffee tables that fold up or a narrow profile oak tv stand also work well in this type of space. This way, when your guest leave you can store them away and open up the floor area.

This is just the beginning of the many ways you can open up those tight spaces in your home. These are just a few suggestions to help get your creativity flowing. Remember to not only use your imagination, but to have fun with it!

If you have a large living room in your house, sometimes it can be challenging to properly decorate that massive space. Large spaces present their own decorating troubles, just as small spaces do. Here are some tips to keep in mind if you’re having trouble decorating your large living room.

Use Dark Colors to Decorate
Typically, using dark colors when decorating makes a space appear smaller. You can get the room to appear smaller by simply painting the walls a few shades darker than you normally would.

If you’re not looking for the entire room to appear smaller, you can give it less of a large feeling by using darker colors to accessorize. By using dark-colored furniture or even carpet in your large living room, you’ll make the room feel slightly smaller and not so big and open.

Use the Space in the Living Room Accordingly
Depending on how large your living room is, you’re going to want to plan out the space accordingly. Among other things, this means that all the seating shouldn’t be right on top of each other.

The furniture should be spaced out so that it looks evenly distributed across the room. There should also be an adequate amount of space left between the couch and the coffee table so that people are able to walk in between the two. With the proper utilization of space, you can prevent a large room from looking too cold and open, instead making it feel more comfortable and quaint.

Use Large Pieces of Art to Decorate the Walls
Before you choose a piece of art for your wall, you need to consider the area of blank space you are working with. For instance, you don’t want to hang a 5×7 picture on a very large blank wall. Rather, hang a portrait or some other piece that will take up most of the upper half of the wall. If a larger piece of art is out of your price range, you might try making a pattern or collage on the wall with several pieces of smaller artwork. Remember, though, that the artwork needs to be spaced out so that it covers the majority of the wall.

Buy a Large Piece of Furniture
If you don’t already have one, you may want to consider purchasing a large piece of furniture for your living room. You might look for an entertainment center a bookcase, a large couch, or even something like a piano or pool table.

By placing a large furnishing in the room, the large room will appear smaller and everything will seem more in proportion. You can also use this oversized furnishing as a focal point and decorate the rest of the room around it.

When it comes to decorating a large living room, you need to focus on properly utilizing the space in the room. By only using a small area of the room, the room will then look massive and not very appealing. Instead, if you use the space, including the walls, as much as possible, your large living room will be very appealing, with perhaps even a quaint and comfortable feel to it.