Living Room Styles Ideas

Decorating a living room shouldn't be too extravagant and expensive. If you are in a tight budget, you can always do it yourself instead of hiring an interior designer; but if you can afford to hire a good designer, then why not. You can plan ahead and check for designs on the internet or magazines to visualize the effect on your actual living room. Below are some of the popular living room design ideas that you may find on the internet and in various home design magazines: Classic-Modern Design is one of the most common living room design ideas. Homes that have Classic-Modern style design enjoy mostly the relaxing feel and texture of the living space. If you have a very geometric or sharp edged space, toning and softening it with textures is the way to do it. Hawaiian-inspired Design is not so difficult to achieve. Always remember the key elements: hand-made native ornaments and accessories, woven furniture, bamboo and of course the signature bold floral prints. If you love the Hawaiian sun, sea and flora, you can incorporate these aspects when planning for your living room design. Modern Zen Design is made to relax and bring comfort into your living space. This living room design idea is quite popular nowadays especially for folks who wanted to have balance and comfort in their home. Having a focal point in your living room and accents to balance the style are the key ingredients. Incorporate a natural feel by opening up the room and letting in some natural light completes the Zen feel. 

Tropical Style brings in the outdoor color pallets. The lush greens and yellows of natural flora are just two of most common colors you can find in a tropical living room design idea. Choose colors that are found naturally like the color of trees, plants, flowers and fruits. Think of a tropical forest or a market full of tropical fruits to inspire your design. Victorian Style living rooms are plush and classy. You would normally find Victorian Style living rooms in Victorian style homes and hotels. The key here is classic sophisticated style with a splash of color and texture. Victorian style living rooms speak of opulence. Whatever living room design idea you have in mind, make sure that it will fit your needs and lifestyle. Make sure to consult from a designer who knows how to handle a tight budget and complies with what you want. And always remember to choose the design that you will enjoy for a long time.

Living Room Decor Ideas

Whether your living room is a 21 foot length with a large picture window at one end or you live in a tiny apartment and the living room is bijou to say the least, there are living room décor ideas to suit you and your budget. You can go for cozy chic and warm up your living space or go for open-plan with vaulted ceilings and an expanse of herringbone hardwood floor. At the end of your project you will have ended up with a space that you can live in comfortably, decorated according to the space you have available. Are you aiming for a peaceful retreat, full of serenity and harmony or a more user-friendly, basic living space where you feel comfortable slipping your shoes off and putting your feet up.

If I was choosing a color scheme for my living room I would go to the cooler colors on my color wheel chart - the blues and greens which can be used in different shades to achieve a 'joined-up' look of cool elegance. I always make sure that, when I paint my ceiling, I use a light shade of the room's main color on my ceiling so, if my color scheme was blue, I would use the lightest eggshell blue I could find for my ceiling and then a slightly deeper shade of blue for my walls. If you have mouldings you could paint those completely white, or go for a darker shade of blue to both the walls and the ceiling. I would use matt paint on my walls and a paint with some kind of sheen on the mouldings.

For windows, to add height, place the curtain pole as high as possible near to the ceiling. This will give your curtains plenty of drop to achieve an elegant drape. Modern décor arrangements always suggest that the fabric should be allowed to pool on the floor - never in my house. To me, artistic though it evidently is, this 'pooling' idea for the fabric is just a dust collector and, if you have dogs like I do, is just asking them to make a bed out of the fabric! Why did I mention this? Find out what the trends are, but that does not mean you have to follow the trends slavishly. Adapt styles to suit you and your lifestyle.

You would think, wouldn't you, that a large picture placed on the wall in a small room would be overpowering. Surprisingly, it isn't. I have the tiniest lounge you can imagine and, on the wall above the fireplace I have a really large picture of the Defence of Rourke's Drift, depicting the British soldiers of 'B' Company, South Wales Borderers. This picture is very loud, very busy, with plenty going on in it. However, it looks absolutely fantastic in that room, almost as if the room was made to fit the picture!