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6 Tips for Decorating a Living Room

Want to learn my 6 tips for decorating a living room? I’ve got them for you today! We are furniture shufflers at our house, especially in fall when I start craving cozy spaces. But at our house it doesn’t look like it does on TV when they can empty the room and put only what they want back in all in a day. We don’t have any space to store furniture while we shuffle :). Some of you might not even have room to shuffle furniture at all, it’s definitely not easy in a smaller space! It’s often Courtney and me who want to move things around. If there are any larger pieces that need to go up or down stairs, it can take weeks if we have to wait for help! But the good news is, we are slowly getting things set up the way we want them to be.

6 Tips for Decorating a Living Room

If you are in the mood to rearrange or get a new look , here are a few bits of encouragement and some tips for decorating a living room!

Real life homes take time to pull together!

We’ve lived here for five years now and had so many different arrangements in this room, often based on what furniture we had to work with at the time, or how we needed to use the space in any given season.

This week we turned our white slipcovered sofa toward the fireplace. I actually wanted it to face the fireplace when I first got it (so cozy!) but I’ve had to be patient for the right time to make it happen. With all the changes in our house due to quarantine and Courtney and our son Luke moving back in this year, the time to rearrange never felt right until now. (We’ve also been moving furniture around downstairs, too, so stay tuned for updates on what’s going on there!)

6 Tips for Decorating a Living Room

Start with a cozy corner.

If you want to get a jump start on a cozier room for fall, or if you are overwhelmed by the thought, just start with a corner! A few weeks ago we talked about creating a Cozy Self-Care Corner! This is mine. I set a cozy blanket on my chair and a basket of more throws nearby for chilly nights! (See my roundup of cozy throws here.) I have my little wood table to set my cup of coffee, my Dwelling Journal or a book. Here’s a similar stool!

6 Tips for Decorating a Living Room

Rearrange what you have to get a whole new look.

Getting all new furniture is fun, but as I often say it isn’t always the best use of resources. When you invest in classic timeless pieces you can often rearrange a room or just get new accessories for a new look! We simply bought this chair up from downstairs, the dresser from our bedroom, swapped out our sisal rug for a cozy Persian rug we’ve had for years (it was previously downstairs). We also brought the mirror up from downstairs too and replaced the art that was there for a new fall look. We love how the mirror looks with the battery candle sconces (more details on those here).

6 Tips for Decorating a Living Room

I kept my drop leaf table in this room (we have used this handy table as overflow dining space and as a puzzle table, it’s such a versatile piece!) I have this patterned coral and linen colored pillow on the couch, it’s the only new “fall thing” I got a few weeks ago, other than the foliage.

We also moved the dresser back into the room. It was actually in this room to begin with, then it was in the guest room closet, then my bedroom, now it’s back! Dressers are the handiest pieces and can work in almost any room! Here’s a similar dresser.

We put the big blue glass lamp we got this spring and my diffuser on the dresser (we’ve been diffusing Purification nonstop to help freshen the air from all of the smoke from the fires and of course, all of my favorite fall diffuser blends!).

The baskets have been on the wall for awhile. We get our baskets from thrift stores and just hang them up with a nail. You can also get a pre-made set of wall hung baskets like these.

6 Tips for Decorating a Living Room

Do what makes you (and your family) happy.

It is your home, let it bring you joy! There are no rules you cannot break. Trust your own heart. Do what makes your family happy and makes your family comfortable in this season of life. You can have a lot of pillows, or a few. Many pumpkins, or none. Lots of decor, or little.

I was thinking back to when I was a kid and how many memories I have of my mom decorating our home for fall. She made it so fun and memorable for us kids! In a social media world, many mamas these days are feeling the pressure to decorate for a photo or worry they’ll be judged by their style or how they chose to arrange their home. I say do what makes you and your family happy, whether the rest of the world likes it or not.

This new arrangement works for us in this season, and it makes sense because we have less people visiting our home right now. When we had more people, we enjoyed having more seating! Arranging your room isn’t about following rules, it’s about making it feel happy, comfy and welcoming to the people who live there.

6 Tips for Decorating a Living Room

Bring in simple seasonal touches that make a room cozier

I don’t feel the need to do a ton of seasonal specific decorating, but I love the process of making my room cozier. Sometimes that means adding a splash of fall foliage and even a few pumpkins for my own joy this time of year. It’s FUN! I love feeling the cozy fall vibes. I will bring out my velvet pumpkins soon, but for now we have these simple eucalyptus and eucalyptus/berry stems that I got after I did my post on How to Decorate with Faux Fall Foliage.

6 Tips for Decorating a Living Room

While we don’t have little kids to delight with our fall decor, we do have dogs, HAHAH! As you can see in these photos, they are pleased with the new arrangement. I worried for quite awhile that if I didn’t have a sofa or daybed under the window they would be sad. Well, turns out they aren’t sad. I’m just an over-thinker Enneagram 9 who wants everyone including the dogs to feel safe, happy and comfortable, LOLOL. The dogs obviously prop themselves up on all of the furniture and make themselves very cozy on the cushions. They are happy as a clam as long as they have a cozy spot to take a nap. And of course, as long as Jack has his leather ottoman…he’s happy as can be.

My cushions may forever be smashed or tossed on the floor, but as you can see, our living room is truly a LIVING room. It’s a cozy spot to take a nap or gather around the fireplace to read a good book. You are welcome here whether you are young, old, human or fur kid. It’s not a designer showroom, it’s our family’s sanctuary.

Get inspired with decorating ideas and tried and true tips.

Do you want some help with decorating or furniture arranging? I’ve got you! I’ve written many books on the home, including a book called But Where Do I Put the Couch? And Answers to 100 Other Home Decorating Questions! :) You can find all of my books including that one here. I never like to give rules that are stifling or rigid, but you’ll find lots of inspiration, guidelines and very practical advice for decorating, organizing and arranging your home.

Join our HomeBody Gathering Place membership community for insightful and helpful weekly lessons (led by ME!) on all things home (from decorating to homekeeping to holidays and organization), custom printable resources and community support! We open once per season, learn more here!

6 Tips for Decorating a Living Room

Who’s doing some fall nesting this week? What are you up to?

We are so glad we got our fireplace insert installed last fall. I see lots of cozy days by the fire in my future! See details on that project here.

Check out my cozy fall shop for some of my favorite decor finds!

6 Tips for Decorating a Living Room

Catch up on the Fall Nesting Posts:

14 Ideas for a Cozy Fall Kitchen

Make Your Home the Coziest It Can Be (3 Take Away Tips)

Fall Puttering Playlist

Cozy Self-Care Corner Must-Haves

Four Essential Home Making Practices for Every Season

Cozy Fall Throw Blankets

Fall Nesting and Doormats

My Favorite Fall Decor in My Cozy Fall Shop

How to Dwell Well This Fall

How to Decorate with Faux Fall Foliage

Click here for inspiration from previous year’s Fall Nesting Series!

6 Tips for Decorating a Living Room

28 Comments

  1. Amy

    I’m glad you mentioned the dogs, cause I was thinking “Oh the dogs don’t have their daybed lookout point anymore!” So funny! I would like your thoughts on your couch placement as it relates to your dining room. I have always resisted putting a couch’s back towards the opening of the room as I felt it would be too visually blocking and closed off to see the back of the couch. Did you add a sofa table behind it to soften the back of the couch? Would like to see a bigger picture from the dining room into living room to see how it all relates. I definitely see why you would want the couch to face the fire, perfect for snuggling up! Loving the fall nesting series, as usual :)

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      I know what you mean, but I think as long as you have enough room to move around and enough visual space behind and around it can feel cozy but not too crowded. It might take some careful editing and furniture placement to make it feel just right. Every room is different, our room is narrow but longer. I softened the back of our sofa with an interesting throw and I love it! I decided a sofa table would be more of a barrier and feel too cluttered so we kept that space there simple and clean. I’ll get a photo of how it looks from the dining room sometime! It’s definitely not a big room and the couch is long/wide but I love how it feels to have that cozy arrangement around the fire.

    • Hilary

      Looks lovely and cozy! Can you tell me where the shades are from?

  2. franki parde

    Out come the plethora of throws, pillows, pheasant dishes…berries on the “Beauty Bush, Pacasandra, Wild Strawberry” have already been placed in jars, arrangements, and then…..franki

  3. Debbie Keith

    This living room is everything! Cozy, inviting, textural, perfectly edited, and so full of interesting details, I want to keep scrolling up and down again and again! Love.ly. <3

    • SHIRLEY ORFANELLA

      Melissa,

      I love seeing your new cozy arrangement for fall. I’m curious about how you address having reading or task lighting in your room since I don’t see any next to the sofa or reading chair. That is one issue I am constantly dealing with. I feel my living room looks so cluttered with a variety of lights, but each of us wants one by our chair + at the desk area.

      Shirley

      • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

        Hi Shirley, thank you! Yes good question, we have lamps all around the room. We have no overhead lights so we rely on ambient lighting from lamps. I prefer that anyway. As far as task lamps, we have two floor lamps near the sofa and they are easy to move around if we need a task light such as to read or do a puzzle etc.

  4. Su

    Hi!
    Love your new furniture arrangement.
    Is it a bit tight walking into your LR from your eating area?
    Your array of colors in your LR are amusing. Did you put a blanket on the back of the couch?
    So much going on.

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      No it’s not tight at all. At least to me :). It’s hard to capture space in an image. There’s 8 feet between the wide living room opening and the back of the sofa and an additional six feet or so of wide open space before the dining room table. There’s almost five feet on either side of the sofa so plenty of room to get around.

      The room is so light and bright, the windows also add so much breathing room! You often mention areas of my home feeling crowded but to me they are comfortable.

      I definitely think style is personal preference. My house isn’t big but I don’t like minimalism so I try to make the most of the space I have without it feeling unnecessarily crowded. I for sure need breathing room but am a fan of lots of texture and comfort. I want my rooms to be interesting and pretty but practical! But again how one interprets all of that or how it feels is personal preference! :)

      • Su

        Thank you for patiently explaining your LR furniture arrangement.
        I love the coziness of the room.
        I really like how your dining area can enjoy the fireplace glow.
        Do you have a separate Dining room in your home?
        Take care with the fires around you.
        Our daughter and her fiancée live in
        Vancouver Ca. She also could breath the air from the fires.

        • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

          We only have one dining room! It’s separate but connected! Our main floor is where we live, all of our bedrooms and main rooms are on the one level. 1500 square feet.

          Thank you! The fires are awful and so much smoke, i can’t see much past my own backyard!

          • Jenny

            I love the new arrangement arrangement! It looks perfectly cozy for fall!! I love your style so much – it is so interesting and unique. Nothing better than facing the fireplace for fall! I wish we could make that work with our sofa but we have a corner fireplace. We do pull our wingback chair over to sit by the fire though!

            • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

              That’s a perfect solution to make it feel cozier! Thank you so much, we have to make the best of our time inside these days! So much smoke here we can’t even enjoy the fall days outside. :(

  5. Sandra

    Hello!
    Wondering if you might share tips on how to prep and store rugs that are changed out with seasonal redesign of rooms? I picked up sisals that you shared this summer, but now have rugs, runners and pads to “put away” for the winter. Tips, tricks, guidance appreciated.

  6. Caroline

    I was worryingly about the dogs not having their perch on the daybed too!

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      It’s so sweet how many of us care about the pups!! That stopped me from trying this arrangement so many times but haha they are fine and seem to enjoy the new view!!

  7. Pat

    Looks like a great arrangement for fall and winter with the couch facing the fireplace. I always enjoy your thoughts and ideas on decorating.

  8. Fran Marie

    I want to crawl into your pictures, curl up on your couch and take a nap! It looks SO comfortable. I become more of a ‘Maximalist” in the Fall and Winter. I want everything closer so I can stay under my blankets longer.

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Ha thank you!! And I definitely see the trend forwards maximalism for all the comforts right now! Makes sense to me!

  9. CJ

    Your living room looks so cozy! I love the touch of fall colors.

  10. Su

    HI!
    We are very fortunate to have enormous
    windows in most of our rooms. This makes our home bright and cheery as well. If you decorate a Christmas tree
    will you display the tree near the two windows in the LR?

  11. trish

    Who did your Roman shades; they’re gorgeous!

  12. Mary Huff

    I love the rug in this room and saw no mention of where it is from. Love the cream background with a touch of light blue.

  13. Lynne

    I think this may be my favorite way you’ve decorated this room yet! It definitely feels cozy! Although I did love the wicker daybed as well! You’ve inspired me to look around my house to look for a swap!

  14. Tracy

    Where did you get the tan patterned curtains in your living room?

  15. Deanna Rabe

    I really like your new arrangement! I love rearranging and redid my living room set up about a month ago! Makes it all feel fresh!

 

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