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The living room is like the heart of your home. It’s where you and your loved ones probably spend a lot of time when you’re not out of the house. That’s why it’s so important to ensure that the space is the right fit for you.
There’s no one way to design a living room because everyone has different tastes. A good design for one person might be someone else’s nightmare.
However, that doesn’t mean you have to come up with everything yourself, especially if you’re trying to create a particular atmosphere. For instance, if you want the space to feel cosy, considering these six ideas should help you with the design process.
Improve Your Insulation
Warm and cosy are two words that go well together. A living room that can make the former happen is bound to end up feeling like the latter. How do you pull this off effectively, though?
One of the best things to do is to improve your insulation in places it might be lacking. That may mean getting double glazing for your windows or improving the insulation that’s in your walls. You can find out more information about the different ways to stop heat from escaping your home here.
Hopefully, by making the necessary changes, your living room shouldn’t be quick to banish the heat. When the cold months come around, that will be perfect for helping you get cosy.
Install Blackout Blinds
You want your living room to feel cosy throughout the year, but that can be hard to achieve in the summer. The outside temperature can make things go from nice and warm to unpleasantly hot far too quickly, which isn’t what you want.
A good way to keep things at the optimum temperature is to install blackout blinds. These do an excellent job of keeping the sun out during the summer, which should help cool things down a little. Depending on how warm it is outside, they alone might not be able to save you from getting too hot. However, your home would feel even less cosy without them.
Another good thing about these blinds is that they help to keep the heat in during the colder months of the year. They’re effectively another method of insulation, so they should help create the atmosphere you’re after when it’s cold outside.
Switch Up The Lighting
Lighting is everything in a room. How you use it can significantly change how the place looks and feels, including creating a cosier environment.
You’ll probably want to consider using warm LED lights where possible, as these will – unsurprisingly – help bring some warmth to the room. It’s also worth thinking about introducing dimmer switches if you can, as these will let you adjust the lighting to what you think creates the best atmosphere. Finally, lamps are an excellent idea for creating smaller spots of light, which work well for reading corners or simply if you want to avoid having the overhead lights on.
You’ll find a substantial selection of indoor lighting at Expert Electrical to help you achieve the cosy atmosphere you’re after. They specialise in all things electrical, including switches and sockets. So, if your living room lacks the means to power a lamp where you want it, they can help with this, too. Just make you have a professional fitting all these electrics for you unless you’re a qualified electrician yourself.
Add Some Blankets
Blankets and throws make for excellent decorations. Having these over a sofa or armchair adds some texture and personality to the furniture. It also offers people a means to keep themselves warm should they find the temperature a little too cool for their liking.
Such items are good to have around if you want a cosy living room because who doesn’t love warming themselves up under one of these? Sure, you could turn the heating on if things get a little chilly. However, why bother when these do the same job without increasing your bill?
Repaint Your Walls
Paint can transform a room in many different ways. It can make the space seem a different size, brighten or darken it, and generally create a certain atmosphere.
If you’re going for something cosy, it might be worth using darker colours that shrink and warm up the room around you. Navy or brown can really help with that, especially if you use contrasting colours for your furniture. You don’t want the space to be too dark, so decorating with pieces that are a little brighter – but not too flashy – should help with what you’re going for.
Obviously, these colours might not speak to you, and that’s okay. It’s your living room, so you need to decorate it in a way that appeals to you. A bit of research into what palettes work best for your living room may help you out. Plus, if you don’t want to paint the whole room one colour, an accent wall can still create the atmosphere you’re after.
Surround Yourself With Loving Memories
A cosy living room requires more than just things that create the right temperature balance. It needs items that generate a feeling of love and security. The kind of stuff that makes a person want to spend time in that room, rather than going somewhere else.
What you use to achieve this depends on the belongings that you value the most. Photographs of loved ones are obviously a great way to go. You can hang these up on the wall or position them on any shelves you may have in the room. Awards, treasured gifts, or even just your favourite books are also excellent things to have in here.
If you choose wisely, your living room should feel cosy, no matter what other alterations you’ve made to the space.
A cosy living room isn’t something that’s only possible when it’s cold outside. You can create this atmosphere all year round, so long as you make the right design choices.