Living Room

Color Style: Black Living Room Ideas and Designs

The first question you need to ask yourself when designing a black living room is, how much black do you want?

How Much Black?

You could go with all black walls, and even a black ceiling. Or you could have a more toned down design by either using white wainscoting or paint all the walls white, but have one black wall.

Classic: Black and White Living Room Ideas and Designs

Living Room Design Elements

Here are a few ideas on what to include in your living room design:

Use wainscoting, but instead of having it white, paint it the same color (black) as the walls. This adds layers and some styling to the room
White crown molding is another idea, which will contrast well with the black walls
If you are planning on an entire living room remodel, then the flooring will need to fit the overall design style. For a black living room some design option include: dark hardwoods and tiles. Or if you wanted to brighten the space up a bit, then a grey floor or lighter wooden floors will work.
Hang up some artwork, either in white, gold, silver or black frames to spice up the black walls.

How to Add Some Texture

Try and infuse some subtle textures into your black living room furniture and design. This will help avoid creating flat dull spaces. Some ideas here include:

Using black wallpaper that has a subtle texture or pattern (A Fine Selection of Modern Wallpaper Designs)
You can even paint the walls and add texture. Using a brush you can create a linen effect. Or by using a sponge, with black paint and really dark grey paint you could create a marble texture. Have a look at my post here for more ideas: Textured Wall Painting Ideas: From Faux Wood To Linen Effects
The same can be said about area rugs, and pillow cases – look for fabric that has a subtle texture or pattern to it.

Have a look at these posts for more ideas:

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

April 18, 2016 in Color Palettes, Living Room

Staying Up To Date: Modern Living Room Ideas

There are 3 main areas to think about when it comes to modern living room ideas – 1) The color scheme, 2) lighting design, and 3) straight line design. I also go over some simple modern decor tips in this post.

The Color Scheme

From the living pictures in the mood board above, you can see that modern spaces use mostly neutral tones (white, grey, black). This applies to the main feature pieces in the living room – such as the wall color, the seating, cabinets, the coffee table area, and any area rugs. These are the main accent pieces in a living room, pieces that really impact the style of the whole room.

Classic: Black and White Living Room Ideas and Designs

Like most spaces with a neutral color scheme, you can add warmth and color through the use of natural materials. Try and infuse wooden features into the living room, or add some plants,

If you want to add a pop of color, then try and stick to 1 to 2 other colors. Otherwise you’ll take away from the overall neutral look of the space. Check out the modern living room in picture (6) with the pops of yellow.

Modern Living Room Lighting Ideas

The main way to light up a modern living room design is through recessed lights. Recessed lights are fitted into your ceiling, so that all the fixtures are hidden away creating a sleek and modern look.

Hook up these recessed lights to a dimmer switch so that you can dim them down for softer lighting.

And for other light fixtures, see if you can get one of those arch lamps seen in a lot of the pictures. Get yours here:

Straight Lines – Modern Home Designs

If you take a look at the pictures in the mood board, you’ll notice that the rooms feature strong straight lines and edges. Everything has a straight edge. Even the chairs don’t have any rounded sides. Instead you have sectional straight edge modern furniture.

Some Other Design Notes and Modern Decor Ideas

Go with a hookless curtain and curtain rod
Use subtle textures and patterns when it comes to the fabric of the furniture, or the area rug
Keep the space clutter free. Try and store items away in cabinets, and use a tray on the coffee table to group together clutter items
You can give your closest and cabinet doors a modern makeover, with some paint and new hardware (DIY Challenge: Give Your Closet Doors a Makeover). Have a look here for specific examples on what modern closet doors look like: Design Tips for Modern Closet Doors
For modern decor ideas, have a look at my post here: A Clutter Free Home: Modern Decor Ideas. Or check out this one: Simple Yet Stylish Modern Wall Decor Ideas.

Have a look at these posts for more living room ideas:

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

April 15, 2016 in Design Styles, Living Room

Makeover Guide: Blue Living Room Ideas

When styling a living room in blue, the question you need to ask is “how much blue?”. Do you want to go all out and have every wall (and ceiling blue)? Or would you want a white base and style the space with pops of blue? In this post I’ll go over the blue living room ideas that will help you transform your space.

How Much Blue?

So if you want to have a lot of blue in the living room, then paint all of the walls blue – just like the living room in picture (1). You could even paint the ceiling blue. Now this might seem a bit much, but there are ways to break up all of these solid blue surfaces (like using crown molding), which I will go over below.

Another option is to paint only 1 wall blue, and have all of the other walls painted a neutral color like white, cream, or light grey. This 1 blue wall will be a feature wall, and will stand out in the room.

The 3^rd option is to paint all of the walls a neutral color, and then decorate the space with pops of blue (blue couch pillows, etc.) – like the blue and white living room in picture (2). And I go over all of the ideas and design tips on how to do this below.

The Right Shade

The shade of blue that you choose to decorate your living room will depend on the kind of feeling that you want to create. A dark navy blue paint color for the walls will create a cozy, intimate feeling living room. While a light blue, like the living room wall color in picture (3), will create a more airy, spacious, and bright feeling space.

And don’t forget to try and take away any colored pieces that are in the living room. If you want to create a strong design, then you don’t want a green trash can, a yellow candle stand, or a red stool in the space.

Adding Another Color

A blue and white living room would be the easiest and most straightforward way to style the room. But you could always add in another color into the design palette. You just need to make sure that you stick to it. This means taking out pieces in the room that don’t align with the color palette you’ve chosen.

Some good color combinations include:

Blue and green
Blue and brown
Gray and blue
And light yellow and blue

Breaking Up A Blue Wall

Some people would like to have their whole walls blue. While others might feel it is a little too much. So here are some ideas on how you can break up solid blue surfaces:

Half of the wall can be covered in wainscoting, just like the living room in picture (4). Traditionally you would have white wainscoting and then a blue wall above it. But you could always have both the wainscoting and the wall the same blue color – this adds depth and style to the room (5). Or how about using two different shades of blue. A dark blue painted over the wainscoting, and a lighter blue for the walls
Neutral colored curtains can also help break up a solid blue wall
And how about hanging up some picture frames, or create a gallery wall (6) with black and white photos

How to Style a Neutral Blue Living Room

To create a tamed down blue living room, go with a neutral base color. This means having white painted walls (or light grey, cream).

Get rid of any colored pieces in the room.

And the you can style the space with a few pops of blue, and they will really stand out. These pops of blue could be:

A blue lampshade
How about repainting the media cabinet doors blue
Hang up some blue art pieces or photographs
Or just paint a large frame blue and hang up a black and white design
You can easily color a living room blue with a blue area rug
See if you can get blue storage containers
And if you have open shelving, you could paint the backs and insides of the shelves blue
Most living rooms the focal point will be the seating area. Now you don’t have to have a blue couch to style the living room blue. A neutral colored one will do. And you can add blue to it by: using blue pillow cases, or throw a blue blanket over the back of the couch

The same can be said about the coffee table. You could go with a blue coffee table. But a more toned down way of styling this area would be to have a neutral colored coffee table, with a blue tray on it to group items together.

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

1/2/3/4/5/6

April 8, 2016 in Color Palettes, Living Room

Rustic Living Room Ideas, Decor, and Furniture Designs

The general feel in a rustic living room is a cozy vibe, with earth tones decorating the space. Here are the rustic living room ideas that will help transform your space.

Paint Colors and Wall Design Ideas

If you take a look at the pictures in the mood board, most of the rustic living rooms combine stone walls with more simple white/off white walls – just like the living room in picture (1). In my rustic paint post I talked about how white/off white walls are a modern choice for a rustic style room. This is because it is a great contrast and really shows off the the rustic pieces in the room, like exposed beams or a stone feature wall.

One way to create a well designed rustic space, is to make use of a feature wall. This is one wall in the room that has a rustic touch to it, say covered in stone, while all of the other walls are simply plastered and painted. This lets you create a rustic style, but it is toned down. In the living room, this feature wall could be the fire place chimney – as seen in picture (3).

For more ideas on paint colors and textured wall designs have a look at my mood board post here: Rustic Paint Colors and Textured Wall Designs.

Gathering Around the Coffee Table

The coffee table is one of the focal points in the living room (the other one is the seating area). Everything is usually centered around it, so the eye is drawn there first. The coffee table will really help create the style of the whole room.

Most of the living rooms in the mood board have pretty simple coffee tables, usually made out of wood, or are upholstered (with a dark fabric or with leather) and use a wooden tray as a flat surface.

If you need to create a more rustic style here are some other ideas for coffee tables:

Log tables
Reclaimed wood, or wooden chest

All of these ideas can also be used as side tables next to the couch. For more ideas check out my coffee table ideas mood board.

The Seating Area

Seats take up a lot of space in a living room. So the kind and style you get, will play a big role in the look of the room. For rustic living room furniture, the go to choice for seats are upholstered tan or brown ones, or leather sets (5).

The Windows and Ceiling

One good looking rustic design idea, ideal for a living room with white walls, is to use a wooden pole as a curtain rod with black iron brackets. The wooden pole will really stand out from the white walls. For curtain ideas, have a look at my post here: Rustic Window Treatments and Curtain Ideas.

There is not much to say about the ceiling, except that having exposed beams are the best design feature to have in a rustic living space.

Rustic Style Lighting

A rustic living room will have cozy warm lighting. Make use of fire with a fire pit or table lanterns and candles. Ceiling spot lights can be used to point down on any stone walls to highlight them. The style for most rustic light fixtures will be wrought iron. So use wrought iron chandeliers, wall lights, and side table lamps in the living room. For photos, ideas and a mood board, have a look here: Style Guide: Rustic Lighting Fixtures and Ideas.

Rustic Decor and Storage Items

Store firewood out in the open as the wood also acts as rustic living room decor. Some ways to do that include putting them in wicker baskets, wooden crates, or have a recessed wall in the living room where the wood can be stacked up (6).

Some ideas from my rustic storage ideas mood board included: