Quite frankly, I am the kind of gal that finds joy in simple things. It can be a small thing and yet, it will lift my mood. Has anyone ever woken up to an absolutely clean and scrubbed kitchen with a smile?
I sure have!
Does organizing your spices into uniform jars with labels stir up the same pride you feel when your 4 year old reads to you?
Guilty.
My point is, if you are like me, then sometimes you just need a little refresh or change to make you smile. Today, I am sharing my 10 best tips for giving your living room an update in minutes!
Windows are the Eyes of the Home
If you ever watched Andy on Parks and Rec, he made this statement while getting the actual saying, “eyes are the windows to the soul” wrong, but he was on to something! Windows are an extremely important feature in your home.
Want to make an impact in your living room quickly? Add drapery or swap your existing window coverings for a different color or style. Considering there are a bunch of ways you may do this in your home, just remember that with window treatments, you want to either enhance a view or distract from it.
You also want to usually maximize the natural light or at least, have a way to keep a room feeling bright.
By drawing our attention out and up, the room appears larger. Look at the difference in these rooms below!
Swap Out Pillow Covers
This one is such a simple update, that every designer says this time and time again. However, it really is an effective way to update your room and make it feel new quickly.
You may be tempted to always go buy pillows. My secret is never buy a pillow that doesn’t have a removable cover. I may buy an okay pillow that has a cover I love, just so I can put the cover on my inserts.
The truth is you can get carried away always buying pillows. I stick to a rather basic color palette and I swap the covers out once a year. Around April is the time I go from my heavier tones to a lightened version of my color palette. You can swap covers as often as you like, I just don’t have the energy or desire to constantly make the change.
Now if you don’t have pillows, add some! I promise even just a few (even if you are usually against throw pillows) will make a difference and cozy up your space.
Hang New Art or Swap Things Out
If you have art or photos in your living room right now, ask yourself if you love what you see.
If the answer is no or you just crave something new, swap things out! Maybe you have a large mirror over a fireplace and lean a smaller piece of art as your room focal point. Maybe a larger single piece of art is just the swap you need to get you that refresh you desire.
Do you have photographs somewhere? Swap out the photos for some new ones you adore or just update the frames to something nicer.
There are lots of possibilities here, but again this can be as simple as just relocating art from one room to another. If you don’t have art or photos, add that into your room!
Spruce Up the Black Box
So many people have televisions in the living room and the room is usually centered around that black box.
Now, I am aware that modern innovation has brought us fancy tv’s so they look like art, but I know that for most of us the cost is prohibitive. So, if you are rocking that black box like me, find ways to minimize the focus.
You can make a gallery wall around the screen so it doesn’t stand out all alone on the wall.
You may even find just taking the television off a media cabinet and creating a lovely built-in will make it feel integrated. However, I promised ideas that could be done in minutes… so what can be done?
Depending on your room, my first suggestion is take the television off the cabinet and have it float on the wall. If you haven’t done this, keep no more than 12 inches of space between the bottom of the screen and the top of the media cabinet or console below. If you have a sound bar you will need a little more space perhaps, but I think the ideal placement means a sound bar should sit about 3-4 inches from the top of the cabinet.
The other thing to remember is your television can sit on a cabinet, but it needs breathing room. If your media console is only slightly wider or just as wide as your television, you are selling your room’s potential short.
Don’t worry, I have lived with a tv just barely hanging onto the cabinet (I can thank my husband’s tv upgrade), so don’t feel ashamed if this is you.
You can buy a smaller tv (there I said it), OR you can do what I presume 99% of people do and buy a larger cabinet!
My personal opinion is you need to give your tv some room, a cabinet should be at least 12 inches longer than your screen.
My preference is to really aim for a cabinet that is 20-32 inches wider than your television (this doesn’t apply to a built-in).
However, there is an exception again.
If you have a gallery wall, you treat the outer edge of the frames as the minimum length needed for your cabinet, in order to find the right console length.
Ground the Room in a New Way
If you don’t know why designers love area rugs, you haven’t experienced the power of a great foundation for your room.
Area rugs do so much to enhance a space. If you don’t have one in your living room, add one! If you want to change up your room, a swap of rug can be a groundbreaking update that completely transforms your space.
Just always be aware of material and size. Avoid rugs that shed or don’t clean well in a high-traffic space.
So no shag or jute alone. A jute rug is surprisingly soft, but even water can stain it and it sheds more than some other options. So keep Jute as a bottom layer if you need to fill a gap left by your favorite and more ornate rug on top.
At the end of the day, an area rug just needs to provide comfort and fill a room properly.
Decorate Your Coffee Table
If you have a coffee table or ottoman, you should consider styling this small, but impactful part of your living room.
If you have young children, this can be especially challenging. So I’m going to share a few secrets on what to use.
Use decorative boxes with a latch to store small items and remotes.
Put out a game that is beautiful and functional. Those wood or marble tic-tac-toes are totally pretty and I don’t mind at all if my children touch them. I sort of expect if I leave a game out, it will get used, don’t you?
Put out a tray to corral things. Usually you can get something rather inexpensive and then place books and other small items here to avoid a table that is cluttered.
My favorite hack for a child friendly living room, put covers on your kids’ books! Trust me on this one. Leave your nicer coffee books for places out of reach and take 2-3 children’s books and have them put in a beautiful new cover or DIY a book cover yourself! You can also just use thrifted books that you enjoy. You can leave the cover if you love it or make your own. Such a simple way to customize books and have something to match your style.
Use a Mirror
If you don’t have a mirror in your living room consider adding one to help bounce natural light around.
If for example, you have a wall that is primarily made up of windows, place a mirror on the opposite wall to help bounce the light around and make the space brighter! Just don’t get a mirror that is too small. You want a larger mirror to really help expand the room.
Rearrange the Furniture
If you want to mix things up, just move some pieces around. Play around with the seating arrangement and don’t be afraid to shop other rooms of your home.
Just because you bought a chair for a specific room, doesn’t mean it can’t be just as great or better in a different part of your home.
Go Green
If you don’t have plants or flowers in your space, add some greenery. I am not suggesting it needs to be a real plant, it can be a faux tree for example, there are so many options when it comes to plants.
Not only can you add a tree into a corner, but go one step further and consider uplighting so that at night the tree casts a beautiful shadow in your home. Just be sure to research the plant before you bring it home, some can actually be harmful to a pet if you have one.
Change or Add Lighting
If you have lamps or lights in your living room, maybe it is time to swap something out. If you don’t have ample lighting options, add one into your room! I like having a floor lamp off in the corner because it can even act as a nightlight on our way into the kitchen.
Whatever lighting you decide to implement, just be sure you use a warm white bulb and not a sterile cool white (think doctor’s office). Your light bulbs should be 2700k-3000k. As you go up in kelvins it becomes progressively more sterile and “clinic chic.”
Alright, ten easy ways to update your living room from yours truly. I sincerely hope this inspired you to start a simple swap or make a change in your space. Let me know in the comments what you do to give your living room an instant facelift.
If you have a before and after of your living room, send my way and be featured in an upcoming post!
From the time I was a young child, I have loved interior design and beautiful things. Ten-year-old me would create “floor plans” on notebook paper and design the dream homes of my siblings. We would have an initial meeting and after jotting down their wish list, I got to work creating the home of their dreams.
After designing the layout, I would take the Sunday newspaper ads (are those still a thing?) and cut out pictures of furniture, lamps, and accessories to create mood boards for each room in the home. When I was all done, weeks and weeks later, I would showcase my work and pitch my design ideas to a sibling.
If you too enjoy beautiful things and the process of turning a vision into a reality, welcome! If you love watching homes transform, but just don’t know how to start or have the resources to buy everything you like, stick around. I love finding affordable and practical design solutions to give YOU a gorgeous home you can be proud of.
Together, let’s reveal what’s possible.
Kinsale Home is a place to get inspiration and tips for your next project. No matter the size of your budget, design needs to be personal and practical. Join along for beautiful, family-friendly weekly inspiration and design advice.
