Do you want to know the 3 living room ideas that will make your home look like you’ve hired a Designer and gave them an unlimited budget? Well get ready, you’re about to be inspired to make your Dream Home come true! To get started on your vision, visit one of the Crowley Furniture Stores of Kansas City. Crowley Furniture offers home furnishings for every style and budget. And whatever your style or budget may be, you’ll find it possible to turn your home from underwhelming to magazine-ready.
Coming up with different living room ideas doesn’t mean you need a big budget. So exactly what does make a Designer space look like a Designer space? We can sum it up in three lines:
- 1. DO Mix ‘n Match/DON’T Matchy-Match
- 2. Attention to Details
- 3. Living Room Ideas Are All About Personality!
DO MIX ‘n MATCH/DON’T MATCHY-MATCH
The greatest road map to creating a home with Designer Style is to Follow Your Heart. When putting together Living Room Sets the options are virtually limitless. Often a Living Room furniture collection includes a sofa, loveseat, chair and ottoman. You could place all of these pieces dressed in the same fabric in a room and it would look nice. This tends to work for a very traditional space, for example a Living Room that is often used for formal entertaining. If this is the look you’re going for then try mixing your occasional tables up by choosing end tables from one collection and a cocktail table from another collection, keeping in mind it’s A-OK to blend finishes and metals. If you’d like to add a bit more casual contrast to using all matching pieces within a collection you could apply coordinating fabrics 
to some of the pieces. The sofa and loveseat may be in one fabric and the chair, ottoman and throw pillows are in a complimentary fabric. Another option, which allows you the most freedom, is to compile a Living Room Set using furniture pieces from a variety of different collections that are not identical but complement each other.
If this sounds intimidating here are suggestions to overcoming the challenges of Mix ‘n Match:
How do I mix prints? Scale and proportion! This refers to the actual size of the printed patterns. Be sure to vary the size of the pattern printed on the fabric, you don’t want a room full of different fabrics that all are covered in very large patterns. Conversely, you also don’t want a room covered in tiny patterns. Both of these scenarios would be very busy and overwhelming whether your room is large or small. If you keep scale in mind you can put just about anything together. Proportion refers to applying fabric pattern to frame. A super-sized pattern, for example, will literally be lost on a tiny frame.
Can there be too much pattern? It’s possible. To combat pattern overload keep in mind that solids are the great neutralizer. If you find a pattern you absolutely adore use it sparingly and offset it with a solid color that you have pulled from the pattern itself. If you have too many patterns they begin to conflict and if you use too much of a good thing, such as the pattern you have fallen in love with, it will become generic and ordinary. Keep it special by localizing it.
Can I mix styles? BRING IT ON! Unexpected can be fun and interesting. Soften the hard lines of a contemporary chair with a fuzzy cottage-style pillow. Add a touch of sophistication to a rustic space with a traditional area rug. Turn a formal room fun with whimsical wall décor. Let your imagination run wild, it’s hard to go wrong surrounded by things you enjoy.
What about touchy-feely? Textures are your friend. Combining soft, fluffy, fuzzy, smooth, shiny, squiggly fibers and finishes will only make your room that much more interesting. These items will play off each other and give your room character
Keep in mind the BIG PICTURE. Look at everything as a whole. While you should love everything in your space, they all can’t be your favorites. Supporting actors are very important to make the real stars shine. So don’t worry if the pattern of this isn’t ideal or the color of that is a little off if it all enhances the overall effect of the space.
ATTENTION TO DETAILS:
You’ve heard the saying: it’s the little things that count. Well that applies to living room ideas as much as anything. Once you’ve visited the furniture store to get your creative juices flowing and have selected the main pieces for your room (the upholstery and the 
occasional tables) you may think you’re done. 
But…you’re not. The fun is just beginning! It’s time to select Accents such as lamps, wall décor, area rugs, pillows and table top accessories.
These items are the key to making your room look and feel finished.
Accents can be described as those things that unite the larger pieces in the room and make, what could otherwise be a somewhat generic room, a room that comes alive with character and dimension. While you want to surround yourself with these special things it’s important to remember those famous words spoken by fashion mogul Coco Chanel: Don’t forget to EDIT! (We paraphrased.) It is possible to have too much “stuff” which then becomes distracting. How to know when enough is enough? If your accessories are too crowded your eye won’t have anywhere to rest which becomes visually overwhelming. When you look around your space are you able to enjoy each individual piece? Designers use restraint and avoid clutter.
A few good guidelines to avoid overcrowding:
- Arrange items in groups of odd numbers: 1, 3 or 5-if an item is very large or very dramatic let it shine on its own, if you have rather small items you may need multiples so they don’t get lost, 3 is always a good, magic decorating number
- Spread things out-negative space is very important in all fields of art
- Don’t build an army-Accent pieces are usually more interesting if not lined up like little soldiers in a perfectly straight line, try to stagger the group side-to-side and front-to-back and don’t space them exactly the same distance apart
- Distribute weight evenly, visual weight that is-bigger and brighter items carry more visual weight than things that are petite or more subtle, keep in mind balance as you build your groupings
LIVING ROOM IDEAS ARE ALL ABOUT PERSONALITY!
While there are guidelines to good design (see above!), your home needs to reflect you, your personality and your family’s lifestyle. Photos, collectibles, books and other memorabilia should be woven into the design of your space. This is what truly tells the world that this is your home.
While these Living Room Ideas hold true for any room of the house they are most applicable for your Living Room space since that is made up mostly of upholstered items. Your Bedroom furniture, Dining Room furniture and Home Office furnit
ure are mostly made up of wood pieces, but be sure to apply the same techniques for personalizing these spaces. More interest can be brought into these wood-heavy spaces via the wall and floor coverings as well as accessories, bed coverings and window treatments.
If a Designer look is still your dream but you’re just too overwhelmed to tackle the project alone, ask yourself this: WWJGD? (You know which Waco-based Designer we’re talking about.) OR stop in at any of the Crowley Furniture locations throughout Kansas City.
As you embark on your journey to put these living room ideas into action, always remember: A happy home is a happy heart! With Crowley Furniture Stores of Kansas City, you’ll love coming home.
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