That feeling of “almost there but not quite” in your living room is a really common experience so if you’re feeling that, you’re not alone. The problem is that many of us don’t know how to recognize and fix the issues. We tend to run to the store to purchase additional items hoping that will fix the issue. When that doesn’t work we do it again until we eventually give up and stop paying attention.
It’s likely that the issue you’re having is just something that needs a minor tweak of some mismatched selections. Here’s the most common issues I see and how to fix them without starting over again.
Table of Contents
3 Reasons Why Your Living Room Still Doesn’t Feel Finished
1/ The Too Small Rug
SOURCE: Beyti Studio
Yes, I know rugs are expensive and I’m aware that many of you are buying the smaller size in an effort to save some money. Stop it!! The too-small rug is probably the biggest and most common offender I see when visiting new client homes.
A rug that is too small will create a visual disturbance and will always look off. Even if you try to trick yourself into believing it fits, your eyes won’t let you be deceived. We know when things don’t fit and the extra small rug stands out like a sore thumb.
How to Fix It:
- Be sure the front legs of all of your furniture sits on the rug. This is the simplest way to determine if your rug is the right size or not. Any furniture that doesn’t sit on the rug will look ungrounded and give a feeling of floating in the room.
- When in doubt, go larger. Never size down, particularly in a living room. I can honestly say that I have never used a 5’x7’ rug in a living room before and I don’t imagine a scenario where that would be the best choice. Most commonly, we use 8’x10’ or 9’x12’ rugs in a living room but your space may require even larger. Measure your space before you start shopping but if you’re unsure go bigger.
- Treat the rug like one of the stars of your space. It should never be treated as an afterthought of something that isn’t significant enough to spend money on. Instead, treat this like one of the most important pieces of your living room and shop accordingly. It will make a significant impact in your space when you get it right.
2/ No Colour Palette Being Utilized
SOURCE: Pamela Lynn Interiors
A home with no pre-determined colour palette will have too little colour or too much colour. Too many disjointed colours can feel like there’s a barrage of colour that attacks us when we walk into the living room. When there’s not enough colour we feel like there’s no leading colour scheme at all. This can leave the space feeling boring, uninspired or directionless.
How to Fix It:
Use the 60/30/10 formula for creating your own colour palette for your home. This will help you create a palette with primary, secondary and accent colours based on the ratio above. Here’s how it works:
Primary Colour – 60%
Secondary Colour – 30%
Accent Colour(s) – 10%
Primary Colour
This is the dominant backdrop of your home. This colour will appear on the largest surfaces and will set the tone for your home’s colour experience. This is most often the colour used on walls but can also be found in larger furniture pieces like sofa or chairs as well.
Secondary Colour
This colour should complement the primary colour you’ve selected. While it can be a completely different colour it should add some dimension without stealing attention. The secondary colour can be used in adjoining rooms, in cabinetry or in large furniture and rugs.
Accent Colour(s)
The accent colour or colours should be the boldest layer in the palette because this is where you’ll add personality. We most often find these colours in smaller furniture pieces, throw pillows, artwork, etc.
Carrying the Thread Throughout the House
One of the most significant ways to create cohesion throughout your entire home is by carrying one or two colours into the other rooms in your home. This continuity is what creates cohesion and will give your home a polished appearance.
If you feel there’s something missing in your home take a look at your spaces and see if there’s an underlying thread that ties these separate rooms together. Without this cohesive tie we might be decorating each room as its own entity and we end up with a feeling of disjointed spaces that don’t belong together.
WHAT IS THE BEST PAINT FINISH FOR YOUR PROJECT? READ THIS POST TO LEARN MORE
3/ Lighting is Insufficient or Unbalanced
SOURCE: Pamela Lynn Interiors
If your living room has only a single overhead light you’re probably feeling like something’s not right. A single overhead light may give you the light you need but you’ll be creating the feeling of an overly-bright waiting room in your home. You may also be affecting the paint colour on your walls because colour plays a significant role in how we see colour. To learn more, read this post.
There are 3 types of lighting that are essential to a well balanced living space. They are ambient, task and accent lighting and they each play a significant role in our homes. Here’s what each type of lighting brings to the space.
How to Fix It:
Being aware of the various types of lighting will give you an immediate understanding of how light plays together and performs various tasks, depending on the type of light. Start by learning and understanding what each type of light does in your space. Now you can analyze your living room and determine what’s missing. You’ll be amazed at how effectively you can deal with issues in your home when you understand the role and significance of lighting.
1/ Ambient Lighting
This is also referred to as general lighting and it’s the one source of light that most of us have enough of in our homes. This is often our recessed lighting but also includes natural lighting. This type of light spreads a glow across the room. As opposed to being for a specific task, this type of lighting is meant to illuminate the entirety of the room.
If you’re in an older home without recessed lighting you may be relying on a single overhead fixture which likely isn’t sufficiently lighting your space. This should be your first area to consider an upgrade. A high wattage light fixture can add additional light as well as replacing your current fixture with an oversized fixture that spreads light more evenly across the room.
2/ Task Lighting
Now it’s time to introduce task lighting. It’s exactly what it sounds like – it’s intended to create light for specific tasks. This could be reading lamps beside your favourite chair, under cabinet lighting in the kitchen or a good desk lamp for those late nights in the office.
The key to great task lighting is adjustability. Make sure you can switch between at least 2 settings so that the light is right for the time of day.
3/ Accent Lighting
This type of lighting is intended to highlight areas of interest. This could be down lights above a piece of art or even above the fireplace. The effect is to draw your eye to something beautiful in the space.
While you’re creating these pockets of warm light you’re also creating a high end look. Even the most simple artwork looks more luxurious with lighting above it.
Another great source of accent lighting are wall sconces that shine light either up or down. This isn’t highlighting anything but it’s creating warmth.
How I Can Help
These are the 3 worst offenders but they’re far from the extensive list of issues causing your living room to feel unfinished. If you’re overwhelmed you may need additional help and we’re here for you.
Some of the first things I address with every home I work in is scale and layout. I want to ensure that you are maximizing the space efficiently. By examining the layout I can tell if you have the most optimal layout for your furniture. If not, we’ll fix that first before we move on.
Scale can be another offender in a room with issues. Is the furniture too large or too small for the size of the room and the height of the ceilings? Sometimes we’ve moved to a new house with older furniture and it may not be an ideal fit. And this doesn’t mean you need to buy all new furniture but instead, I’ll look for ways to balance height and create a perfectly aligned scale in your living room.
Finally, I can help you save money and time. There will be no more wasted money and effort buying new furniture and decor without seeing results. I’ll help you isolate the real issue and can help create solutions.
If you’d like to discuss an upcoming project with me, reach out. I’d love to hear from you and discuss how I can help.
