By David Glenn
The living room is the room where most families spend the majority of their time. The TV is usually there, the comfy couches are there, and oftentimes the living room has the best view of the backyard. Sometimes, though, the living room needs some sprucing up. Here are three things you can do to instantly revolutionize the favorite room in the house:
New Curtains
New curtains seem like a no-brainer. Of course that’s a go-to when redecorating. But have you heard this spin on it? Rather than shelling out for fancy top-end curtains, take a walk on the wild side and outfit your windows with shower curtains! They’re cheaper, more durable (which is great if you have pets and kids!), and come in bright colors and patterns for the bold home decorator. A splash of color or pattern framing the window is sure to rejuvenate your living room.
Your ambition level can determine exactly how you go about this. If your windows are big enough, you might be able to get away with hanging your shower curtain right out of the packaging. If they’re not, you might need to call on the little seamstress in you, but this living room redesign doesn’t take much sewing skill.
As for hanging up your shower curtains, it’s your call if you want to use shower curtain hooks or just thread your curtain rod through the pre-cut holes. You might need to adjust the holes to accommodate the thickness of the rod. If you pay a little more, however, some of the fancier shower curtains have holes with wood or plastic rims rather than just being slits in the curtain fabric. These add a stylish, decorative flair to your room without any extra work.
Gorgeous Glass
Sometimes the best additions to your home decorations are the small, delicate ones. Etched glass is a stunning statement piece that can be used to make your doors, windows, coffee table tops, or bookcases as much part of the decor as any other piece of furniture. People rarely think of glass as a way to breathe life back into their living room. Introducing change in this way will make you feel elegant, and perhaps like you have a great little secret since it’s not something immediately noticed. You can impress your guests when they catch sight of this little detail.
Your decorative glass doesn’t have to be your Grandma’s flowers and birds either; it can be your family’s name, your favorite sports team, a picture of your favorite State Park, or whatever else you dream up. If you have doors going into your living room, you can change them out with glass panels and get them etched with whatever designs your heart desires.
Glass works are picking up steam as far as home decorating trends go. Don’t underestimate the power a well designed glass feature can have on a room’s overall aesthetic.
Change Your Colors
Sometimes the living room becomes a space notorious for either its blandness or for its lack of cohesiveness. Take a glance around your living space. Which one is it? Is this the room filled with brown bookcases, tan doilies, and gray-brown furniture? Or is this the room bursting with orange and purple blankets, kids’ plastic toys, and every brightly colored book you own? With a little rearranging, you can turn your living room into an aesthetic masterpiece.
Pick a color scheme. Find items you already own that align with that color scheme, and use them to fill the spaces in the living room. Excise anything that doesn’t fit the mold. Create artistic bookshelf arrangements by using books whose spines fit that color theme. Turn your drab couch into a WOW couch by introducing decorative pillows. If your kids’ toys need to stay in the living room, give them their own decorative box that matches your color theme.
A space will feel so much different if you simply arrange its contents based on color. There’s also the added benefit of, say, choosing reds and oranges for your living room, because then stuff you have that is any other color will be ready to go to decorate another room in your house with a color theme. This approach to decorating seems simple and commonplace, but not many people think to arrange their items this way. It’s the fastest, most cost-effective way to get your living room looking as nice as those rooms in decorating magazines.
It isn’t tough to redecorate your living room. These ideas aren’t only stylish, but they’re also cost effective. Whether you aim for some new curtains, some pretty new glass accents, or rearranging your possessions based on color, you won’t be disappointed.
