Bring Your Living Room to Life Without Spending A Fortune

Even though the walls are freshly painted, and the furniture is newly installed, sometimes you still feel your living room looks unfinished. Well, oftentimes, it actually is. What your living room lacks are some décor elements that are both practical and good looking. Most of the time, people believe it takes a lot of money to make a room look inviting and alive, but in fact, all it takes is some planning and a bit of time to take care of it all.

If you don’t know where to start, below are 7 ways you can breathe some new life into your living room, without having to put a hole in your pocket.

Stick to a color scheme

While I won’t tell you to pick a theme for your living room, I will stress a bit about how important choosing colors that go well together is. When choosing the color scheme, it is important to think about the functionality of the room. You may like bright reds, but if you are looking to bring some calm and comfort into a room, you may want to switch to a brown or yellow color scheme.

As opposed to bedrooms, where you need the room to feel more relaxing and peaceful, with living rooms, you can take more risks and experiment with colors. Want a fresh and harmonious room? Go with green shades and combine them with yellows. Looking for a way to bring more vibrancy and wholesomeness into the space? Then orange is your go-to color of choice. Think of the mood you want the living room to inspire and pick a color that says just that.

Combine functionality with aesthetics

If you want to stick to a budget, it means you need to find ways to make things both practical, and aesthetically pleasing. This will make your life a bit easier, and ensure expenses are kept to a minimum. Trays and boxes, for example, can be a good way to keep clutter away and serve as beautiful decorating pieces.

Stools with inside compartments, for example, can serve both as additional sitting, as well as storage boxes, where you can keep blankets, pillows, or even game boards and toys for the children. If you feel your books are taking up too much space, use them as décor pieces, or even as small coffee tables, if you stack a bunch of them one on top of the other. At the same time, if you feel your coffee table is crowded with magazines, get a nice basket and store them close to the seating area, to have them in hand.

Make the most out of what you have

Most of the time, you don’t need to buy a cart full of new décor pieces, to make your living room more appealing. Look around and give some DIY projects a try. You can easily upcycle things by adding something new to them. Have a bunch of old pillowcases? Give them a new look, by adding some organza ribbon to them. Sewing some small ribbons, or tying up some pieces around the pillows can work wonders. Old furniture can easily be upscaled by repainting it and changing the knobs. There are countless ideas you can choose from, depending on what kind of feeling you want to give to the room.

Incorporate some real plants

How about breathing some new life into your living room, by adding some actual, real life? Sure, you can always put some flowers into a vase and call it a day, but adding potted plants to the living room area can work wonders in improving the mood and well-being of anyone sitting there. Plants bring comfort, make a room feel more alive, and give a sense of freshness that other décor objects fail to accomplish. You can turn an entire corner into a jungle, or add some small plants into key areas of the room; you get very few limitations when it comes to plants. All you have to keep in mind is to choose plants that can be tended to easily, to avoid making this a burden, instead of bliss.

Play with lighting

Many believe that lighting is one of the most complex elements of any room, and I can only agree with them. If you know how to use lighting, you can make a small room feel bigger, make colors appear brighter, and maximize the functionality of the room. When experimenting, you need to keep in mind that every room should have three main lighting types: ambient lighting, task lighting, and accent lighting. Also, light sources need to be placed at different levels throughout the room, to keep things balanced and give as more space to the room as possible.

Add textiles for warmth

Oftentimes, a room can end up feeling cold, even though the sun outside is shining bright. The best way to bring some warmth into the living room is to add some textile elements. Stuff the couch with pillows, and add one or two small blankets, for when you want to curl up on the couch and watch tv. Get some fluffy rugs, to keep your feet warm, at least around the couch and coffee table area. Wooden floors are nice to look at but can get quite cold, so you need some areas where you can rest your feet and not feel them freeze. For a pop of color, add some nice drapes in an intriguing pattern, or in a bold color.

Complete the picture with some personal touches

Last, but not least, make the room feel yours, by adding some personal elements to it. Gather up some pieces that have sentimental value to you, such as pics of friends and family, gifts that you gathered along the way, or any other items that bring you a sense of joy and comfort. This will tie up everything together nicely, and make your living room feel warm, welcoming and, most of all, alive.