You’ve recently fashioned a festive facelift for your living room with fresh furnishings and fabulous furniture.
With the end of the year round the corner spelling parties and visitors, a spruce up, albeit on a budget, is called for.
So, how will you manage a makeover for your living room without overshooting your budget? You accessorise artistically.
If you are wondering how, here it is.
First, mull over these aspects.The accessories must gel well with the room’s overall décor theme (modern, contemporary, traditional, ethnic, Victorian), furniture, furnishings and wall-colour scheme. For outrageous novelty, hire a professional designer rather than experimenting.
Plus, consider space constraints before deciding the accessories’ locations.
What purpose does your living room serve? Merely receiving visitors or does it also double as a family room with a cosy entertainment area or accommodate the dining area, too?
Your choice of accessories will also depend upon the extent and variety of functions you allocate for your living room space.
But, in your enthusiasm, don’t end up cluttering the space. Strike the right balance by focussing on the number, size, colour and style of the artefacts and accessories.
You can start at the accessories’ market with stylish shelves for either utilitarian storage or aesthetic displays.
Make these a home for prized pieces like sculpture, coloured glass/crystal vases, or little
ceramic artefacts.
Else, place your coffee-table top items like trays, pots, vases, ashtrays and the like here, when you wish for clear space.
You’ll need deep shelving to accommodate delicate display items. Heavier objects demand robust weight-bearing shelves.
Bookshelves can serve as décor too. Go for wall /floating shelves if you’ll place only a few objects.
Want them to masquerade as room-dividers? Then, pick large, open-air shelving. Material
options include wood, metal or a combination of the two.
Now select some dramatic display bowls. Feng Shui recommendations include bowls containing fresh fruit and wealth bowls filled with coins and other wealth symbols.
Choose a bowl design that can draw attention (could be hand-carved wood vessels or crystalware).
Fill these with artsy objects or leave them empty to serve as décor items on their own.
Light it up
Go for gorgeous floor/table lamps and hanging lanterns for task lighting.
Create the right mood in the living room, by choosing lamps of the right style, size and design to coordinate with the décor, while ably fulfilling your lighting needs.
Heavier floor lamps are better where kids frolic about since these are more stable.
Pick a single, large hanging lantern or suspend a cluster of little ones from different heights.
Next come the time-keepers. Go for an oversized wall clock on a wall where the clock is the only display piece.
Modern clocks with a monochromatic scheme ally amicably with minimal furniture.
Place a traditional table clock on your coffee/side-table or a retro clock on your shelves.
A mantel clock is for the fireplace. Contemporary clocks come in unique designs like those embedded within a guitar-shaped contour or a gigantic wristwatch’s dial.
Vases are a time-honoured option.
Fill glass /ceramic vases and canisters with knick-knacks, flowers, peacock feathers, willow branches, palm/fern fronds, potpourri, or other goodies.
Jute-wrapped or wicker vases, clear glass ones, jewelled shimmer finish, silver urns with intricate carved patterns, tall floor vases – your options are endless.
Even left empty, such artistic pieces can serve as décor items.
Arrange a single large vase on a pedestal table, a couple on a corner table or a cluster of little ones on a console table.
Decorative trays can again meet both decorative and utilitarian needs.
While round, rectangular, square and oval are common shapes, the usual materials used for making them are glass, metal and wood.
Uniqueness comes in the form of lacquer, capiz shell and mirror trays. Choose either accent or vanity trays.
Candleholders can spice up your living room, too.
Painted black/white metal holders, floor candleholders, ornate silver /brass ones, glass/crystal beauties, mercury-finish mesmerisers, silver-flecked sphere hurricanes, porcelain ones, taper holders, glass candle pots, glass candlesticks (slim and tall or round and stubby), thick-cut glass holders, little lantern-shaped holders and tealight holders are some suggestions.
Mirrors are recommended for creating a semblance of spaciousness. But, for
décor purposes, a huge, single mirror isn’t your only option.
Arrange an array of smaller ones on your wall.
Other possibilities are a huge mirror over the couch and mirrors with minimalist, interesting frame designs.
Throw rugs, throw pillows, cushions, window treatments, coasters, art prints (a big, expensive one or a group of smaller prints), frames, fresh /artificial flowers and coffee-table decorative pieces to finish décor with a flourish.
