Graceful summer styling for your living room

When redecorating any room, most people become overwhelmed by the amount of choices there are on the market...seemingly for every little thing you could possibly think about.

Two of your biggest choices are your wall coverings and carpet. These two features alone can change the whole feel of the room, give that needed update to a tired room and accentuate features already in place. However carpet and any wall coverings can have the opposite effect and make the room totally ghastly!

When considering wall coverings, imagine what they will look like in different lights – natural, electric and shadow/night. This is easier with paint as you can have sample pots and try different areas of your wall, but when it comes to wallpaper it’s a little harder to have in situ. Stick at trying as it is important. With a living room you want it to feel welcoming, calm, relaxing and delicate so avoid strong colours as these may be hard to match to.

People seem to have forgotten about wallpaper as a wall coverings option. Please don’t fret – wallpapers of yester-year have disappeared, bringing new, better quality options in their wake. There are different thicknesses and patterns to choose from so have fun with it.

Summer brings us sunshine, warmth and fun so try to reflect this with your living room. Lighter colours (but not too light as they will become cold) on your wall coverings can help to achieve this. Stick with warm colours such as the reds, oranges and yellows (making sure they aren’t too bold or garish). You can hit on the white option for your wall coverings but make sure you accessorize with warm colours, and try to get a rich coloured carpet to match.

If you are heading in the ‘summer’ colours direction I mentioned above, then your best idea for a carpet is either a different colour of these (for example – you have chosen beautiful red walls, try to get a muted yellow or orange carpet) or stick with white, but if you do this, do remember – white is terrible to keep clean and looking new!

Wanting a graceful, yet stylish living space is achievable. Just realise your options for wall coverings and carpets are endless. Choose wisely and you will be rewarded.