How to Perfectly Style Your Living Room
Hey there, happy Wednesday! We are deep into summer now and all of the craziness that entails. If you’re anything like us (and you’re here so we’re guessing you are!) you might need a little mid-week pick-me-up to get you through to the weekend. Well luckily for you, we’re diving deep into one of our favorite things to do here at Liz Powell Design: styling your living room! No matter what your personal style is, we believe we have found the ultimate formula for perfect home styling every time. So grab your favorite cold beverage and settle in for some good reading!
OPEN SHELVES
One of the most ubiquitous current design trends is open shelving. Walk into any trendy home store, garden center, or boutique and you’re sure to see rows and rows of open shelves full of gorgeous products. And while an entire house of exclusively open shelves is a little impractical (where are you going to hide your secret chocolate stash from the kids on open shelves?), we love incorporating open shelves in our living room designs.
When it comes to styling open shelves it’s important to start with an anchor piece or focal point. We love to pick a larger item like an eyecatching vase, framed art, or coffee table book as our starting point. From there, we like to add two different items of varying heights and textures. You can create as many or as few of these triads as you like – after all, this is your home! But we love how organized and clean little groups of three look on open shelves. Play around with adding candles or plants to the mix.
COFFEE TABLE
A well-designed coffee table can take your living space from just another room to a true home focal point. Like our open shelf styling, we love to work with groups of three items to transform this everyday piece of furniture into something you’re happy to have in your space.
For many of us, a coffee table is still the primary spot of organization in a living room…but that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your personal style! If your coffee table needs to be both beautiful and functional, start with a large tray as your first item. A good tray can hold a small candle, remote controls, or any other small accent items you might like to be displayed. Next, you can arrange a few stacked books. There are SO many options of coffee table books to choose from these days so you’re sure to find something you love. Finally, bringing in a plant or a vase full of flowers will soften the table. Ta-da! You’ve styled your coffee table! If you’re ready to dive a little deeper into the world of coffee table styling, be sure to sign up for our email ASAP 😉
Pillows
Pillows are a hot commodity in our houses and we’re sure they are in yours, too! I really believe that well-picked and placed pillows can completely transform your sofa and I want to teach you how to do it. To start, pick a color palette. We generally stick to colors that match or complement your sofa color, depending on what style you’re looking for.
Now let’s talk pillow covers. The options for throw pillow covers are seemingly endless, so you’ll be able to find any style, pattern, or texture that suits your fancy. We love playing with the scale (or overall size) of a pattern when grouping pillows. Patterns of a similar scale will pair really well together and add visual interest to your couch. By picking contrasting colors in one color palette you’ll be able to make a statement without overwhelming the eyes.
SIDE TABLES
Let’s wrap up this living room styling crash course with a lesson on side tables. When it comes to side tables, we generally live by the rule of less is best. A well-picked side table can be a statement piece in and of itself and doesn’t need much more to make it shine. But if you’re working with existing side tables that could use some sprucing, we know exactly how to make it shine!
A great element to add to any lacklustre side table is a lamp. Lamps are an excellent way to bring more ambient light into your living room while also adding texture. Mind the scale of the lamp you pick so it doesn’t overwhelm your side table. And if you’re looking to add more decor to the side table, you guessed it, stick to the rule of threes! Our brains inherently love groups of 3 which is why we talk so much about it in design.
We hope this quick rundown of how to style your living room helped you! As always, we’d love to see how you style your home. Please tag us on Instagram if you follow any of our design tips. We can’t wait to see what you do!
|With love, Liz
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