Living Room Decorating Ideas

Are your living room decorating ideas just a dream, or, with a little planning could they become a reality? This very practical room is the hub for multiple functions, from relaxing to entertaining, from TV room to music room.

We need to keep all this in mind when decorating, whether your room is big or small, there is plenty you can do to make use of this multi functional room.

To completely re-furnish your living room can be very expensive. If money is no problem then your dreams can become reality, in a short time.

We'll not assume this is the case in this example. So lets look at a few baby steps for turning your living room decorating ideas into reality.

Re-decorating your living room can be accomplished one step at a time. Study our living room planner. Start simple by choosing a new living room color that compliments your furniture and living spaces.

comfortable living space

Living Room Planner - Ask yourself

So let's get started with Step 1 and review our living room decorating ideas.

1. Is the traffic pattern through the room convenient and satisfactory? Furniture placement should center around the entertainment center, not in the path of traffic flow. Naturally the space we have available determines how our sofas, chairs, tables and lamps anchor together.

As seen in the photo above, the living room is properly anchored, with the focal point, seating area, tables and light. This room just seems to say, "Come on in and make yourself at home."

2. Do you have enough seating for your family and for guests when entertaining? There should be ample seating, for everyone in your family, to have their own space, without crowding each other.

If you have an avid reader in the family, a special reading corner would be nice, but otherwise you should have all sofas and chairs facing each other. If you entertain a lot you should make sure to have plenty additional seating.

living room

3. Do you have enough storage space? We all have stacks of movies, games, books, etc. etc. that we want to keep close by, for easy use, but we don't necessarily want them cluttering up our living rooms.

That's why the furniture with built in storage space is so wonderful. A few nice pieces with built in storage could be a sectional, an ottoman or bench with a lift off lid, a coffee table with drawers and of course an entertainment center to house the t.v., play station, x-box and all the movies and games to go along with them.

In this image you will see a living room with ample storage space, the bookcases and the coffee table offers lots of shelves to display books, artwork and other special collections.

4. Is your furniture properly arranged? A great living room decorating idea that wont cost you any thing is rearranging the furniture. Furniture should be arranged around your focal point, which, for instance, could be a fireplace, a bookcase, built in shelving or a bay window.

Keep in mind not to block things like light switches and electrical outlets, also when arranging sofas, chairs and t.v's. you want to be sure not to have light from a window glare on the t.v.

rustic country living room

5. Have you thought about what furnishings to keep, re-upholster or replace? Decide what you want to keep, and what just has to go.

A simple living room decorating idea is to contact your local upholstery store. For pennies on the dollar you can have your existing living room furniture re-upholstered and have a brand new living room set.

The image to the right shows us beautiful chairs that have been re-upholstered

6. Have you established a living room color scheme? I found a simple change to my living room was changing my paint color, this made a drastic improvement. There are unlimited living room color combinations that can complement your existing furniture, making this a key element to a completely new living room look and feel.

Lighting can be used to accent key elements of your living room decorating ideas.

Think of your lighting as...background, task, decorative or accent. Background lighting can come from overhead fixtures, wall fixtures or sconces.

rustic country living room

One of my personal favorite tips to share with you is that by lighting the walls instead of relying on a single ceiling light fixture makes the room seem larger.

Avoid cookie-cutter home decor accessories. There are many talented crafters that make beautiful unique handmade one-of-a-kind items that can bring your living room decor alive. Handmade pottery and baskets are tasteful additions to your home decor ...

A total re-decorating of your living room can seem like an overwhelming task, so just start small, making changes as affordable. As the saying goes "Rome wasn't built in a day."