Feel like your living room is still a little impersonal? That’s a common issue for new decorators or homeowners.
They want their living rooms to be more inviting and comfy but don’t know how to do it without making it claustrophobic at the same time.
Luckily for you, we have interior decor suggestions that can help. Here are a dozen that can surely help you add warmth and comfort to your interiors!
1. Use warm lighting
Warm lighting can do a lot to add comfort to a room.
Cool lighting can feel too sterile, which takes away a lot of the homey feeling you want to achieve.
Try to look for lamps and lights with yellow light (around 3,000 Kelvin), to bathe your room in a more inviting, golden glow. This is similar to the glow of the late afternoon sun.
You may also complement this approach by using specific interior decor styles. When people think of creating a cozy space, for instance, Scandinavian design is often the first style that comes to mind.
That aesthetic blends minimalism with comfort for the perfect warm living room design. Combine it with warm lighting, which can transform any impersonal room into a comforting one. You might be surprised by the result.
Layering your lighting is another good idea. Don’t just use pendant lights when you can combine them with table lamps. Place light sources strategically to cast soft pools of light as well instead of having a single harsh overhead lamp.
As an added tip, choose natural materials for the non-illuminated parts of your light sources. Look for wood or linen for lamp bases and shades, for instance. It will further soften the look of the room.
2. Add more soft surfaces to the room
Soft surfaces help a room both visually and tactilely.
Consider a sofa, for instance. It doesn’t just soften the room’s looks but also invites people to come in and sit down.
A nice rug with a deep pile is the same. It can offer an invitation to come in and sink one’s feet into it, to feel the softness one sees.
Soft surfaces aren’t just decorative either — they’re tools for controlling things like comfort and acoustics. So, there’s definitely more than one reason to improve the way you use soft furnishings in a space.
Look at your furniture upholstery or the textiles in the room. Do they suit your aesthetic? Do they fit the mood you’re aiming for?
Don’t forget the floor decor either. Rugs can have major impact on a room’s aesthetic. In fact, our own bespoke rugs at The Rug Maker have been used to bring countless living room ideas to life!
We’ve done everything from deep-pile to high-knot-count rugs to help clients make rooms cosier and even quieter. We’ve even customised sizing, shape, colour, and texture to suit people’s needs.
Explore our full range of bespoke rug solutions to discover how softness, luxury, and intentional design start from the ground up. You may even get inspiration for how to design your own custom rug.
3. Add a scent to it by using candles and diffusers
Remember that scent is another sense you can work to your advantage.
Besides keeping the room smelling clean, try adding scents to it to establish a comfy atmosphere. For instance, add scented candles to the room to give it added appeal.
4. Add plants to freshen up the space with an organic feel
Plants add an organic, fresh feeling to any room.
Greenery has almost magical transformative powers in decor. They breathe life and organic softness to a space while also improving the sense of well-being people get in it.
The right ones can even help purify the air we breathe, so there’s more than one reason to get them!
Look for plants that are easy to care for indoors. Keep them by the windows, of course!
The right plants can bring in a wealth of benefits, from improved air quality to regulated humidity. Consider Japanese maples, peace lilies, spider plants, rubber plants, and air-purifying varieties like areca palms and snake plants.
Always remember to match your choice to your maintenance needs — people are different types of plant parents!
If you don’t have a lot of time to spare, don’t pick a high-maintenance plant. Go for low-maintenance ones like spider plants and succulents.
Even if you think you can only add a few plants, don’t underestimate the effect they can have on your decor. There’s a reason this tip is always included in lists of ideas for how to create a cozy living room – plants bring life to spaces in ways artificial objects can’t.
5. Consider eschewing the single-overhead-light style
It’s popular, but it doesn’t actually work that well for living rooms. It can make for an uncomfortable focus on the centre, which is better for rooms where there’s really one clear focus, like dining tables in dining rooms.
Instead, try spreading clusters of light around the room. Go for a diffuse, mellow glow that offers soft but warm illumination.
6. Use textiles to add softness and break up monotony
Use wall-hangings, draperies, and even throws on your seating. Textiles soften a room and add texture to it.
They can also help mitigate the coolness of smooth surfaces like tile and wood, so they’re particularly good when displayed in contrast to such surfaces.
7. Pile pillows around the room for visual and practical appeal
Everyone associates pillows with comfort. Might as well use them for your living room, then!
Pile them on your seating or even in a corner. You can put spare pillows out of the way but still on display by putting them in open boxes or baskets.
8. Make use of texture by appealing to people’s sense of touch
When choosing decor, think of the effect texture can have. Use the sense of touch to give a room a warmer feel.
In particular, you should choose textures that feel good against the skin. Velvety fabrics, warm knits, chunky blankets, and the like are all good options.
You can apply this tip to a lot of objects, from upholstery to pillows. Just look for things that you think you’d like to touch, yourself!
9. Look for warm-tinted decor and furniture
This tip is pretty easy. For instance, most wooden furniture looks warm from the start, so you just need to add wooden tones and objects to a room.
You can also look for items made of brass, warm brown leathers, and the like. Or you can follow the latest trends, which seem to be moving towards earthy minimalism and comfort.
Think about adding visual or emotional warmth with colours and materials. Wood is a great choice, especially wooden items with visible and interesting grains.
By combining that with other warm shades like terracotta and cognac leather, you can add both elegance and character to the space. It’s a timeless look that nearly every furniture style can go with.
And if you want to give the space even more depth, look into vintage and handcrafted items! They can amp the effect by giving it a more curated, personal, and unique feel.
10. Hang things on your walls to break up their sterile, blank look
- Blank walls can be very cold-looking. All the more if they’re painted a cool colour.
- Soften them with artwork, shelves, or mirrors. This also makes a room look more lived-in, which helps people feel more comfortable in it.
11. Check your acoustics so the room doesn’t sound “cold”
Decorating isn’t just about visuals. As we pointed out before, other senses come into play, so textures and even scents should be considered.
To add to that, you should think about sound. You see, even the acoustics of a room can make it feel colder.
For instance, if there’s a faint echo to sound in the room, it can feel very impersonal. Soften this by adding decor or drapes that absorb sound and get rid of the hollow echoes.
12. Decorate the floors strategically
People tend to forget the floors, but they’re integral to a room’s look and feel.
We already mentioned this when talking about adding soft items to a living room. But it’s worth noting that floor decor can do so much for your interior decor than add softness to it.
Rugs can split up rooms into separate areas, for example. They can indicate areas of focus and interest.
A sufficiently glamorous or unique rug can even make a room downright opulent.
You’d likely need something like a custom area rug for that, though.
Fortunately, there are many types of carpets and rugs you can try for your decoration now, whatever look you may be trying to achieve.
If you like the idea, get in touch with us and we can help you find the perfect rug for your living room.
We can even make a custom rug for your needs, if you like! Check out our rug FAQs or contact us to learn more!
