Living Room

The Free Spirit: Bohemian Living Room Ideas

The life of a free spirit. At home this means not worrying that everything single piece has its perfect spot in the room. Everything is informal. It is cozy. It is a patchwork of different materials and colors. Here are some bohemian living room ideas to transform your space.

Dancing in Fabric

Try and infuse as much fabric as you can into the room. Whether this is through using multiple overlapping area rugs, tons of cushions on a large sofa just like in picture (2), quilted blankets, wall hangings, even drapes hanging down from the ceiling (3). If you have a large living room space, divide it up with a hanging quilt of scarves (4). Remember, you want to keep the fabrics you use a patchwork of different colours (the best color palette is dark hues) and styles.

Check out picture (5). The entryway drapes really sets the tone for the room. Using door beads is another way to go.

Informal Seating

Try and get your seating more communal and hippie like, closer together. Or how about going on the floor, have it covered in mixed rugs and floor pillows (6). Leather poufs also add to the bohemian vibe.

A fun idea would be to have a hanging chair or a hammock like the one in picture (7).

In The Middle

The coffee table is usually the focal area of the living room – so it can really set the style the space. Some ideas here include a gypsy style traveling trunk just like in picture (9). A trunk would be the best way to go. Or how about stacks of wood pieces or a log. You also have those Moroccan style metal dish table tops with a wooden stand – that would look good too. You can also just use your own coffee table and drape fabric over it to add color to the room. 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10

Boho Decor Accessories

Here are some ideas on decor pieces to have laying around and decorating your bohemian style living room:

An acoustic guitar or mandolin
An antique/vintage style globe
Glass bottles being used as planters – or hanging planters just like in picture (10)
Agate stone slices
Moroccan style lanterns can decorate your coffee table, and why not use some battery votives to light them up. Another whimsical lighting idea would be to use string/fairy lights to create a soft glow (Home Decor Ideas: Beautiful Ways to Use String Lights Indoors).
A hanging dream catcher

7 globe | 8 leather pouf | 9 quilt | 10 lantern

January 11, 2014 in Living Room

Ideas for Living Room Colors: Paint Palettes and Color Schemes

Wall Paint Color: Abingdon Putty HC-99

Wall Paint Color: Shale 861

Wall Paint Color: Iceberg 2122-50

Wall Paint Color: Autumn Purple 2073-20

For purple living room ideas and styling tips, have a look at my post here.

Wall Paint Color: Milano Red 1313

My post here is a mood board of red living room styling ideas

Wall Paint Color: Mesa Verde Tan AC-33

Grey is a popular living room color. For more grey color ideas and how to style the room check out my post here: Color Choices: Grey Living Room Ideas and Designs.

Wall Paint Color: Abalone 2108-60

For white living room ideas, check out my mood board here.
Grey
Blue
Red
Purple
Black
Black and White

Choosing Your Living Room Colors

Everything in the living room will have a role in the color scheme of the space. If you look at the pictures of the living rooms above, you’ll notice that the color palette is also made up of other colors in the room, not just the walls. The decor pieces, the furniture, even the color of the floor.

So keep this in mind when you are looking at living room color ideas. Look around your living room and see what colors you already have. What color is your couch, your coffee table. You don’t want it to clash with your new paint color. Or if you are completely redoing your living room, then you’ll want to plan out the whole color scheme of the room (wall color, furniture, flooring, cabinets, etc.).

Wall Options

In all my specific color related posts, I talk about how you have 3 options when it comes to painting the walls:

The first option is to paint all the walls in the color you want, let’s say purple.
Option two is for people who want that specific color, purple, but feel having all the walls purple would be overwhelming. Here you can paint one wall in purple and have the rest in a neutral color like white, tan, or grey. This one purple wall will really stand out in the room and be a focal point.
For me, the best living room colors are neutral. Option three is to create a blank canvas, meaning paint the walls in a neutral color. If you want that purple styled living room, now you have a blank space to play with. Use purple pillows, purple curtains, purple art pieces. You still create a purple color scheme, but you leave out the walls creating a more toned down style.

Spacious vs Cozy

One last thing to think about when choosing your living room color scheme, is whether you want to create an open airy and spacious feeling room or a cozy and secluded space. A light color scheme creates a spacious feeling room, while a darker color scheme creates a cozy, romantic and intimate feeling space.

See It In The Real World

It is hard to tell the true color of paint colors online. Different screens show different colors. Also the paint looks different on different surfaces and in different light. The pictures and color palettes above are for inspiration in choosing a color scheme. It is best to get samples before buying paint to see how it looks in the real world. 1/2/3/4/5/6/7

January 11, 2014 in Living Room

Creative Living Room Storage Ideas

I like to keep my living room free of clutter. It is a place to relax, and when there are a ton of things lying around that is hard to do. Here are some creative living room storage ideas to help keep your space well organised.

The Art of Shelving

Getting Creative: Some creative ideas include using ladders to hang up blankets and magazines just like in picture (1) (Creative Magazine Storage Ideas: From Leather Rack Holders to Using Old Shutters). Or spread them apart and put planks of wood in-between the steps to create some funky shelves. Crates also make for chic shelving – and they can be stacked on top of each other (2). Look at my post here for more living room shelving ideas – like using leather straps to create wall storage.

Built in shelve units would be a good idea if you have limited space or want to create a well designed space. Because they are custom built to your room they make efficient use of the space (3). You can make use of the space above the door ways, the space in the corners, or high up (floor to ceiling shelves). Have display lights fitted in the storage cabinets to create a soft glow in the living room at night and to highlight special decor pieces.

Design Tips: Small Living Room Ideas

Hide It Away

If you have shelves with a lot of items on them that make the living room feel less relaxing, one way of closing them off is to add some curtains (or doors). If you want to divide up your living room into different spaces (like having a space for a home office, or gym) then hanging up a curtain would be a good way of dividing up the space and hiding the area when it is not in use. You can see more ideas for creating room dividers in my post here.

Hidden Storage Ideas: James Bond and Home Decor

Elegant Storage Solutions

Wicker baskets make for good looking storage. They can be used for throwing blankets in (4), as magazine holders, kids toy storage, fire place log storage, even as a coffee table. You can also find nesting ones that can be stacked up. IKEA has a lot of wicker basket containers that look good here.

Another elegant storage item is a trunk just like the one in picture (5). You can get these in all types of styles from vintage and rustic, to formal travel styles – or there are wicker trunks. These can be used as coffee tables, and end tables. You could even stack 2-3 of them to create a side table.

On The Side

A narrow side table console not only adds tabletop space for items but it helps frame and group together storage baskets that you can put underneath. Get a side table with a base – this means one with shelving or at least has bottom platform just like the one in picture (6). A side table with just legs and no bottom platform kind of makes putting baskets and containers underneath a bit messy.

Look to get matching storage baskets or containers to put underneath the side table – this creates a clean look (7). Also, a table lamp above will add nice ambiance lighting to the living room (Relaxing and Cozy Living Room Lighting Ideas).

For smaller side tables, take a look at nesting tables. They take up a small amount of floor space but are handy when you need more tables in the room.

In the Middle

Coffee tables also make for good storage. We mentioned above about using trunks and wicker baskets. You’ve also got coffee tables with shelves. Use baskets and trays to group together items on top and below the living room table for a more clutter free look. If you want to keep everything minimalist looking in the living room and have everything hidden away, then look for a coffee table that has draws underneath.

Have a look at my post here for more design ideas, DIY ideas, and styles for coffee tables. Or check out my post here to see coffee table decor ideas.

You can also find ottomans that have a flip up top for storage space inside. image credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7

Crafty DIY ideas

Some crafty DIY ideas for creating your own living room storage furniture include:

Creating a corner shelf with an old door just like in picture (a) – by Linda.
Using a spool to create a side table with book storage (b) – Scrap Hacker
An old window upcycled into a chic coffee table (c) – by Oh Glory Vintage
Pallets can be used to create seating and benches with space underneath for storage (d) by In My House, or a coffee table with shelves (e). Check out my post here for more ideas on using pallets: Home Decor Ideas: Using Pallets.

January 10, 2014 in Living Room, Storage

Creative DIY Ideas for Living Room Shelves

A few planks of wood and a little creativity is all that you need to make some shelves. Check out what people have done to create their own living room shelves below.

Repurposing Magic

There are a few things you can repurpose to create budget friendly shelves. Crates make for great stackable living room shelving, just like in picture (3). If you want to get away from that rustic feel, paint them all in white (4). Or what about using a charming rustic ladder to shelve plants (5). Place a plank of wood between the steps to create a long mobile shelf unit – just like in picture (6).

For the corners of the room, take a page out of Linda’s DIY notebook and use and old door to create some corner shelves (7).

New Materials

How about getting creative and bringing in some new materials into the mix. Like leather. A plank of wood, a strap of leather, and two nail is all you need to make modern minimalist style shelves for a living room (8). Get a little bit more fancy and you can create hanging shadow box display shelves complete with leather hangers (9).

Using tree branches was a creative idea to create some living room wall shelves to hold some books. Keep them raw for a rustic feel or spray paint them to blend them in with the rest of your living room decor (10). If you really want customised built in shelving then head on over to the piping section of the hardware store. Combined with some planks of wood you can create your own industrial style living room shelves seen in picture (11).

Then there is the side table in picture (12), made from planks of wood and bricks.

Pop of Color

I really like how the cabinet in picture (13) has a colored backdrop. It really makes the shelves stand out – creating a focal point in the room. 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13