Decide on the energy level you want. Are you thinking of a playful space or a serene one? Your decorating needs to complement this feeling. A calm living room, for example, would have soft colors, maybe neutrals, and not vibrant shades. Think about the way you live in your home, so that you can focus your living room decorating on providing a welcome environment.

Find the focal point. Where do you want people to gravitate to? Usually, it’s the sofa or seating space in the living room. Start your living room design by choosing the right spot for your sofa, considering how the light streams into the room and how people will move through the room to get to the sofa. Then build your décor from this focal point.

Use color in small doses. A room that is filled with colors—the walls, furniture, rugs, pillows, and décor—can be somewhat frenetic. To present a welcoming living room, don’t overwhelm people with splashes of color that flood the senses. Instead, use it like brush strokes, applied here and there to enhance the room but not act as a dominant force.

Stop arresting your furniture. When you push everything “up against the wall”, you pull the living space away from the core of the room. Moving away from the walls allows for better flow and the use of light. Pull your furnishing forward—even just a few inches from the wall—and closer, to encourage people to sit and have conversation.

Create smaller spaces in your bigger one. Today’s open concept removes walls that used to divide the living room, kitchen, and dining room. The absence of these barriers allows more flexibility in your design. You have more space to play with! Create nooks within this living area, like a small conversation space with two comfy chairs, a lamp, and a small table. Perhaps you can use a homework station in the living room—where you can keep an eye on students whose attention wanders a bit from their assignments. A desk, chair, and lamp could suffice. Define your sub-spaces with an area rug. They don’t all have to match but should complement one another in color and style.

Use lighting to your advantage. The living room is the ideal place to use task lighting. Incorporate overhead lighting, like recessed and chandeliers, with a dimmer switch to control the intensity. Place floor and table lamps strategically to provide spots of light where you need them, like in a reading nook. Choose lamps that don’t fade to the background but add to your living room décor.

Add natural elements. People are drawn to nature—the scents, sights, and textures. Enhance your living room’s ambience with plants and fresh flowers. Use pieces of nature—wood, bamboo, pinecones, shells, and natural fibers—in your living room décor. From the rugs on your floor to the art on your walls and accents on the shelves and coffee table, bringing bits of the outdoors inside will add to the warm, comfortable feel of your living room.

Creating a welcoming living room will give you a space where everyone can relax. Riverside Homebuilders welcomes the opportunity to build your new home, so you can feel this way in every space. If you’re thinking about relocating in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, please browse our gallery of new home designs, currently available new construction homes, as well as our communities of energy-efficient, single-family homes. Then contact us to talk about your vision of your dream home.