11 Clever Hacks for the Perfect Living Room
Have you recently felt like your living room is looking a little dingy? Maybe it doesn’t look spacious enough, or it doesn’t have enough light, or the furniture just looks generally out of place and mismatched.
And now, you’ve just had enough of living in this squalor! What you want is the perfect living room.
However, when it comes to home improvement, you might not want to do a full renovation of your living room. This would be stressful, as well as expensive.
Fortunately, there are some clever hacks you can use to create the perfect living room. In this article, we’ll review all these hacks.
Finally, you can have the living room of your dreams, without having to pay a fortune for it. Read on to learn more.
1. Think About Your Lifestyle
A living room is, at the end of the day, a place where you carry out the daily activities or your life. So when making interior design decisions about your living room, you first need to think about how you’re going to use it. As yourself questions such as:
- “Do I plan on throwing many parties?”
- “When I relax at the end of the day, where will I sit?”
- “Do I plan on watching TV in the living room? What about reading?”
- “How many people will usually sit in the living room?”
By answering these questions, you’ll start to imagine what you want the space to look like. You’ll know where you want to place a throw rug, whether you want to replace the wood floors, and where lighting will be required.
Many people start to buy furniture (especially throw pillows) when they want to re-do their living room. But it’s best to start with a strategy, so you know what you’re envisioning as you start making purchases.
2. Get a Statement Sofa
One of the best ways you can completely transform the look of your living is by getting a statement sofa. Look for a sofa that has a bright or bold color, so that it’s the first thing someone sees when they walk in.
This statement sofa will be your living room’s centerpiece. Just like newly-polished hardwood floors make a statement, this sofa will bring a whole new vibe to your living room.
Many companies make it easy for you to choose a statement sofa that works for you, by making it fully customizable. You can choose a specific fabric texture or color that goes with the rest of your furniture and area rugs.
When choosing the right sofa for your living room, you’ll want to:
- Measure the area to make sure it fits
- Get a color that is complementary to your décor
- Choose the right style (retro, modern, classic, etc.)
If you aren’t sure from looking at customizable options online, you can always order a free swatch from the furniture company. You can also visit the store in person to test out the couch.
3. Think About Your Lighting
Because you’ve started to envision what you want your living room to look like, you’ll know if you need to install any additional lights in the room. For example, you might buy a lamp that sits next to the couch where you read every evening.
Keep in mind, when selecting lights, that there are three different types:
- Ambient lighting
- Accent lighting
- Task lighting
Ambient lighting is the lighting used to light up the room itself. Usually, these will be lights that are built into the ceiling, though they might also be hanging lights such as a chandelier. Depending on your needs, you might want ambient lighting with a dimmer switch.
Accent lighting is a bit more decorative. For example, if you have a painting hanging above your couch in the center of the living room, and you want to draw attention to it, you would put an accent light above it.
Task lighting is used for tasks. In the living room, you might have a lamp by where you complete crossword puzzles, for example.
A note about lighting: in terms of design, it can really add to the aesthetic of your living room. Think about whether you want more modern, classic, or old-fashioned light fixtures.
Also, remember that an easy way to change the look of a lamp is by simply replacing the lampshade.
4. Get an Indoor Plant
Another great way to totally transform your living room is to get an indoor plant. You can hang it, or put it on a shelf or in a pot on the floor. If you’re afraid you might accidentally kill the plant, you don’t have to worry.
There are many indoor plants that are easy to take care of. These include:
- Monstera
- Devil’s ivy
- Philodendron
When choosing an indoor plant, think about where you want to place it in your living room and what height you want it to be. If you’re worried about damaging the floor, you can place felt rug pads underneath the pot.
5. Use Rugs to Define the Room
A quality rug can make a big statement in your living room. If you choose a rug that’s larger than the couch or main table, this can completely brighten up the room. Remember that, to keep large rugs from sliding, you need to use rug tape.
To choose the right rug for your living room, you need to take these steps:
- Measure the area where you’ll fit your rug so it doesn’t bisect areas where people walk and the front legs of seating furniture sit on the edge of the rug area
- Make sure the color matches your décor
- Make sure the texture matches the room’s vibe
- Make sure the pattern feels balanced within the living room
If rug tape isn’t enough to stick the rug to the floor, a slip rug pad, rug gripper, double-sided carpet tape, or carpet pads can help it stay put. You can also prevent rugs from slipping with Gorilla Grip rug pads, hot glue, or natural rubber.
6. Use Organic Shapes for the Modern, Perfect Living Room
If you want to transform your living room into a totally modern one, then you should use organic shapes. Curvy elements are all the rage right now and can be found in decorative objects, lights, furnishings, and art. Changes you can make include:
- Installing a sculpted mirror above a couch
- Placing a sculpted vase on the main table
- Updating your light fittings to curved ones
Of course, you can always buy an Art Deco-style couch. Because it’s so in fashion to buy this type of furniture right now, you won’t have to go vintage hunting for this type of couch. Instead, any furniture store will have customizable options you can choose from.
7. Use Accent Tables
If you have just one coffee table sitting in the middle of your living room right now, stacked up with magazines and dirty dishes, it doesn’t do much to make your living room beautiful. However, with an accent table or two, you can completely transform this room.
Because an accent table is smaller, it can actually become a focal point of attention when it contrasts with the sofa’s larger size.
To find an accent table that works for your living room, you should:
- Decide how many accent tables you want
- Measure the area(s) to figure out the size
- Decide on your décor style
Generally, we recommend going with an accent table that has classic lines and a traditional look. This will add a bit of elegance to your living room. However, if you have a different style, you should go with that décor style.
8. Buy Some Throw Cushions
A really easy (and cheap) way to change the look of your living room is to buy some throw cushions. All you have to do is buy pillows with bold patterns or exciting colors that stand out from the rest of your living room furniture. Think about:
- How many you want
- How they would look on the couch
- What shape (or shapes) you want
Once you’ve started a theme with your throw cushions, you can match this style with other objects in your living. For example, if you have a navy blue throw cushion, you could add in a navy blue lampshade or a navy blue rug.
9. Juxtapose a Variety of Textures
Another way you can bring a bit of excitement to your living room is by juxtaposing a variety of textures. These might include items and furniture made of glass, silk, wood, and metal. Whatever materials you choose, make sure they’re soft to touch.
This way, when your guests sit down or pick up one of these objects, they’ll feel like they’re in a warm, welcoming living room. You can start with:
- Throw blankets
- Accessories
- Rugs
Of course, you don’t want your living room to get too busy. Try to select a maximum of three different textures, after which you can mix and match from among these options. You’ll also want to make sure it matches the decor in the rest of your home.
10. Hang Art
Another way to make your living room more beautiful and add a personal touch is to put up some art. Usually, a large painting, frame poster, or photograph can completely change the feeling of a room. To select your art, follow these steps:
- Think about what type of art you prefer
- Think about what color scheme it needs to have
- Measure the area on the wall where it will hang
- Select a frame that will match your décor
In terms of who to buy the art from, this can be a tricky choice. On the one hand, if you buy from a local artist, you’ll be supporting your community and getting an original piece that really stands out.
On the other hand, if you aren’t sure about your purchase, this could be a problem. If you want to try out different art options, you might want to buy from a larger store that accepts returns.
Many prints from big stores will still look original, even though they are sold en masse.
11. Repaint Your Walls
One of the easiest ways to completely transform your living room is by repainting your walls. The atmosphere will completely change, especially if you select a bright or playful color.
An added bonus? When you move everything out of the room to paint it, you’ll see:
- Its actual size, so you can imagine replacing furniture
- Where you can put down large statement rugs
- Any hidden issues, such as a damaged floor
When repainting your walls, feel free to be daring—but make sure that it still somewhat matches the decor of the rest of your home. Additionally, if you don’t want to spend a lot on new furniture, make sure it matches the living room furniture, too.
Need More Information?
Now that you know clever hacks for creating the perfect living room, you might need additional information. Maybe you want to learn about where you can buy new living room furniture near you.
Or maybe you want to learn about additional interior design hacks you can use in other rooms in your home.
Whatever information you need, we can help. At Melissa Vickers Design, we’re experts when it comes to interior design. We also offer interior design services. To learn more about how we can help you, contact us now.