Affordable Living Room Decorating Ideas For Homeowners

Not everyone has an unlimited budget when it comes to decorating his, or her living room, thus affordable living room decorating is an important thing to think about. Many people's living rooms are a direct reflection of their financial difficulties, often comprised of hand me downs, and thrift furniture. Not only is this not a great design element, it is completely unavoidable if one has a grander vision.

Embrace the shabby chic design element that allows for vintage to be cool. Some of the most respected furniture design companies spend much of their budget creating vintage looking furniture. When considering affordable living room decorating it is necessary to look at this trend, and embrace it while going for the originals.

Instead of going to the thrift shop, try looking at an antique auction or antique store instead. Many think that the word antique signifies a high price tag, when in fact most antiques are as cheap as what a piece of furniture would be at a thrift store. Just as the retail market has general rates, so does the resale market. This means that a beautiful antique sofa or table at an antique is probably as cheap, as a dirty couch found at a thrift store. By looking for antiques you can find not only beautiful affordable living room decorating pieces, but you can also find sets easier.

Create a must have list, and start at the top when putting an affordable living room decorating plan in action. There should be one or two pieces that are the focal points of your affordable living room decorating effort, and thus try to obtain those first, and build around them. By considering this in your affordable living room decorating plan, you will be automatically thinking about an actual design, what most people forget to do when they shop for affordable furniture. Stop thinking in terms of price, and instead think in terms of design, and then in terms of price.

Go with a simple, minimalist look to save money. While minimalists come from all economic walks of life, it is the most affordable way to make an affordable living room decorating plan look chic. Simply define your needs in terms of people that will be spending time in your living room, and go off to find the minimum that they need. Space the furniture, and tables out, and you should have an affordable living room design that the entire family will appreciate.

3 Decorating Tips For Adorning Large Living Rooms

If you happen to own a house that has a considerably large living room, you may constantly find it hard to decorate such a huge space accordingly. Similar to small spaces, large areas are not immune to several decorating troubles. When it comes to adequately adorning a huge living room, a proper way of utilizing the available space is considered as the most important job.

Below are some helpful decorating tips for you to keep in mind when decorating a large living room to make the most of our huge space on your hands.

Use Darker Colors

If you want a bigger space to look smaller, then using dark colors are effective decorating tips for large living rooms. Paint the living room's walls a few shades darker than you usually would, and you will notice that the room will appear much smaller than otherwise.

Alternatively, if you don't like the idea of having a smaller place, you can instead try to use darker accessories that will give the room a relatively lesser huge feel, so it doesn't look like a deserted space as if you've just moved in.

Use Space Accordingly

One of the most effective decorating tips for a large living room is to use its space according to how large the room actually is. This means that all of the room's seating furniture should not be too near each other. Spread the furniture pieces out so that it will look as though they were evenly distributed within the room.

Be sure that you have plenty of gaps or space between the coffee table and the couch so people or visitors can walk in between the two pieces of furniture with ease. When you take advantage of the space properly, you can avoid making the place too open and cold, hence, making it more charming, comfortable and inviting to the guests.

Hang Large Pieces of Art Decorations

The pieces of decorative artwork that you use in order to accentuate your room should be well-planned according to the empty space that you have. If you have a significantly large blank wall, you will not likely hang a 5 x 7 painting on it. Instead, try hanging a painting that accumulates almost half of the upper portion of your living room wall.

Also you can easily mount a huge flat screen TV with a TV bracket that will not only make great use of the empty space but also give you extra entertainment ideas. You could easily invite your neighbors and friends over for a late night movie or to watch that famous football game that everybody has been looking forward to.

5 Easy Ideas For Living Room Designs to Kick Start a Comfortable Living Space

The living room is one place where we gather as family. It is also the place where we receive and entertain our guests. If it looks the same today as it did three years ago, perhaps it is about time you kick start your living room designs and breathe some new life into it with some of these simple living room decorating ideas.

The easiest and no-costs-involved way to change your living room decor is to rearrange the positions of your furniture. You could change the way the armchair faces, or move the sofa to another wall. These little changes can immediately make your living area appear different.

The next simple way is to place scatter or throw cushions on your sofa or your window seat. These cushions can be in colors that complement the rest of your furniture or it can be unexpected pops of bright colors, depending on the mood that you want to create. Choose cushion covers that provide a tactile experience, like wool, fine cotton, satin, velvet and suede. This small change can create such a big impact.

For the collectors, the living area is one place where you can show off your items. Things like seashells or even candles when placed together can create a nice effect. Try placing seashells into a large wooden bowl and place this on your coffee table. Wouldn't that make a great centerpiece? The same goes for the candles. Candles or votives in various heights and shapes can lend an interesting touch to your coffee table or your shelves.

In any living area, rugs can be a great addition. For a large room, area runner rugs can be used to separate the open space into smaller more intimate sections, which are used for different activities. You can have an area for your children to play in, or even a reading area. Runner rugs come in great designs too so you can definitely find some that would be perfect for your living area.

There is nothing fresher than a dose of the garden in your living room. You can easily add fresh blooms in large vases or a solitary bud in a small slim vase for that touch of nature in your home. If fresh flowers aren't your thing, you can make use of the silk alternatives. These are great all year round. And of course, don't underestimate the power of green foliage. Houseplants and even grass growing in small pots can provide a stunning visual effect in your living room.

Changing the look of your living area is fun and easy. The above living room ideas are just here to help you get started. You can try out some of your own ideas for a more personalized touch.

A Small Living Room Can Be Decorated Just As Effectively

Decorating the interior of a small living room requires you to consider the space available so that the room when completed looks airy, bright and cheerful. In modern day homes, the high cost of real estate has led to rooms in apartments being smaller and this in turn restricts the sort of designs that you can execute for the living room.

So whether your interior design is modern or contemporary you need to keep in mind the area available and come up with an interior design that makes the best use of materials and colors and allows the final effect to be still be one of space and lightness.

Treatments to windows should not be bulky and use huge pelmets, jambs or sills that take up space. Heavy furnishings for a window in a living room that has restricted space could have the effect of making the room look smaller. Using blinds with the thinnest possible slats would help to give a feeling of space.

Furniture in small living rooms should be minimal and multifunctional. Floor space occupied by the furniture needs to be restricted so that the living room area looks as if it has enough circulation area. This can be done easily by seeing that the supports for the furniture occupy very little space on the ground. Open spaces below furniture can actually help to create the feeling of openness and space which is so important for small rooms.

Interior design of a living room would naturally include the colors on the walls. A small room would take more kindly to a single color or slight changes in the shades of individual walls. Having a number of colors can make a room actually look smaller, especially if some of the colors are of the darker hues.

A smaller living room calls for a lot of attention to be paid to the lighting. The limited light available that comes in from the windows can be accentuated with strategically placed mirrors or other reflecting surfaces. Use of a semi-gloss paint opposite the window can also help to increase the natural light in the room. When you decide on the lighting fixtures make sure that you do not use very elaborate shades, as these could further cause your room to look crowded.

Smaller spaces have as much potential as larger ones, when it comes to ideas for decorating. Even when placing decorative pieces around the house, limit them to just one or two on a table or shelf. Placing too many items on surfaces could make the room appear crowded. Decorating a small living room need not be too daunting a task if you consider all these aspects.

Living Room Decorating For Small Spaces

Many Americans are downsizing their homes due to the bad economy. This presents new design challenges to people who may not be used to living in small spaces. "Where am I going to put all my stuff?" is at the forefront of many people's minds. Living room decorating for small spaces is all about making use of every nook and cranny of the home to make the most of the available square footage.

Traditionally, homes are made up of bed rooms, bathrooms, dining rooms, kitchens, and living rooms. People may be inclined to decorate these spaces for their original purposes, but think outside the box and determine which spaces do not get much use. If you are a person who eats their dinner in the living room then a dining room is probably unnecessary most days out of the year. In this case, you can move the home office out of the living room and into the dining room. Get rid of anything in the living room that you can to maximize the use of the space.

Determine a focal point and design the rest of the room around it. Depending on the home, this could be a fireplace, a large window with a view, or even the television. When you have a focus then you know where to place the furniture and accessories. This creates a flow within the room that is important for the overall aesthetic and practical use of the space.

Consider creating a room within the room. If there is no other place in the home to create a workspace, then make a designated area in the living room to serve this purpose. Use a small rug to define the area, and use vertical space for storage. For example, hang floating shelves above a small desk and place boxes of paper, writing utensils, and other office supplies on them.

Creating a sense of unity through similar or complimentary colors pulls everything together. In a small space this is a simple way to create the illusion of spaciousness. The use of mirrors is another way to trick the eye into thinking a room is bigger than it actually is because it captures and reflects light.

Living rooms are a place for family and friends to gather. Make use of all the available space in a small room to make it comfortable, functional, and a reflection of your personal style. Living room decorating for small spaces is a challenge, but these ideas and tips make it easier for anyone downsize.

Fun Kids Room Decorating Ideas Start With These Design Tips!

Kid's room decorating ideas, kid's room layout and bedroom colors for kids should be driven by one guiding theme: Fun.

Friends and clients ask me all the time, what exactly makes for a great kid's room? And, more specifically, what are some really great kid's room decorating ideas?

My answer is always: go for the FUN and the ideas will come!

Organize your kid's room decorating ideas around the following four elements and you'll add function and style to the equation and end up with winning kids' rooms.

COLOR: Choosing bedroom colors for kids is easy. Let them pick. Expect their choices to be brighter, sharper, wilder than yours would be.

My daughter chose bright orange and yellow for her bed room colors and it was an intuitively smart choice for a smaller north facing bedroom with minimal natural light from one small window. The warm colors brightened the space and, while they did pull the walls and ceiling in, they gave the room a secure, cozy feeling that made the space feel welcoming. Leave it to kids!

You can select three or four additional hues related to your kid's original paint selections to add interest and complexity. Use them as accent paint colors and when choosing accessories.

Don't forget to include the ceiling as another surface to bring to life with color.

STORAGE: Funny thing about storage. No matter how much you have, you always fill it up. kid's room storage can be tricky. kid's have so much stuff!!

How about toy boxes that double as toys. Do you have a young knight who could use a castle with battlements he can hide behind? He can drop the drawbridge door to load his playthings, making clean up fun. Fun! There's that word again.

A Doll House toy box is another fun idea. Make a simple gabled roof with 1/4" plywood and paint siding, doors and windows with shutters on the sides. Do you have a pirate, soccer player, farmer or ballet dancer? You get the picture.

Plastic pull-out containers that fit under beds or at the bottom of closets can be found at any store that sells household goods. They're great for smaller kid's rooms. Bookshelves that are end-table height (22-26 inches or 56-66 cm) double as play surfaces and provide storage at a height kids can really use. I found awesome tiered hanging baskets for clothing and miscellaneous stuff at Ikea.

SPACE and SCALE: The best kids' room decorating ideas celebrate space.

A giant empty space in the middle of a Living room would signal that something is missing from the composition. In a kid's room it's a gift. I try to not clutter up a kid's room so much that there's no room to roll around on the floor with the puppy, or build a LEGO city or make a feast out of modeling clay. Make sure there's space to play.

And, no matter how spacious your child's room, they'll feel more comfortable and confident if you bring the scale down to their perspective and needs. I talked about end-table height bookshelves that they can access easily. If your kid's room has a high ceiling, consider painting it a darker color to make it feel closer. You can install a "picture rail" trim down two feet from a high ceiling to create a feeling of a child scaled room. Hang pictures and other art lower than you would in other rooms. After all, it is their room.

CREATIVITY: Imagination is more important than knowledge, a wise man once said. So give your kids ample opportunity to create.

I like sliding doors with blackboard material and chalk so kids can draw to their hearts' content--and, then start over the next day.

Modular furniture can keep a room flexible to accommodate different activities...and, the kids can move it around to create their own layouts. Bulletin boards, mop boards, space for posters and personal artwork... it's all good.

No matter how large or how small the space, the best kid's room decorating idea that I leave with you is to make your child's room conducive to creativity. Creativity can be messy though, so consider linoleum tiles that are easily wiped down. Also washable and paintable wallpapers and sharper, saturated colors that don't easily show dirt and wear.

I hope these ideas inspire you...that they stimulate your creativity to come up with your own kid's room decorating ideas.

Living Room Furniture Ideas For a Small Room

Maximize Your Living Room Space
Having a small living room doesn't mean that you can't have a beautiful living room. The trick is in knowing what styles of furniture to choose. Everyone knows that the furniture makes the room, but this is even more true when you have a small room. Too much furniture, or furniture that is too large will make the room seem even smaller.

One of the easiest ways to make a small room seem larger is to use furniture that is visually lightweight. Visually lightweight doesn't refer to furniture that is actually lightweight, it means furniture that looks light and airy. Instead of boxed style pieces of furniture, choose furnishings that have legs.

Make Your Small Space Look Larger
Furniture that is open allows the view to extend through the room making it seem larger than it is. Accent chairs with legs and glass top tables are both excellent ways to open up a small living room. You can also use mirrors on the walls to create a look of more space. The trick it to choose items that allow as much light to pass through the room as possible.

The colors you choose has a big effect on how large the room looks. Colors can even make a large room look much smaller than it is. A neutral palette of taupe and beige. or pastel colors will add a airy feel to any small space. Lighter colors just naturally make things appear to be larger. Carry the colors throughout the entire room so that the eye can roam freely.

Try to avoid upholstery with stripes, plaids and large prints. If you really want a design in the upholstery, choose pieces that are textured. Textured upholstery will give you the look of a design without making the room look cramped. If you really want prints, choose small designs in pastel or neutral colors that will extend the flow of the room.

One of the biggest mistakes people make when decorating a small room is not taking advantage of the vertical space. When your floor space is limited, find creative ways to use the vertical space. Instead of a short, wide book shelf, choose one that is narrow and taller. And, accent the room with tall floor lamps that will help to draw the eye upward.

Choose Size Appropriate Furniture
When shopping for furniture, choose pieces that are size appropriate. If space is limited, it's very important to measure everything. A piece of furniture that looks small in a large showroom, might not be so small when you get it home. Since the sofa is generally the most used piece of furniture in the living room, choose it first. Then, choose coordinating pieces that will fit well with the sofa.

Avoid Clutter
Clutter can quickly make a small room feel more like a closet. Choose your decorating accessories carefully. A small room isn't the ideal place to display a favorite collection. Instead, choose a few focal pieces that match the decor and keep shelves and tables as clear as possible. Vases and statues crowded together will make your space look a lot smaller than it is.

5 Popular Living Room Design 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:

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.