Doesn’t it appear that modern living quarters are shrinking by the year? As out apartments and even houses get smaller in size, it is harder to restore that feeling of homely coziness our parents had no problem creating for us as children.
Nowhere is this lack of spaciousness felt more than in the central room in any home: the living room. Luckily, there are several ways you can add that much-desired touch of coziness to a living room regardless of how small it is.
1. Arousing the tactile sense
It is not all about creating the illusion of a larger living room; it is more about revamping the living room with the sense of touch. Namely, you want to introduce surfaces that are pleasant to touch, such as leather (armchairs), plush (cushions), or carved (chairs and the coffee table). The texture is important because it adds a sense of uniqueness to the living room since there are no plain surfaces.
2. Opt for warm colors
You remember from grade school that light colors make objects appear bigger, while dark shades have the opposite effect. Since you are after making the living room look bigger, warm colors seem like a logical choice.
What is more, colors have the power to influence our mood, a fact long-known by psychologists? Warm colors, such as white, yellow, light orange, etc., will make the living room feel both cozy and grand at the same time. On the other side, avoid using tones like green or light blue, because they make the room appear airier and hollow.
3. Rounded furniture
Furniture has the biggest impact on the atmosphere in a particular living room. For this reason, you need to “ally” with chairs, the sofa, and the coffee table to create a coziness feeling. This is achieved by introducing rounded furniture or at least furniture pieces without sharp edges and perpendicular corners. Not only are the latter dangerous, especially if you have kids around, but they fraction the space in a way that prevents a general cozy atmosphere from existing.
4. Covering the furniture
Once you have secured a textured and rounded sofa, it should be left bare. Much like you cover the bed upstairs, so should you use blankets to cover the living room sofa. There are so many designs and colors to choose from that you won’t have much trouble blending in the blankets with the rest of the room’s décor. Moreover, you can cover the chairs (the sitting area) and the coffee table with a tablecloth.
5. Well-placed curtains
You might have realized the importance fabrics have in generating the feeling of coziness in any home. Apart from playing with arousing textures and linen blankets, you can introduce wall curtains in the living room.
Curtains and draperies aren’t necessarily hung in the window area, as they can hang from a ceiling rod splitting the room in two. Alternatively, curtains can corner off a corner of the living room, turning it into a comfy home office.
6. Creating a photo wall
Are you impressed with walls of galleries displaying hundreds of framed pictures and paintings? If you are, you should know that living room walls are the ideal canvas for a family photo wall. After rummaging through old, Polaroid photos, as well as newer ones, all you have to do is frame them and decide where to hang them. The wall you choose to hang the photos from should not feature anything else to max out the feeling of homeliness.
7. An accent rug is better than a bare floor
Choosing to leave the floor of the living room is a sound design choice. However, you can achieve so much more by adding a single accent rug. This piece of carpeting is unlike the standard single-colored rug you probably have in the bedroom. An accent rug serves as the centerpiece of the living room, opening up space with its warm and vivid horizontal patterns.
8. Accessorize using aromatic diffusers
As you have noticed by now, coziness is intrinsically connected with all the five senses. The sense of smell is particularly important, as stuffy air is something you don’t want in the living room. Aromatic diffusers infuse the room with different aromatic odors that will calm your nerves and put you at ease.
9. Concrete and wood: A match made in heaven
If a major design overhaul of the living room is due soon, the two materials you want to build in the room are concrete and wood. This combo is not only the apex of elegance in terms of interior design, but these materials make people feel comfortable, cozy, and ultimately safe. Keep in mind that both concrete and wood are expensive when used for interior decoration because they need to be polished to perfection.
Just because your living room is small, that doesn’t mean it cannot be cozy at the same time. The nine tips listed above are merely a fraction of the possible techniques to add a touch of coziness to your home.
