Transform Your Living Room Using Key Design Elements
How can you make your living room a space you love? It’s a question nearly all new homeowners, new renters, or pretty much anyone who values their home space as a center of relaxation asks. Whether you’re decorating your home from scratch or just need a refresh, there are some key elements that, with a bit of effort, can transform the look and feel of your home.
The Purpose of a Well Decorated Living Room
The living room has long been the “family center” of a home. It’s where the holidays happen, where you spend time laughing with your loved ones, where you invite your best friends over for games, and where you come home to after a long day. It’s arguably one of the most mood-affecting rooms in a home! Afterall, any large and inviting space that feels cluttered or plain can often translate to feelings of discomfort or displacement.
By creating a space that you love, that feels inviting, and that feels like “you,” you will not only reform your home, but the energy of the space as well!
Key Design Elements: Color, Texture, and Shape
When decorating a space, it’s vital to follow the key factors of any good design: color, texture, and shape. As you begin to envision your space, think diligently about what you love: are there certain colors that make you feel one way or another? Are there textures or patterns you love? Hate? What kind of space do you have to work with? Large, small, wide, narrow? This will help you determine the shapes that fit and melt into your space naturally!
COLOR
With color, we don’t just mean the paint on the walls (though it can completely transform a space!) Instead, we need to focus on what color patterns merge well together, and what kind of energy you want in your space.
Calm and peaceful space: Use tones of teal blue, light grey, white, and sage green. These colors are known to reflect peace and simplicity.
Fun and inviting space: Use colors that pop, like bright orange, yellow, red and purple. These colors invoke excitement, high energy, and passion.
Sophisticated and modern space: When wanting to create a space that feels sophisticated or even luxurious, it’s always best to stick to the basics: black and white or a mix of dark greens and blues. Dark colors symbolize power and luxury.
TEXTURE
When we talk about texture, we don’t just mean smooth vs rough, we mean dimension! When selecting large furniture for example, such as a sectional couch, it’s best to avoid a harsh or busy pattern. Patterns are great, but they attract the eye. For large furniture, the simpler the better.
Now, once we get into the details like light fixtures, throw pillows, rugs and other trinkets, that’s when you can get funky with patterns and dimension. If you like the spunky “fun” colors, you may also love a lot of patterns and well-placed trinkets.
However, if you like a more calm space, we recommend getting a lot of your dimension and texture from unique and natural items. Maybe try out a carved wooden lamp, or adding a few plants of different sizes around the room to give texture without being overly eye catching or busy.
SHAPE
Shape and size can make or break a space. When looking at your room, you want to maximize the space you have without overcrowding. Sometimes, this means only having one couch, or downsizing your television. Other times, this means to analyze how shape can be used in tandem with the other elements, color and texture.
If you are moving towards a sophisticated space, shapes that are more defined, sharp, and edgy are likely to do the best in your space. Something as simple as mounting your TV flat on the wall rather than using a bulky stand can totally transform a space!
What it comes down to, more than what we suggest in this post, is finding what YOU like and what fits in your space. The most important part of all while designing your living room is being sure that you are creating a space that feels good, not just that looks stylish. After all, it’s your home! You deserve to feel as comfortable and welcome as possible in your space.
