Living Room Decorating Tips and Ideas

There are a lot of ways you can decorate your living room. Here are some ideas on how you can play around with different objects to make your living room look great.

Flowers, Plants and Small Trees

Plants and trees add color, height and liveliness where needed. For example, you might use a large ficus tree to fill an empty corner or create a garden area with large potted plants on a tea cart. You can never go wrong with a vase filled with fresh flowers. I have a favorite glass vase in which I almost always have in-season flow­ers. This is an easy way to change colors on that par­ticular table, but flowers always fit in with my living room color scheme.

Useful Collectibles

living-room-decorationBaskets, bowls and boxes make good-looking accessories that are also practical. There are collections that are simply for display and others that are good-looking and useful. In a country house with rafters, you often see handmade rustic baskets hanging. When a basket is needed, it’s easy to reach up and pick the right one for the job. An interesting basket can hold an arrange­ment of dried flowers or foods such as onions and garlic in the kitchen, or can be used as a serving container.


It’s easy to add interest and character with antique ac­cessories. These are usually items that are purchased as we stumble on them. One area of affordable antiques is American folk art. Items such as weathervanes and whirligigs, maritime artifacts such as boat models and ship compasses, early quilts and hooked rugs are prized for their charm and whimsy. If you want to introduce antique collectibles to your decor, there are lots of books and information about items that may interest you.


Books add color and texture and make a room feel lived in. Use them in bookcases, piled haphazardly or ar­ranged neatly on a table, or placed about the room. I have a small child-size chair next to the fireplace where I keep whatever current books I’m reading. Books give a room instant character.