When you think about it, the way we all organise our living rooms is to a pretty standard format.
After all, we all need somewhere to sit with a space for the television, as well as somewhere to put our coffee or glass of wine down! But to make your living room stand out from the crowd doesn’t take too much imagination. All you need is a couple of interesting features – whether that’s through the pieces of furniture that you choose, some interesting accessories or the colours that you decorate with.
Try one of these ideas to ensure that your living room is a thing of beauty as well as a functional room.
Wall panel focus
A well-known decorating trick is to have a feature wall, but this can sometimes feel a little too imposing. Take the more subtle approach and instead have a feature panel on your wall. This is easily achieved by papering the middle section of a larger wall, or painting it in a different colour.
While most of us choose pieces of furniture for their style as well as their functionality, it’s nice to have one particular stand-out piece of furniture in every living room. So, alongside your practical living room seating arrangement of a sofa or two, why not add in an armchair that’s as much about its overall look as its purpose as a place to sit. Vivendo has some individually styled chairs produced by Italian artisans which could add a touch of Italian flair to any living room. You can see them here.
Dress your windows
Of course, the curtains or blinds that you choose can have a dramatic effect on the way your living room looks. Most people play safe with their sofas and chairs and keep them in neutral colours, but you can be bolder with fabric colours and patterns on the window dressings – they’re much easier to change if you feel you’ve got it wrong. For a really elegant look in a townhouse which faces onto the street, why not have some plantation shutters fitted to your windows? The clean lines of shutters give a room a breezy look and you can play with the light that you let into the room, according to whether you’re cosying up for the evening, or want a bit of dappled sunlight across the room. These shutters also look great from the outside of your property.
Go retro with storage
While your living room might have a modern and contemporary feel to it, shake things up a bit with a retro-style sideboard. You might have to hunt in antique shops and bric-a-brac stores for an original, but there are plenty of new pieces made to look like they were designed and produced in the seventies too. As well as drawing the eye for its sleek lines and varnished wood, it’s also a handy place to stow any clutter, and you can display a couple of beautiful ornaments on the top.
These are just a few suggested methods to add character through feature pieces, but there are plenty of other ways in which you can create focal points for your living room. Seek inspiration from interior design magazines, or even the homes of your friends and wider family. It’s then just a question of deciding how you want to express your own particular sense of style ‘chez vous’.