Living Room

Farmhouse Living Room Ideas, How To Create The Look

This post is going to go over a range of different farmhouse living room ideas and design tips, to help you transform your space. You’ll find ideas from what color palette to use, to how to style your windows.

The Color of a Farmhouse Living Room

A farmhouse color palette is usually made up of white, cream, and wooden tones. From the pictures in the mood board above, you can see that most of the farmhouse living rooms have their walls painted white. And it is through the fabric, furniture, and decor pieces where the creams and wooden tones are infused.

Seating and Furniture Design

A neutral (white, or cream) colored couch would be the way to go. There is also the bolder option of a plaid or striped couch style, seen in picture (8).

See if you can get a couch, or a couch cover with pleated or ruffled skirting (the bottom part of the fabric covering the couch (8)).

If you go with neutral colored seating, you can easily add the farmhouse style to it through the pillows. Choose pillows that have burlap, plaid, or ticking (striped) fabric. And how about adding a plaid throw blanket into the mix, just like the one covering the chair in picture (6).

Some other farmhouse furniture ideas include:

Using chic wingback chairs (6)
Simple rustic wooden ones (3)
Or how about a good old fashion wooden rocking chair

Tying the Room Together With a Coffee Table

To tie your farmhouse living room together, you’re going to need a coffee table with the right style. Go with a bare wooden one, or a wooden one painted in white. The living room in picture (4) has a coffee table with a wooden top and a white painted base.

Or how about the covered wooden laundry bucket being used as a coffee table in the living room in picture (3).

Farmhouse Style Storage Ideas

The pieces you use for your living room storage can also act as decor items:

Go with wicker hampers, or wicker baskets to store things out on open shelves or under the coffee table (4)
Galvanized buckets can be used to store magazines, throw blankets, or firewood
Have a look at my other post for creative ideas on how to store firewood: A Crackling Fire: Indoor Firewood Storage Ideas
A rustic ladder can be used to hang up blankets or even magazines
While a wooden trunk or chest can be used for storage, or as a side table (1) or a coffee table
And for more storage ideas and pictures, have a look at my post here: Farmhouse Storage and Organization Ideas

Window Treatment Ideas

Here are some ways to style the windows in your farmhouse living room.

For the curtains, go with plaid, burlap, or ticking style fabric. And see if you can get them pleated. And for the curtain rod, a cast iron one would contrast well with a light colored curtain fabric. Cast iron tiebacks would look good, or leather ones.

An alternative would be to go with wooden shutters, which would add a rustic touch to the room.

And the window frame itself. Have a look at picture (5) and you can see that it has been decorated with trim. This is the standard window frame style in a farmhouse.

Here are some other farmhouse posts to get more ideas form:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8

May 25, 2016 in Farmhouse Design, Living Room

Making The Space My Own: 7 Dream Living Room Makeover Ideas

I was asked what my dream living room space would look like, and how I would remodel the space. This post covers the 7 main ideas I would infuse into the room, ranging from a reading nook to a better alternative for a flat screen TV. None of these ideas are far fetched. And a thank you to the good people over at Laurel & Wolf for the challenge.

1. Getting Rid Of The TV (For a Better Option)

The first thing I would do in a living room makeover is to find a way to get rid of the TV. And the best way to do this is to fit a shelf above the couch and use a projector. Not only does this save space in your living room (since you don’t need a media console anymore), it removes a big flat black box from your wall. Creating a cleaner more minimalist looking living room space.

And the best budget home projector out there right now is the Acer H5380BD. While the Sony VPLHW40ES is the best in class when it comes to the more expensive projectors.

2. Upgrading the Lighting

The living room can be used for movie nights, or it can be a nice reading space. Every now and again it can play host for a small get together. This means the living room needs to have the right lighting to set the mood for each occasion.

I would have my ceiling fitted with recessed lights as these create a clean and modern looking room. And these lights will be hooked up to a dimmer switch, giving me full control over the lighting.

The key to great lighting is to not rely on one type of light fixture. You want to mix it up to create different layers and lighting effects. A table lamp and a floor lamp would be a good addition. Having a floor lamp by the couch adds more light to the area when reading.

3. Bathing In Daytime Sunshine

During the day the living room should be bathed in natural light. There are some design tricks that help maximize the amount of sunlight that comes in, and helps make the space feel larger.

The curtain rod needs to be quite a bit wider than the window. When the curtains are open, they should not be blocking any of the window.

The curtain rod should also be hung up as high as possible. And the curtains should be long enough to come down to about an inch or two above the ground. It doesn’t matter if the windows are not as tall as the curtains. Having tall curtains makes a living room feel larger.

Playing with fabric is another way to make the space feel larger. Vertical stripes will make the living room feel taller, while horizontal stripes makes the space feel wider. Or getting curtains that blend closely with the wall color creates a uniformed look in the room (white curtains with white walls), again making it feel like a larger space.

And if you want to bring in as much daylight as possible, but need to cover the windows for privacy, then use a double curtain rod with sheers.

4. The Right Look: A Scandinavian Design Style

This living room is going to have a clean and minimalist Scandinavian style to it. This means having a white base (white walls), and decorating the space in neutral tones (off white, and different shades of greys).

That might sound a bit boring, but the beauty of this style lies in adding subtle textures and patterns – just like the grey couch and black and white area rug in the picture above. Fabrics for the couch, pillows, and area rugs will have a subtle texture or pattern to them (again in a neutral color).

Warmth is brought into the living room through the use of natural materials. Wooden bowls, wooden storage pieces, or wooden features on pieces of furniture (legs, arm rests) bring in shades of brown. While plants bring in green tones.

5. Adding a Touch of Vintage Design

Something that I always appreciate in a living room, and brings a lot of character into the space, is crown molding. Now this won’t be you standard crown molding. This is going to be the old school antique, decorative crown molding just like the molding seen in picture (3).

6. Creating a Gallery Wall

The decor in the room will be kept to a minimum. It will mostly be plants and wooden pieces. But there will be one gallery wall with a few decorative framed pieces (maybe even including some photographs of my own) (4) (5).

7. Where is the Reading Nook?

Tucked away in a corner, or by the window, will be a reading nook. Most likely in the form of Papasan chair, or if there is space a hammock or day bed (6). With a book shelf of books to close in and seclude the space.

Here are some other living room posts for more ideas:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6

May 11, 2016 in Living Room

Classic: Black and White Living Room Ideas and Designs

When most people think of a black and white living room, they will imagine white walls and a space decorated with black and white pieces. But there is also the bolder option of going with black walls – just like in the living rooms in pictures (4) (5) and (6).

But to add some style to your living room, you don’t want to just have flat plain walls. Instead try and infuse some design elements.

Making Your Walls Do More in the Room

Here are some ways to avoid flat plain walls:

Use wainscoting. You can either go with white wainscoting and black walls or vice versa. Or have the walls and wainscoting the same color (white or black).
Use trim. Adding trim to your walls gives it some depth and style – just like the black wall in picture (6)
Add textures. Whether you go for white walls or black ones, there are different ways you can add a subtle texture to them. Wallpaper is one idea; find one with a subtle textured pattern. Or use anaglypta wallpaper, which is a 3D wallpaper that can be painted over or left white.
Add crown molding. The crown molding can be a the opposite color of the wall (black vs. white) to create contrast (4) (5), or it can be the same color
If you have shelves on your walls, the backs of them can be painted the opposite color of the walls. Say you have white walls, then paint the back of the shelves black.
If you have a hard time doing any of these remodeling ideas, then a simple alternative is to hang up a gallery wall of black and white photographs just like the living room in picture (1).

Balancing the Black and the White

Some people might want a more white living room, decorated with a few black pieces. Others might want their space to be equally balanced with blacks and whites, and then there are living rooms that are more black heavy.

Below is a list of black and white living room decor items that will help you create the right balance in your space. Use black or white versions of the pieces listed to create the balance you want:

Area rugs
Curtains (black curtains on white walls makes for a good contrast, or white curtains hanging down from a black curtain rod just like in picture (3))
There are different ways you can play with the colors of the seating and furniture (black couch with white pillows, or vice versa. Or have the pillows and couch the same color)
Hang up some black and white photos in black frames (or how about gold or silver frames if you have a black wall)
See how your coffee table could balance out the black and white in the living room. A black coffee table could have a white tray on top of it to group together clutter items, or vice versa.
Have a look at the hanging pendant light in picture (3), and see how the black lamp shade makes a statement in the mostly white room.

Here are some other living room posts to get more ideas from:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6

April 26, 2016 in Color Palettes, Living Room

Design Tips: Small Living Room Ideas

Having a small living room space means you need to get creative in how you use the space. This will make you a better home designer, and is a fun challenge to have. Everything from the color you choose to decorate the space, to the curtains you use can change how spacious the living room feels. The small living room ideas in this post will help you make the most of your space.

5 Small Space Design Tips

1. Color Choice: When it comes to the color for the overall palette for the living room, go with a light color such as white, cream, mint or light grey – as a lighter color will make the space feel larger. Unless you want to create a really cozy space, in which case opt for a dark color.

Ideas for Living Room Colors: Paint Palettes and Color Schemes

For a small living room space you want to have everything blend together, that way it will feel larger – just like the living room in picture (4). This means no bold pops of color. Say you have white walls, then you’ll want white curtains (or slightly off white). The same goes for the decor and furniture pieces – try and blend everything together.

2. Curtain Design: Go for a curtain color that blends well with the walls.

Hanging up the curtains closer to the ceiling, and having the curtains go all the way down to the floor gives the illusion that the space is larger – just like in picture (3). Also get a wide curtain rod, since you don’t want any of the window blocked off bringing in as much natural light into the room as possible.

3. Mirrors: See if you can hang up a large mirror on the wall, just like in the living room in picture (1). This will add the illusion of depth, and will bounce the light around the room. Also try and get a frame for the mirror that blends well with the walls.

4. Glossy and Glass: Glossy surfaces, whether it’s for cabinet doors or the coffee table top, are ideal for small spaces since they reflect light around the room making it feel bigger. A better option is to use glass – glass side table, glass top for the coffee table. Since it is transparent, it makes the space feel larger.

5. Decor Pieces: Go with one large piece when decorating a tight living room. Instead of hanging up a gallery wall of 5-6 framed items, go with 1 large framed piece – just like the living room in picture (5). Having a number of different items makes the space feel cluttered, especially in a small space. Go with one large potted plant, if you have the space.

An Alternative To a TV

Instead of having a flat screen TV sitting on a media console, or hanging up on the wall, why not go for a projector instead. This can sit on a floating shelf above the couch and point to a clean white wall. This is ideal for a small living room design because a flat screen TV hanging on the wall kind of breaks the clean look of the flat wall.

Making The Best Use of a Small Living Room Through Furniture

When it comes to small living room furniture, try and get pieces that will blend in with the overall color scheme of the room. Also, look for furniture pieces that can double up as storage pieces. A coffee table that has a shelf under it. An ottoman that opens up. Or a couch and chair that has enough clearance to store things under.

Storage Ideas

As mentioned above, look for furniture pieces that can double as storage pieces.

Built in storage is the best way to go. Not only is it built customized to your living room, making the most effective use of the space, but it will be designed to blend in with the rest of the room making it feel larger.

See if you can get floor to ceiling height built in shelving so you don’t waste any space. Make the most of your walls – hang up floating shelves (3).

And try to use the corners of your room effectively. Use a sectional corner couch, or hang up corner shelving.

Making it a Bright Room and Spacious Room

If you are going for a cozy and intimate feeling living room, then avoid using ceiling lights and instead use a floor lamp or a table lamp to light the space.

How To Make A Small Room Look Bigger: Creative Design Ideas and Tips

If you want to make your living room feel large and spacious, then you’ll want to have it brightly lit. Recessed lights are the way to go (6). These are lights that are fitted inside your ceiling. Since the light fixtures are hidden and are out of sight, you are left with a modern and sleek look in the living room. You’ll want to make sure the entire space, including all of the corners, are lit up to make the living room feel spacious.

Hooking up your ceiling lights to a dimmer switch allows you to easily switch from bright spacious lighting, to more cozy and relaxing lighting.