Redecorating a living room can breathe new life into an old space. In an era of upside down mortgages and soft real estate sales, making your existing home look like new again is both easy and affordable, if you do a bit of initial planning and make smart design decisions.
Before you go too far in figuring out how to redecorate living room space in your home, you want to set a budget. You can do a lot for as little as $500, if you're not planning to buy new furniture or redo the floors. But even with furniture and flooring you can create an entirely new look that is affordable, will increase the sale value of your home and perhaps, even cause you to fall in love with your house all over again.
The first step is to decide your budget. It's very easy to get carried away when you redecorate your living room, so you want to establish a general range you're comfortable with for redecorating. Be sure to build in a little leeway, just in case you find the sofa of your dreams or a wonderful antique rocker that you just couldn't live without.
Next, you'll want to decide on a style for the room or even a theme. A lot of people are doing themed rooms these days as a way to bring their personality and interests into the mix. It can be a lot of fun doing a room that has a theme, such as the beach, the Alps, the jungle, etc.
Walls are the easiest things to change. Paint is cheap and if you don't like the outcome, you can always paint over it. You may want to invest in the newer paints that have a built in primer for true, one coat coverage. It will save you a lot of time and frustration, especially if you decide to paint a dark wall a lighter color.
If you don't have the budget to get new furniture, you may want to think about recovering it instead. This is a great option if the actual structure of the furniture is still sound, such as the frame, springs and cushions. You can go the slipcover route or if you have the budget, get them professional recovered.
Before you go much farther, you should create a floor plan for the room and figure out where everything will go. This will help you get organized and you'll know whether or not you need to go shopping for new furnishings, such as a different size of coffee table, area rugs or a new set of lamps.
Make a list of things you want to change in the room and prioritize them. This can be things like adding dimmer switches to the light fixtures, getting the carpets cleaned, purchasing different pillows, changing the style from rustic to modern - anything you can think of. Then you'll want to look at your budget and figure out what is doable and what you can put off for the future.
Before you go shopping, do your homework. Go online first and shop there. Not only can you comparison shop but you may find the best deals are actually online and not in your local furniture store. Be sure to check their return policies and guarantees before you buy.
If you can't find what you want online, it's time to go shopping. You may find just what you're looking for at local import stores, antique shops, galleries and craft stores so don't forget to do a little comparison shopping before you settle on your final purchases.
Finally, it's time to bring it all together. Set aside a weekend to get everything ready. You'll want to start with painting, allowing plenty of time to dry. The next day you can start adding the furniture. If you got a throw rug, be sure to add it before you start moving all the furniture around. Your volunteers can get frustrated pretty quickly if they have to keep moving heavy furniture because you forgot something.
Lastly, it's time to add all the knickknacks, artwork and lights. These are areas that let you explore your artistic side. It may take a bit of experimentation but these little extras really add a touch of home to any living room and you want them to look like they belong.
Remember, redecorating your living room isn't a race. You don't have to do it over a single weekend. You can do a little bit at a time and live with the room at various stopping points to see that you like what you're doing. After all, you don't want to do all this work and suddenly find that your redecorated living room isn't what you bargained for or imagined.
Author Jennifer Akre is an owner of a wide variety of online specialty shops including that offer both items and information on how you can easily furnish and decorate your space. Whether it is a world globe for your living room or copper weathervanes for you newly remodeled home, there are many tips you can use to make any spot both functional and beautiful. Click today and indulge your senses.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Akre
View the original article here
This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.
No comments:
Post a Comment