The COVID-19 pandemic is slowly starting to slow down, but this still doesn’t mean that we will be able to leave our homes for another month or two. Thankfully, we came up with a great idea for a guide that’s going to help you fill up all that empty space in your schedule, by doing something that will make you feel better at the same time.
Today we’re talking about decorating your home, and the accent will be on your living room. So, if you’ve recently moved into a new house, or you’re just looking to re-arrange things in your old one, we recommend that you keep on reading until the end. Let’s not make this introduction longer than it needs to be, and dive straight into the content, shall we?
1. Allow for some “breathing room”
A lot of people have a habit of pushing their furniture right next to the walls, or their radiators, which is both impractical and bad for almost every material. First, your walls can get damaged, or the paint to be more precise, and because of the heat that’s going to be created, you can even start experiencing some moist that can quickly turn into a permanent problem. This is why a lot of designers advise people to leave what’s called “breathing room” in-between their furniture and the walls in the place.
Second, you shouldn’t try to attempt this simply because “it’s going to make your room look larger”, because it won’t, you’ll gain about half a square meter in total and that won’t change anything, but damaging your furniture and walls sure will.
Last but not least, air circulation is important, even though it sounds like it isn’t. You should allow for air to pass freely through every small place in your living area, because it’s going to prevent a lot of bad things from happening.
2. Choose where the accent will be
Any other place in your home can be decorated in a completely random way, but the thing about living rooms is that you have to pick a spot which will be the accent. Usually, people do this with fireplaces or large flatscreen TV’s hanged on a wall, but we’re not going to tell you which method is the best, simply because it’s personal preference. Some people don’t like a TV in their room, while others think that it’s a must-have device.
If you are moving in a new home and you want to setup a TV, you’ll also need a quality aerial, for which you can always click here.
3. Pick a certain style
It’s not really smart to combine multiple different styles for one room, although it’s a quite cool thing to do for your entire house. When it comes to just one room however, make sure that you pick one style and stick to it, then try to perfect it as much as you can. Some people like a classy old-school design with furniture dating decades, others want modern minimalism and nothing more than a few sofas and tiles in their place. Once again, it’s all about personal preference, so choose whatever you think works best for your home.
Searching the internet for some ideas is always an easy solution, or if you really want to take things to the next level, and aesthetics is something that you care about way too much, you can hire a living-room designer.
4. Combine colors, but not too much
There’s a lot of philosophy when it comes to mixing colors, especially in such important places of your home such as the living room. It’s a great idea to combine some of them, but don’t go too wild with the mixes. Pick two or three colors that match or go together well, and one that breaks the contract between all. More than that it’s just going to be an unpleasant sight.
If you are not really sure which the best combination is, you can look up for some similar designs on the internet. There’s nothing wrong with being inspired from someone else.
5. A place for a conversation
Now we’re not going to say that the kitchen is the best place for holding a conversation in your home, but by some logic, we think that most people tend to talk with each other in the living room. This means that you should be able to arrange the furniture to allow you to have a face-to-face conversation with someone else.
It might not seem like a very important thing at first, but if you happen to have some guests over, you’ll find this to be of great significance if you notice that you cannot really talk and see each other at the same time.
6. Focus on functionality
We know that everybody likes fancy things and décor, but when you don’t have enough space to fit all sofas, maybe that aquarium isn’t such a great idea. Make sure that you can make your place fully functional at first, and then focus on other things that serve no great purpose but are there only for the looks.
It’s really awkward to have some guests over for your birthday party and have nowhere to sit them because all of the décor is taking up the important space.
7. Furniture first, rugs later
A very common mistake that people make is purchasing their rugs primarily, and then setting up their furniture, not thinking that they’re setting up for a “fitting failure” from the very beginning.
What we mean by this is that you won’t be able to cut the rug if it doesn’t fit in the free space that you planned, or you will, but that’s not practical at all. Make sure that you arrange everything first, and then measure the free space that you have and purchase a rug similar to those dimensions. It’s a general rule just like putting the cereal first and the milk after.
This can be applied for almost any home, except for those where people plan to have a complete cover with their rug, ranging from one corner of the room to another, which is out of fashion for a long time now.
