When you’re redecorating, chances are one of the areas getting significant attention is the living room. After all, this is the room where you will entertain family and friends, and where you’ll spend a huge amount of your time. You might also be wondering how to allocate your decorating budget in this space. We’ve got a few great tips that can help you create the space you want; at a budget you can live with.
Living Room Splurges
When deciding what to spend a large portion of your remodeling or décor budget on, consider things that will add to the value of your home, or which will be investment pieces that you get many years’ wear out of, including:
- Remodeling the space. Open concept is the layout of choice these days, and if your home is an older, more closed off design, it’s always worth spending a little more to have a wall or two taken down to open up the space.
- Great flooring is another worthwhile purchase. Opt for something beautiful, stylish and hardwearing, like hard wood. Again, this is not only a great décor choice, but it also increases the value of your home.
- Fixed finishes, like stone clad fireplaces, beautiful built ins or massive new windows that let in light and air, anything that will enhance the appeal of the home in general, and stand the test of time, are worth spending on.
- When it comes to furniture, spend on anchor pieces. Your sofa, armchairs, book shelves, television units are going to be with you for years to come, so it’s worth spending as much as you can to get high quality, stylish pieces that you will love for a long time.
Anything that will be permanent or is a long term purchase (not seasonal or not easy to update) should be a splurge purchase. If you are on a fixed budget, then choose one or two signature, focus furniture pieces to splurge on now, and then buy simple, understated and low cost pieces to use for now, until you can afford to upgrade the others.
Living Room Savings
There are many simple, low cost ways to update the look of your living room without breaking the bank. Here are a few great ideas for low cost décor updates you can afford to do every year:
- Repaint the walls. For the cost of a few cans of paint and convincing your family or friends to help out for a weekend, you can change the color of your walls, and that can really change the feel of your living room space.
- Soft furnishings like throws, pillows and runners are a great place to save money when decorating your living room. In fact, you can probably afford to update these seasonally, which is a good thing, because with spills, kids, pets, and living in your living room, they tend not to last forever anyway.
- Picture frames and knick knacks are another great place to save, since you’ll be switching them out fairly regularly. Buy simple, basic pieces from a big box store and give them a facelift with a metallic spray painted finish, or visit thrift stores for unique, aged pieces for a fraction of the cost of new.
- Budget rugs. If you don’t have a lot of money to spend on designer rugs, and you’d rather spend more upgrading the flooring underneath, be sure to pay a visit to your local hardware store. Big name hardware stores have a surprising collection of rug options in hardwearing, family friendly finishes that are also low cost. You can always upgrade these later too!
Living rooms are supposed to be lived in, vibrant places that suit your style and your life. Allocate your budget accordingly, and be sure to budget more for long term pieces and changes, and opt for budget friendly choices in trendy or décor finishing pieces.