Designing a comfortable yet stylish living room can be overwhelming and homeowners are often stumped about where to start. Learning living room design basics can make the process much easier, especially if you are new to decorating. Read on to learn where to start with decorating with these basic living room design ideas.

Living Room Design Basics

When designing, these living room design basics will help any homeowner achieve their dream living room.

Assess Your Current Living Space

When designing a living room, it can be difficult to piece together furniture pieces with a clear style direction or plan. Creating a clear plan when starting any interior design project will help you choose the right furniture pieces for your style and living room size. In this living room, the paint colors were a mixture of dark and builder beige, which made the space look dated. With large bulky furniture, it can easily make the living space feel small. Take a look at your living room and decide what pieces you love and what pieces you want to replace.

Find Inspiration

Carving out time to look for design inspiration is so important. The easiest way to catalog inspiration is to create a board on Pinterest and pin the spaces that you love to the board. Once you have about 20 inspiration pieces, it is easy to spot what elements the images have in common and incorporate those into your design plan.

Identify Problem Areas

It's important to create a plan to deal with any problem areas. One was the long cluttered wall that spanned the entire living area. Previously this homeowner was simply looking to fill the space. To do so, she stuffed small pieces along the wall in an effort to keep it from feeling empty, which actually did the opposite and made it feel cluttered instead.

In instances like these, it is better to think big. Creating a moment with large-scale artwork or a large gallery wall while leaving blank space on each side for the eye to rest looks and feels better instead of using many small pieces that look unintentional.

Create a Neutral Base

Starting with a neutral base may seem boring to some, but having the ability to change out accessories with the seasons or as your style changes can save you time and money. It takes the guesswork out of decorating your living room and creates the perfect natural color palette to start with.

Neutral sofas, like this beige sofa, in a family-friendly fabric ensure that when the time comes to make changes, you can easily do so by adding in throw pillows or blankets for a pop of color

Choose a Color Palette

Choosing the right paint color can change the look of your home instantly. After all of the beige and dark brown, choosing a bright white paint color was just what this homeowner needed to instantly bring this room to life.

Whether you want to lighten up the space with a soft, neutral color or spruce up the room with a bold pop of color, choose a color that will work well with the overall feel of your home.

Test your paint color with a sample on the wall. Watch how the color changes with the time of day and take notice of any undertones that may be noticeable before committing to the color.

Put Together a Mood Board

Creating a mood board will also help you plan out what your living room design should be. Arranging images of furniture pieces, curtains, rugs, decor pieces, and paint swatches in a word document is one of the simplest ways to create a mood board at home. It allows the homeowner to visualize what pieces will look like together before any purchases are made.

Having a starting point in your living room will help you set the tone for the rest of the living room. Look for decorative items, like wall art or an area rug that will start as your decorating starting point. For this home, the starting point was the beautiful area rug. Arrange furniture and decor items to help showcase the rug as the focal point

Create a Shopping List

One of the last steps before buying furniture and decor is to create a shopping list from those same items, which leaves no question about what to purchase or where it goes in the room. Planning beforehand helps to prevent being overwhelmed and ensures your living room design is exactly how you want it.

Project Allen Designs is a Home Decor and DIY blog based out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma This husband and wife DIY + Design team take you with them as they make their 2000's builder grade home their own.