6 Weekend Projects For A Living Room
Give your living room or family room a weekend update with one of these 6 weekend projects you can do on a budget.
06/03/2021
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When the family gathers together in a living room or family room, it isn't long before the room starts to feel a bit stale. You become accustomed to seeing everything in a specific arrangement, a particular colour, or decorated the same way it has been for a few years. It doesn't take a lot of money to adopt a few changes that will quickly refresh and updated a living or family room to make it feel like a new room - one where you love spending time again.
There are many quick and easy solutions for updating any room in the home and we take a look at 6 of the easiest and most affordable ways to update a living room or family room.
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1. CHANGE THE WALL COLOUR
With paint being known for its affordability and ease of bringing about a drastic change, it's no surprise that we put paint in the number one spot for making a dramatic change in a living or family room. And you don't even need to paint all the walls in the room to bring about that change. Sometimes all it takes is a block of colour, a colourful feature wall or adding a feature using painted patterns or stencils on a wall.
However, if the existing paint has been on the walls for more than 5 to 7 years, it might be time to refresh this with a new coat of paint or bring in a different colour for the walls. Over time, paint colour changes and become darker as a result of sunlight, oxidization, and general living. What might have started as a subtle cream or magnolia colour tends to become a more yellow hue. All paints, even top quality ones, have a guarantee period and you should keep this in mind when buying paint to decorate your home.
Decorate a single wall in the home with a mudcloth design, an intricate pattern founded in Mali and used in designs throughout Africa.
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stencilsforwalls.co.za have a wonderful selection of large-format mudcloth designs for wall stencils.
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2. REFRESH TEXTILES
Textiles in the home can be anything from fabrics for window treatments, cushions or patterned rugs for the floor. It can even include having a dull or stained sofa, couch or lounge suite re-upholstered in new fabric. Textiles are the ideal way to bring colour, texture and pattern into a room in a way that you can afford to, whether it be a new set of curtains in a dramatic pattern or a rug in vibrant colours or something as simple as a couple of new throw cushions for the seating area.
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Over time, and just like paint, textiles tend to fade and lose their vibrant colours or patterns and replacing these will instantly wake up a room. Perhaps you only want to introduce a small amount of graphic print and you can do this with new curtains or cushions, or maybe you want to bring a splash of colour into the room with a luxurious rug. Stand back and take a good look at your living or family room and try to visualise where it is lacking and what can be done to liven up the space.
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3. INTRODUCE ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS
There is one sure way to make an impact in a living room and that is to add panelling or to use batten and board to design a feature wall. You might think that this would be an expensive project but it isn't. Have PAR pine cut to size at your local Builders store and use No More Nails adhesive to secure this to the wall in your choice of pattern. Once you're done, paint the wall and battens in a single colour.
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There are all types of architectural details you can add to walls that lack detailing: you can install a detailed crown moulding around the top of the walls, creating panelling around the bottom third or half of a wall, or you can use extruded polystyrene or timber moulding to add the type of details you like.
It is so easy to add detailing to plain walls using PAR pine, timber moulding or trim or extruded polystyrene products that can be affixed to walls.
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4. UPDATE LIGHTING
Light fittings and lighting are another way to change the look and feel of a living room or family room, especially one that is lacking in light or where existing light fittings are old and dated. Even if you don't want to go to the expense of changing light fittings, there are options for floor and table lamps that will bring layered light into the room.
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While lighting will change the mood in a living room, look at this as the first step in your overhaul and incorporate other layers we have mentioned as and when you can afford to.
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5. SET A FOCAL POINT
Every room in a home needs a focal point; it's a place where the eye is drawn to and it sets the tone for the rest of the room. A good example of a focal point is a built-in or freestanding fireplace, even if it's a faux fireplace. As the focal point, everything else in the room is arranged around this. If your house does not have a fireplace of any kind, think about a beautiful window setting or a display bookshelf, as these can also serve as focal points.
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In the absence of any focal point, a styled bookcase or bookshelf can become a focal point in a room.
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It's the small {personal} details that add personality to a living room.
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6. BRING IN YOUR PERSONALITY
It might seem a bit strange to make a point about adding personality to a room, especially since you {personally} decorated the room, but it is amazing how many living rooms lack personality. It's the small details that make the difference; a carefully arranged display of your favourite books on a coffee table, a piece of art on the wall or gallery wall, or a curated display of items you have collected over the years. These are the things that add your personality to a decorated room.
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