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Beautiful living rooms: 3 simple design techniques to get your perfect living room

by Kyung Kim 05/02/2024

When it comes to beautiful living rooms, there are no wrong answers. Living room ideas can span from the elegant style of the Victorian era or an amalgam of different styles brought together to create a Boho-chic design that flatters both your style and your space. But what key elements do all of these different designs have in common? How can you emulate them?

Here are three musts for creating your ideal living room with your favorite living room ideas:

Focal point

Living rooms often have a focal point. Whether that point is a coffee table, fireplace or entertainment center, there’s always something that draws attention to the center of the room. However, there are other ways to create an astonishing focal point within your living room.

Instead of fireplaces or elaborate centerpieces, try utilizing a particularly radiant window with indirect natural lighting. If you’d prefer a more open living room space, try rearranging your furniture to open your seating area for entertaining. You may also want to showcase an array of books on a custom bookshelf.

If you favor art, try using a large, eclectic work of art or an accent wall dotted with various designs and art deco. This focal point may also double as an interesting conversation piece.

Color palette

Your color palette can raise your living room’s decor by several levels. Make sure to choose a color palette that best suits the style you’re going for, whether that’s a traditional living room or an eclectic mix of styles. Keeping the color scheme consistent can help you maintain focus and comfort in the room, without stressing the senses.

If you’re unsure where to start, look around your living room. Find items such as a table lamp, wall art, wall decor, decorative pillows, or other accents throughout your living room or home. Try matching these colors with your living room design, but make sure to stick with a color scheme once you have it.

Lighting

Lighting has a large impact on your living space. Whether you decide to include as much natural light as possible or prefer the ambience and glow of floor lamps, your living room scheme will require some sort of illumination.

Try using task lighting, ambient lighting and accent lighting to bring your room together. For a large living room, ensuring each corner has some form of glow will also help avoid dark areas that could prove either hazardous or disruptive to the flow of the room. Floor lamps, recessed lighting and accent lamps are great ways to bring the layers of lighting into your living room.

These elements are key to all living rooms. Incorporating them into your initial design plans can help accentuate certain living room features while keeping others muted in just the right ways. If you’re upgrading to your perfect living room from a preexisting one, these items are excellent ways to ensure your design pans out just the way you want it the next time around.

About the Author
Author

Kyung Kim

Hi, I'm Kyung Kim. I immigrated from South Korea to the United States in 1968 when I was 7 years old. I have seen my mom struggle with the English language and work hard to raise her four kids by herself. Still to this day, I don't know how she pulled it off, but she bought her first home in 1979 for $70,000 and because of that decision, she was able to live without worrying about her financial future. I want that for everyone, to feel the pride of home ownership and to build their financial wealth using real estate as part of their financial portfolio. I feel so blessed to play a small role in helping others reach this goal.

I live in Beaverton with my husband, Richard. My mom, who lived with us for several years, passed away in our home in February 2022. Her first home purchase in 1979 made it possible for her to live to the very end, without worrying about her finances. As of August 2022 with a little downpayment assistance, our four children own their own homes. Being in real estate, I quickly realized that if they didn't buy now, they may be priced out of the market in the future. Whether that would have been the case, we will never know, but what we do know is that they are all realizing some good, healthy appreciation in their home values.

As passionate as I am about people owning their homes, I'm also passionate about giving back to our community. I support Compassion First, a non-profit organization that provides aftercare for sex trafficked girls in Indonesia. My husband and I also feel called to financially support social injustice organizations.  

I'd love to assist you. Whether you're in the research phase at the beginning of your real estate search or you know exactly what you're looking for, you'll benefit from having a real estate professional by your side. I'd be honored to put my real estate experience to work for you.