Living Room

From Italy: Tuscan Living Room Ideas

When it comes to Tuscan living room ideas, for me, the one thing to keep in mind is ‘raw earth’. You are taking a design style founded in the rolling hills of Tuscany – so there is a lot of inspiration coming from rustic nature. Just like in the Tuscan Kitchen Decor Ideas post, you want to use a lot of wood and stone, along with wrought iron pieces.

The colors you’ll see in a Tuscan style living room, are made up of natural yellows, terracotta, stone grey, deep woods and leather, and because it is the country side – splashes of greenery.

Warmth in the Walls

The walls of the room can really set the tone for the Tuscan style. Look at most of the pictures above and you will see a lot of stone work – whether that be stone bricks or tiles. If having the entire room in stone is a little too rustic, then look to have a feature wall (one wall) covered in stone – just like in picture (6).

The key with the walls is to create a textured effect. An alternative to stone walls is rough plaster or stucco. A step down from that would be to use textured painting techniques to recreate a similar feel. Check out my post here for different ways you can create a magical textured wall just by using paint: Textured Wall Painting Ideas: From Faux Wood to Linen Effects.

Architectural Pieces

Exposed beams lining the ceiling adds to the warmth in the room. Some other architectural styling ideas would include making use of arches to frame the room – like in picture (7). Or how about the wrought iron archway piece framing the walkway in picture (8). It really adds the Tuscan style to an otherwise modern looking house.

Flooring

If you live in a warm area then stone or terracotta tiles would be the best choice. Otherwise hardwood flooring would be a good alternative.

Tuscan Style Lighting

One of the best ways to infuse the wrought iron pieces of the Tuscan decor style is through lighting. You’ve got everything from wrought iron chandeliers and pendant lights, to wrought iron lamps and candle holders.

In the daytime you’ll want to make use of large windows to bathe the whole living room in natural light. This would be another area where you can infuse arches – check out the arch window in picture (9).

Tuscan Decor and Furniture Pieces

When it comes to the seating area, plush leather chairs or upholstered chairs with hardwood frames would be the way to go. These chairs add that raw natural brown color into the room, just like in picture (10).

For decor items, some Tuscan style living room decorating ideas include: ceramics and pottery, wrought iron decor pieces (letters, sculptures, baskets), and terracotta pots.

And don’t forget about the coffee table, a piece that could set the whole style for your living room. Ideas here include a hardwood top with wrought iron legs. 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10

January 7, 2014 in Living Room

Romance at Home: Shabby Chic Living Room Ideas

The shabby chic style is formal and informal at the same time. Yup.. Here is a good example: a chair. The style will be more French – formal looking and decorative, but it will be painted in a light pastel color and possibly chipped. Below I’ll go over more shabby chic living room ideas to give you a good idea on how to style your space.

When it comes to the color palette of the room, try and keep it to white, off white, cream, and pastel shades. Just like the swatches in the mood board above.

Fancy Storage Ideas

White wicker baskets, just like in picture (2), are great for grouping items, storing blankets and extra pillows, holding magazines, and kids toys. Wire baskets also work as storage containers and create that shabby chic look. Another idea would be to lean an old wooden ladder against the wall and use it as a magazine rack or to hang up blankets.

A great way to add some greenery is to use vintage glass bottles as planters. Check out my post here for more ideas on using vintage glass bottles as decor pieces around the house.

Sitting Down

A style to borrow from when it comes to shabby chic living room furniture would be French. It is decorative and ornate. In terms of color, the best would be either white or a pastel color. Chipped furniture adds to the shabby chic style and this can be done at home DIY style – check out the steps for doing so here.

A white coffee table (3) will look good surrounded by your shabby chic furniture. Other shabby chic coffee table ideas include using a trunk (4).

Whimsy and Lighting

You can create a romantic ambience in the living room by using low down lighting. So avoid using the ceiling lights at night and go for some table or floor lamps. On the coffee table have some lanterns and use candles or battery powered candles.

A must have if you really want to create a flawless shabby chic style is a chandelier (5) or a mini one. This will be a feature piece, hanging down in the middle of your living room.

Lightweight drapes can be wrapped in LED string lights to create an elegant soft glow in the room. You want to use LED lights because they give off less heat making them safer to use with fabric.

Accenting with Decor Pieces

A large painted French style mirror adds to the style of the room just like in picture (6) and makes a living room feel larger and more spacious.
A good way to hack the shabby chic style is to put a chipped painted, reclaimed door in the living room as a decor piece – just look at the living room in picture (7). Reclaimed windows work too.
When it comes to decorating ideas for the seating area, lace pillows and even burlap pillows (8) with a printed graphic on it works. A blanket with lace edging or a quilt (9) can also be draped over the couch to add a shabby chic touch.
Curtains tend to make up a large portion of the living room walls – so the right style here can make a big impact on the look of the room. The way to go would be with more traditional style curtains – like using lace, or decorative drapes just like in picture (10). Don’t forget to use tie backs to create a formal look. One DIY idea is to use vintage door knobs as hooks to tie back the curtains.
Have some vintage pieces decorating the living room like a skeleton key, botanical prints, or an antique looking clock.
Add some pink and white flowers to the mix (11) either in a galvanised buckets, enamel containers or a ceramic serving jug. You can always wrap these containers with lace.

If you want to go that extra mile to create the shabby style, look at creating textured walls. Either with rough plaster, stucco, or even with textured paint techniques seen here. 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11

January 7, 2014 in Living Room

Decor Style: Vintage Living Room Ideas

Looking to stylise your living room? Here are vintage living room ideas that will transform your space.

Vintage Coffee Table Ideas

In most living rooms the coffee table area is the focal point – where the eye goes to first. This is because everything is arranged around it – the seating, the TV, and area rugs. So this would be a good place to focus your styling efforts.

For the coffee table itself, some vintage ideas include going with a French style one like in picture (2) or a lane coffee table. Chipped painted tables look good too, in white or mint (3). A great DIY project would be to turn a reclaimed glass and wooden window into a coffee table seen here. Another good idea would be to have a vintage trunk coffee table (4) – which can also be used for storage.

Some ways of decorating the coffee table would be to use painted candle stands and a doily table runner (5). There are a ton more decor ideas in the Decor Accessories section below. A pastel colored, and or chevron patterned area rug placed under the table will help frame the table in the room.

The Seating Area

Another focal area of the living room is the seating area. The go to choice here would be a French style couch just like in picture (6). Or an upholstered couch with a nice vtinage style fabric. If getting a new couch is not an option, then other ways of decorating the couch in a vintage style include: having throw blankets with floral vintage motifs, or pillows with a vintage style fabric or DIY graphic transfer.

Another Dimension – Lighting

Barn lighting (pancake dishes) looks good for hanging pendant lights. So do pastel colored paper lanterns, and how about a wrought iron chandelier? On the walls, a goose neck lamp fits into the style just right. And when it comes to table lighting – you’ll want to go with a traditional cone shaped lamp shade.

Good Looking Storage Ideas

The storage containers you use will also style the room. Especially if you display them out on open shelving or on a side table or coffee table. Here are some great looking storage ideas:

Wicker or Wire Baskets, and Galvanised Buckets: These can be used to hold magazines, store kid’s toys, throw blankets and pillows in (7), store fire logs, or as planters (8).

Vintage Glass Bottles: Ideas include using the glass bottles as elegant planters, candle holders or mugs. Look at my post here for more ideas Home Decor Ideas: Using Vintage Glass Bottles.

Other small vintage storage ideas for the living room include using enamel containers, copper bowls, and French style hat boxes.

When it comes to the cabinets, the shabby chic style of pastel colors and chipped (or not chipped) paint would be the style to go for. Another style would be more raw wooden cabinets – depending on the vintage style you are going for.

Wooden Crates: These make for great modern vintage DIY storage. They can be stacked to create your own shelving. For more ideas have a look at my post here: Creative DIY Ideas for Living Room Shelves.

For some added table space – take a look at old vintage TV trays just like in picture (9).

Decorating Ideas for The Walls

When it comes to the colors of the walls, white is always a classic choice. Then there are light pastel shades like mint that would look good for a vintage inspired living room. Or if you want to get more decorative then opt for a patterned wallpaper – like using anaglyptic paper seen in picture (10). For more vintage style wallpaper ideas have a look at my mood board here.

Curtains also help decorate the walls. Materials and styles to use include frilly fluffy curtains, lace (11), or white curtains with a vintage pastel colored print. A great way to tieback those curtains is to use vintage door knobs seen in picture (12).

Vintage Living Room Decor Accessories

Once you have the main areas of the living room figured out and styled just the way you want it, then comes the time to add in those vintage decor accent pieces for the finishing touch. Here are some ideas:

A clock with an antique face
Bird cages – these can be used to house plants, candles, or store books. Check out my post here for more ideas on using bird cages as decor pieces: Home Decor Ideas: Using Bird Cages.
Black and white or sepia photos
Use vintage style clothes pegs to hang up photos on string
An antique looking globe
A watering can
Old books – the ones with the simple elegant covers
A French style mirror – this will also make your living room feel larger
Skeleton keys in a shadow box frame
Wall Art Ideas: French signs, subway signs, metal wall letters, vintage maps, and botanical prints
Mason jars can be used for a number of things like candle lanterns, planters, or photo frames. Look at my post here for images and more ideas: Home Decor Ideas: Using Mason Jars.

For more vintage home ideas check out the vintage section on my Mood Board Styles Collection page. 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12

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January 4, 2014 in Living Room

Stress Free: Minimalist Living Room Ideas

I believe you have to be careful when it comes to minimalist living room ideas and interior design. It can be hit or miss. You can easily end up with a bare living room that feels empty, and that’s not the goal. It needs to be a relaxing and clutter free space. It still needs to have style. You can have a rustic living room (seen in pictures (2) and (3)) or go with an industrial style and still keep in minimalist. For me it really boils down to A) being clutter free and B) color management.

Kept Clutter Free

You don’t have to be well organised and make sure every piece has it’s place to create a minimalist living room. Just hide it all away. Out of sight. For me that would be the first goal – shove all the clutter into a draw, get back to it later. Right now just focus on the things you can see in the living.

Coffee Tables

If you really want a minimalist living room then look to have very little on the coffee table. If that is not an option then have something like a wicker tray or good looking bowls to group items together, this helps create a cleaner look (check out my post here for pictures Creative Coffee Table Decor Ideas.

You can find minimalist coffee table designs that have draws underneath. This is good because you can store away items and keep them out of sight. The same can be done with ottomans – there are ones that open up to storage space.

Behind The Curtain

If you have open cabinets, look to close these off with doors or hang up a curtain. Curtains can also be used to divide up the living room. Say you want a home office or home gym, a curtain can be hung up and used to hide away the space when it is not in use.

Make It Count

If you have a hard time keeping your space clutter free, try buying an expensive piece for your living room, like a coffee table or elegant table decor piece. This way you’ll want to make sure everything around it is clean and clutter free so that one piece is able to shine.

Minimalist Furniture Style

If you look at the photos in the mood board, there is nothing really decorative about the furniture pieces. They are upholstered pieces with a very modern sleek design. Note how the colors of the couches are neutral – the color of the couch has a big impact on the look of the room.

Color Management

Apart from keeping your living room clutter free, the other key for a minimalist style is color management. All of the living rooms seen above have few to no color in them – they only use neutral toned pieces. But this doesn’t mean you can’t have a colourful room. Take a look at some of my color based living room posts like red or purple. But the same rule applies there. If you want a red colored living room, you need to take away other colors in the room. Because these pieces will stand out and kill the style you are going for. You need to pay attention to the colors in the room and remove pieces that are not inline with the design scheme you are going for.

Taking Inspiration

A good style to take inspiration from would be Scandinavian – just look at the living rooms in pictures (4) and (5). A lot of their design is heavy in white, while the wooden pieces they use add warmth and color to the space. Adding some plants will also bring in color (6).

Decor Pieces

Even in a minimalist living room you can still have decor pieces – it is recommended. And because you will only have 1-3 pieces, each piece will really stand out and showcase your style. Since you are only using a few pieces, make each piece meaningful and well thought out. Another way to decorate is through textures (like wicker, your pillows, wood grains (coffee table, bowls), and plants). Here are some ideas:

A minimalist art piece (like black and white).
Plants add warmth and color to the room, and the choice of the planter can add style to the room.
An accent wall can be a decor and focal piece. This is when you have one wall in the room that is different than the rest. Say you have all the walls painted in white, one wall can have a concrete texture, or a subtle linen paint effect on it (Textured Wall Painting Ideas: From Faux Wood to Linen Effects).
One thing to take away from the pictures in the mood board is that pillows play a big role in a minimalist style living room. All living rooms need pillows. Make them blend in with the room by choosing the colors that fit your color scheme and have a simple (non-colorful) texture that adds to the decor of the space (7) .
Lighting is also another thing that is needed in every living room and can help in stylising the room. Check out the industrial looking wall lamp in picture (8). Choose simple looking fixtures that have a touch of style to them. 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8