I am in the process of doing a refresh on my living room and the first thing I usually do is go to Pinterest to get some ideas and visual inspiration. I try not to edit too much initially. I just want to get a sense of what I like and see where there are similarities (if any).
The biggest change I will be making is paint. As usual, I will be painting the walls and the fireplace. I also plan to get a new tv stand with storage and 2 bookcases to put on either side of the tv stand.
There will also be other decor including a new rug, decor over the fireplace, maybe some end tables and also general wall decor. I will likely be making somethings as well but I have not gotten that far in my design process yet.
TV Stands & Book Cases
I want to create the look of built-ins so I plan to place 2 bookshelves on either end of the tv stand. Here are some ideas:
Lighting
My living room needs more lighting! This is one of the reasons that I want to refresh the room. There is no over head lighting and I am so over the dark paint color (though I still really like it). I don’t want to deal with hard wiring and such. I really like the plug in lights in my office so I will likely go that route in my living room.
I am undecided on what to put over my fireplace. I’m not thrilled with most of what I’ve seen but here are some possibilities though I’m pretty sure that I am NOT going with the clock look! This may be an area for some DIY creation!!
Furniture Arranging
How I rearrange the furniture will determine whether or not I use end tables. Should I use them, these are some options that I like.
I also need to figure out what I will do with the 2 other walls. Again, part of that depends on the furniture arrangement so those decisions might have to wait a bit. I’m considering art work, a photo gallery wall, a combination of both, shelves, etc…Again, I’m not that far in my design process yet but I’ll definitely let you know when I figure it out.
FINAL THOUGHTS
One of the things that I have learned and have come to accept about me and how I plan a room is that I focus on the big things first. In this refresh that is the paint colors (walls, fireplace) and the new furniture. After that will be the furniture arrangement and rug. The final touches will be the lighting, over the fireplace decor and the two empty walls.
Some people can figure it all out in advance but I just get overwhelmed. Also, I like to see the bigger things in their places to help inform my choices. It’s the same for me when I’m choosing paint colors. Once I’m down to 3 and put the samples up on the wall, I almost always am able to immediately decide which one I like best.
That’s it for now. I look forward to sharing the process and progress with you. Tell me, how do you make decisions about design choices? Do you do it all at once or do you piecemeal it like me? Share in the comments.
