Your Living Room Ideas - Selecting the Right Living Room Home Decor

With so many styles, materials, themes, and types of living room furniture available, you have a wide selection of decorations to choose from. Below is a few decorating tips when buying and arranging your living room furniture.

Group things in odd numbers. One sofa, love seat and chair or one sofa and three chairs. Three candlesticks or one vase with flowers on the mantle. Three or five pillows on the couch. Beware of using more than two pairs of anything in a room. Try two matching chairs and one end table between them instead of two matching chairs and two matching ends tables.

Don't try to use too many styles in one room. It's okay to be eclectic with a funky art decor table or chair in rustic French setting, but don't also incorporate a modern livings room table or rustic leather sofa. One or two pieces of a different style work in a mostly consolidated look.

One piece won't “make” a room. Make sure you have complementary items that work well with your showpiece. Too many chair and table legs in a room aren't grounded. Include a skirted chair, sofa or base table.

Make good use of your space - consider wall space, open window space, fireplaces, and floors. Plan where you want your pieces to go if you're buying new living room furniture. You don't want to fill the room or block the window with furniture.

Don't put your back of the couch facing the front door. You want to invite people in, and if people see a sofa backs first that places a barrier to your living space. Have an open area that invites a visitor in, especially when they come in through the front door. Accessorize with pillows, candles, vases, and lamps. If you have a monotone sofa, love seat, chairs and tables, brighten them up with pillows, afghans, candles, vases and “coffee table art.” 

Have furniture custom-made. Many furniture stores allow you to choose from a huge selection of fabrics and leathers for seat cushions, pillows, and dust cloths. You can even choose wood finishes on your bedroom furniture and living room and dining table. You can even change out the look on a seasonal basis with light and bright colors in the spring, and summer, and warm, darker colors in the fall and winter.

Make it comfortable. Your living room furniture should be welcoming to sit on, put down a drink, or put your feet on if it's an ottoman or footstool. Decorations that are too stiff in your home do not make your guests feel at home. Keep throws and afghans under control. If you're going to have small blankets on your couches, tuck and fold them around the pillows, and cushions, so, they're a part of the furniture and not just an accent.

Take a good look at your home on a regular basis to see what needs updating or improvement. Be sure to shop at several stores when you are purchasing furniture so that you can see what the new looks are and compare prices. Sometimes you can get ideas to rearrange your furniture and just buy one new piece to give your living rooms a whole new look.