Interior Decoration Tips

Your living room no longer needs to be that formal, unused room just off the entryway. Gone are the days of the proper parlor where you sipped tea, and remember those matchingliving room sets where people left the plastic on so they wouldn’t get dirty? (OK, I may be dating myself with that one) Why? What purpose could it possibly serve to have a room that was never used? To receive visitors – that was about it.

Life it much too casual in this day and age to continue to have that formal living room to entertain in only a few times a year. You can still have a nice room for having guests, but a stiff, formal room is not exactly conducive to having a nice visit with friends and making people feel comfortable while entertaining.

Start living in your living room again. Make it more user-friendly instead of letting it set cold and lonely. This room is crying out for a makeover.

• Use more versatile furniture and invest in classic pieces that won’t look outdated within the next few years.

• Make your living room look more comfortable and “lived in,” start with comfortable seating and mix in antiques or vintage pieces. Antiques don’t necessarily have to be formal Victorian pieces, there are plenty of more casual antiques available for living rooms.

• Avoid buying sets or groupings, instead select individual pieces that blend and work well together. Don’t buy the matching couch, loveseat and chair set. The only matching that you should do with furniture would be perhaps a pair of loveseats in a seating area. Don’t use a lonely, single chair in the corner either, someone may actually use it and feel left out, try to keep seating in groups to encourage conversation and interaction.

• Have furniture of varying heights to add interest to a room and create a homey effect.

• Place lighting at different levels in the room. Use a combination of accent lighting, table lamps and decorative lamps to add warmth and atmosphere to yourliving room.