Hey everyone! Looking for any interior decorator aficionados out there. For as long as I can remember I’ve never been able to decorate spaces where I live and would love some advice!
I’ve been at my current home a few years and my living room is painted, but the walls are empty. We have some furniture (couch, entertainment center, key ring holder) and our TV but you really wouldn’t be able to tell who lives there or what type of people we are. This is the case for all of our rooms.
Does anyone have or know of any guides/tips/suggestions for making a space feel more “lived-in” or “home-y”? I’m not sure where to start aside from family pictures, but then get stressed about messing up our walls or something “looking wrong” and having to redo/undo it all. Any way to get past that mindset as well is definitely welcome!
Any help is appreciated, thanks everyone!
Lighting. You want your overhead or main lights to be bright enough to see clearly, but low enough so as to not be overpowering.
Also, discreet points of light distributed around REALLY amps things up. Use some gentle light to highlight a photo or painting, put a lamp on a table, a tchotchke on a shelf that is lighted or hides a small light to add a soft glow to the shelf it’s on… these kinds of light add warmth and character to a space easily and cheaply, and if you can manage to have them all accessible via your favorite digital assistant, power and dimming can be convenient as well.
Plants. I have one pothos plant that I manage to keep alive and I’m amazed how this one plant warms up the living room.
I usually leave dirty socks, t-shirts and briefings on the floor. This along with a well-placed bowl of soggy cereals, one or two almost empty wine glasses and the usual opened envelopes make it a very homely place for me and random people who visit from time to time
I also take some used needles and a singular crack pipe and orderly lay them on the cigarette-burned rug. My family would say they really tie the basement together.
throw blankets! a basket of blankets or a couple nice ones draped over the back of your couch can look nice or great for just whenever you need a blanket.
Curtains. Even if you have blinds, curtains really helps dress up the place. They don’t have to be super expensive. Just something that looks nice from your local home goods store.
Hanging pictures is super easy. As long as they’re not huge, you can nail the picture hangers right into the drywall/plaster and it will hold up just fine.
If you want to spend a little more money, you can have large prints made of pictures and have them framed. The framing is the expensive part. I have a handful of pictures I’ve taken over the years, mostly of nature, that turned out really, really good. I had some of them framed and they are hanging throughout our house. I like them because I feel like it adds a personal touch.
