Home Design Strategies: Five Ways to Redecorate Your Living Room

It happens to all of us at one time or another, and it doesn't matter what type of home you live in, whether renting or you are a homeowner. You take a look around your home and decide that it's time for a 'design facelift'. The surroundings that have provided comfort and enjoyment are now looking tired and ordinary. But, your home decor budget is slim to none, so what do you do? Don't give up before you start. Here are five easy, simple, inexpensive to no cost home decor changes you can make right now that will give any room in your home a fresh, new and interesting look. These strategies will be applied to your living room in this article, but will work effectively in any room of your home.

First, clean out the clutter. Our 'stuff' has a way of accumulating without us realizing it, and after awhile can become more of a hindrance than anything else. Take each room in your home individually so you won't become overwhelmed with the task. Then, remove anything that you have not used in the last three months. If it is an appliance taking up space on your kitchen counter, put it in a cabinet and out of sight. You may have set a floral arrangement or some other type of nic-nac on a table thinking you would find a permanent home for it later, and there it still sits. Move it. You may be surprised at how much brighter your rooms look when they are clutter free.

The next home decorating idea in this project is to rearrange the furniture in at least one room, and preferably two or three rooms of your home. You may need to enlist some help with this step, so plan ahead and gather a few pairs of hands to accomplish the task. If your sofa has been in the same place in your living area for more than two years, it is time to make a location change! You may not have many options if your living area is small or limited in other ways. At a minimum, pull the sofa away from the wall (I know that's where it is right now for most readers) and angle it toward the television, or whatever the focal point is in this area. You might be limited to a move as subtle as pulling one end of the sofa about a foot or so from the wall. But wait, that's not all. Then, take the other seating in the room and angle it just a little bit, swapping locations of chairs (if you have more than one in the room). Now step back and notice that your room has taken on a different feel because the position and angles of the larger pieces have been changed. Your interior decor project is making progress!

After giving your room's largest pieces a new perspective you will now do the same for the accessories. I always advise that you physically remove them from the room or area you are working in. Bring in accessories from another room, or take the extra inventory of pictures out of the closet and try something different in this room. Go ahead and take a decorating risk!

That leads right into the fourth easy and no cost home decorating idea for you. Carefully consider the existing color scheme in this room and introduce a new, never before used accent color. If you're not sure what type of color could be added, here is one course of action. Purchase something small and returnable, such as an accent pillow, and just try it. What is the worst thing that will happen? You won't like it and will take it back to the store. But, you might love it, and it is always so much fun when the decorating 'aha!' light goes on. When that happens, you will be able to add, in a small way, more of this color to the room. Remember this rule, though; more is not always better. Be thoughtful and particular about where you place this new color. If you don't overwhelm the room with it, the result will be that breath of new life for your room.

If you desire, there is one more home decor idea to introduce to the room, and that is the addition of some beautiful greenery. Placing greenery in the room can provide the finishing touches to your interior design project. Again, use a light touch with the silk plants or trees, and if possible use good to better quality merchandise. The thoughtfully placed, better quality silks will enhance the class and polish of your newly redecorated area.

Now that you have successfully made these easy, simple and low or no cost home decorating changes, step back and enjoy your surroundings. Better yet, take a break, have some refreshment and enjoy the view from a new perspective!

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Five Reasons An Ottoman Can Improve The Look Of Your House

Ottomans are a common sight in many households. These attractive and functional pieces of furniture offer not just comfort, but (depending on the ottoman) storage space as well. These modern footstools serve those purposes, and they can also improve the look of your house. An ottoman is a small footstool for resting ones feet but it also adds to the décor of one’s home. Here are five reasons why an ottoman is a great addition to your house.

1. An ottoman offers additional seating without the need for a larger piece of furniture, thus helping to avoid overcrowding in a room. Yes, ottomans are traditionally used as footstools, but today’s ottomans are often large and upholstered, and double as extra seating.

When placed at the base of a chair, an ottoman functions as a footstool, but when removed from the chair and placed elsewhere in the room, it can function as a seat. When the need for extra seating is no longer necessary, it can be placed back at the base of a chair. Its size makes it very easy to move.

2. An ottoman can function as an attractive coffee table, again helping to ease overcrowding in a room. Coffee tables are not always necessary, but sometimes they come in handy when serving beverages or food in the living room. They can however, be cumbersome in a small room, and leave little room for walking around.

An ottoman can take the place of a coffee table if need be. By placing a flat serving tray on top of the ottoman, it can be turned into the perfect place to rest a cup of coffee or an appetizer. If you move it to the front of the couch, there is an excellent resting place for a bowl of popcorn when watching a movie. When the movie is done, move it back to its original spot, and the flow of traffic in the room can move once again. This works best with a rectangular shaped ottoman that is made of hard leather since it is more difficult for the drink to spill.

3. An ottoman can also help improve the organization of a room because many ottomans are designed with storage space inside of them. The seat of the ottoman can lift up to reveal a hidden compartment. This compartment can be used to store blankets, magazines, children’s toys, or other items that can clutter up a room.

Some people buy two matching ottoman storage cubes so they can store separate things in them. All the while, they hide what otherwise could be scattered around the room. This is also useful for a larger room since it can add a stylish flair to the room that is not obtained with only one ottoman.

4. An ottoman can add a splash of color, pattern, or texture to a room with matching furniture. When an ottoman and chair are purchased together, they often have matching upholstery. However, when purchased separately, an ottoman can have a completely different, yet complementary fabric, than the rest of the furniture.

If a room has a sofa and a chair that use the same pattern, you can choose a color from that design for you ottoman. A solid color ottoman in that color can complement the seating well. If most of the furniture in a room is covered in fabric, a wooden ottoman can bring an additional texture into the room, helping to improve how interesting the room appears.

5. Since ottomans are small and usually square or rectangular (although some are circular), they are usually easier and less expensive to re-upholster than other pieces of furniture. It would be easy to change the look of a room just by changing the fabric on the ottoman and perhaps rearranging the rest of the furniture. It would be one of the most inexpensive ways to change up a room.

Ottomans are also very easy to slipcover because of their boxy shape. Many low-cost slipcover options are even less expensive than reupholstering. By having a couple of different slipcover options, the look of a room could be changed frequently. A bonus is that a slipcover can be removed and washed easily so dirt from the bottom of shoes that have rested on the ottoman can be cleaned off easily.

An ottoman is one small piece of furniture with many different functions. Adding one to any room in the house is sure to improve the look of a home by adding style, storage, and extra space. These ottomans are a great option because although stylish, you can easily change their look if you decide to change the theme of your room. These benefits make owning an ottoman well worth it and their ability to act as a storage container is excellent.

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