5 Ways to Change the Look of Your Living Room

Are you bored with your living room’s look, but lacking a large budget and time to redesign your space?  The living room is where we spend a great deal of time in our homes, playing, learning, relaxing.  This space needs to be functional, especially if you have children, but can be lacking in interest if we play it too safe.  Home decorating doesn’t have to take a lot of time and money to make your living room comfortable and interesting.  Small strategic changes can go a long way towards perking up your home decor.  Check out the 5 living room decorating tips below and choose one to try out today.

5 Ways to Change the Look of Your Living Room

1.  Turn the furniture around to face the other direction.  Changing the orientation of a room gives you new spaces to define and a new way of looking at things.  With a simple change that is absolutely free, you can create the feeling of being in a totally new and different room.
For example:  If your living room furniture is all arranged to be facing your patio doors, try turning around the orientation of the entire room.  In that case, facing the room away, perhaps with the sofa back to the patio doors, would have a strong effect on the room.
2.  Choose accents (such as throw blankets or pillows) in rich, contrasting colors. Choosing a bright, bold, or contrasting color that goes against the color scheme of the living room, will bring new life and feeling to the space.
The great thing about decorating in a neutral color scheme is that you can change the feeling easily with accent colors.  This decorating trick will allow you to refresh a room when the seasons change with minimal work.  In the summer, juicy bright teals and corals could breathe new life into your decor, then in fall rich oranges and chocolate browns could bring in the warm fall colors from outside.
To use this trick:  Use throw pillows on an existing sofa or larger pillows to replace the back cushions on a couch.  You could also try draping a blanket over the back of the sofa.  Even using a full slipcover for a sofa, love seat, or recliner, will change the feeling of a room dramatically.  Any of these methods will have the same effect to draw the eye to something contrasting and different.
3.  Use mirrors to create effects. Hang a large mirror on an otherwise blank wall to give the appearance of more space. Hanging a large mirror right against the corner of the wall can add visual depth in the smallest of spaces. Try experimenting with mirrors, both big and small, in your living room for a quick and easy interior design change.
4.  Trade furniture with other rooms.  Switching similar pieces between rooms can have a big difference on the room feeling new and different.  You may have pieces in a basement, attic, or storage that are not currently being used.  If not, even something simple like switching the bookcase in a bedroom with a bookshelf in a living room is a good starting place.
5.  Paint only one wall with a contrasting, strong color for a big punch with minimal effort. Choose one wall to paint in a bold color to add an entirely new look to your living room.  This isn’t probably a method you’ll want to do every season, but after living in the same home for a long time, it can add much-needed variety.  Choose one wall as the focal point for a color change, or if you’re really adventurous – paint the ceiling in a different (but light / pastel) color from the walls.