Everyone wants to come home to a beautiful living room—one that’s aesthetically pleasing, inviting, and yet still functional—but if you’re new to the world of interior design, or if you feel like your living room is just “bleh” by default, you may not know where to start. (Image Credit: Leemelina08/Pixabay)
Fortunately, there are many strategies you can use to make your living room more beautiful, for all budgets.
Invest in a Gas Fireplace
One of the best investments you can make for your living room is a gas fireplace. Any kind of fireplace can instantly breathe new life into your living room. The appearance and crackling noise of flames, combined with the radiating warmth, renders your environment much cozier and more inviting. Even when not in use, the fireplace can serve as a focal point for your living room’s design.
Gas fireplaces are especially valuable, since they burn clean fuel and won’t cost as much as a traditional fireplace. You’ll also be able to produce warmth with fewer emissions, and with lower risks.
Upgrade the Furniture
Don’t underestimate the power that furniture can have to beautify your living room. If you currently have old couches and chairs, or if your furniture is mismatched, it can ruin an otherwise amazing environment. Instead, select a handful of beautiful pieces of furniture that fit within your chosen style—and make sure it’s comfortable, too.
The only real downside here is that new furniture can be expensive. Depending on your budget, you can either make use of a few thrifty tactics to save money, or you can deprioritize this choice.
Choose the Right Colors
The background colors of your living room also play a heavy role in determining how “beautiful” it is. There aren’t many colors that are inherently ugly; instead, your color choice should be based on personal taste, complementary choices, and the nature of your environment. For example, if your living room lets in lots of natural light, bright colors can make it pop. If your living room feels cramped, painting the ceiling a sharply contrasting color with the walls can make it feel bigger. There are literally infinite combinations to play with, so learn more about color theory on your own, and experiment with different options.
Light Up the Highlights
As you put together your living room, you’ll find certain elements that stand out. For example, you may view your fireplace mantel as the most beautiful part of the room, or you may be in love with a centerpiece on your central table. Whatever the case, you can light up these highlights with careful placement of LED spotlights. If you’re not sure what the highlights are, consider lighting up a far wall to make the room look bigger.
Include More Art
Almost any living room can look more interesting and more beautiful with more art. Depending on your taste, you may hang paintings or similar illustrative works of art, or you may put sculptures on display, on pedestals. As for what types of art you put up? That’s entirely up to you. Choose an artist you personally think makes amazing work, or consider creating new pieces of art of your own.
Use Mirrors to Convey More Space
If you think your living room feels too tight, or if you’re unsatisfied with your overall sense of space, considering placing more mirrors to make the room feel bigger. It’s a common trick, but it works extraordinarily well. Mirrors aren’t expensive, so you should be able to obtain a large horizontal mirror and hang it on one of your far walls. You can also use smaller mirrors to draw attention to specific items or focal points on the opposite wall.
Create Contrast
Beauty is subjective, but many people feel that rooms are more beautiful when they offer more contrast. For example, instead of painting the entire room blue, with a blue cabinet in front of the wall, consider painting most of the room one shade of blue, with darker blue highlights, and a cabinet that pops with a brighter shade of purple.
Think Beyond Visuals
Your living room’s overall “feel” depends on more than just visual elements. Consider beautifying your living room with other sensory choices, like adding high-quality speakers with great music, or introducing scents with candles or incense.
Improving the look and feel of your living room is probably going to take time. Some of the ideas that sounded good on paper may not look as impressive when they’re actually applied, and you may discover new concepts you want to try out. Treat this as a kind of ongoing experiment, and be open to new adjustments you can make to your living room over time.
