Things to Do to Prepare Your Home for Holiday Visitors

So you just got news that your family from other city will be coming over this Holiday! What to do?!  Well, actually there’s quite a lot. You have to do some cleaning, hang holiday decorations, cook food and wrap gifts for your visitors.

But for a starter, how about doing some quick cleaning and makeover especially in your living room? It doesn’t have to be a grand project. Sometimes a simple thing like moving your living room furniture set around your living room can give your space a new look.

Put on your working clothes and start working your way towards a holiday ready living room! 

Here is a short list of things to do keep you guided.

1. Put away clutter and unnecessary things

Look around your living room. Do you see anything that seems to be out of place? Well then it’s time to take it out of your living room and put it where it is supposed to be. Put away any personal things and important documents that may be laying around your receiving room. If you have monthly subscriptions of adult magazines, those things belong to your bedroom so let’s keep it that way.

2. Replace furniture cover and pillow cases

Spruce up your living room furniture set by putting fresh and clean covers and throw pillow cases. If you can afford it, why not visit a home depot store in your area and buy a new set with cute holiday accents. As much as possible, match the print and style of your covers with item in your home to make it look more stylish and organized.

3. Dust light fixtures

When was the last time you dusted your lamp or chandeliers? Maybe it’s time to touch it up with a soft brush or feather duster to make it look like brand new. Plus, don’t forget to replace busted light bulbs to keep every part of your home properly illuminated.

4. Stylize your home entrance

Put on holiday themed welcome rags, decorate with holiday ornament and most importantly, give your porch or home exterior a quick cleaning. Set off a pleasant first impression by making your home look more sophisticated and cared for at first glance.

5. Add extra seats or conversation zones

If your living room is only good for your and your partner and your pet dog, maybe you should consider bringing extra living room furniture in your living room. Look for something that won’t occupy too much space but will help keep visitors have a comfortable time at home.

After completing this list, you can then proceed to clearing out the kitchen, preparing your guest room and cleaning the comfort room. Don’t be too overwhelmed with the task at hand. Get your partner help with all the housework and turn it into your bonding moment. You will be surprise at how much can be done in a very short period of time.

5 Ways to Create a Winter Ready Living Room

As the weather gets colder and it becomes almost impossible to drive because of the snow-filled roads, the next best thing to do is to stay at home and snuggle in your living room. With a good book on your right hand and a delicious coffee on the left, you can actually say, “life is good” despite the weather outside.

To create a cozy living space during your stay, moving around your living room furniture set design, or installing some decorations can easily do the trick. 

Image Credit: Echo Valley Ranch

Here are other home decorating tips to make your living space more accommodating this season.

1. Cover cold floors with rugs

If you’re suffering from cold toes, you can easily feel better by putting large rug on your living room floors. You can use carpet, woolen, knitted or any other thick floor rugs to instantly make your space cozier and more comfortable. Make sure to match the colors of your rugs by using warmer colors of red, dark yellows, oranges or olive green for that appealing look.

2. Move furniture closer together

In summer, spacious living room may be more desirable, but in winter it can look cold and empty. When hanging out with your loved ones during winter, you may want to have them closer to make room for cool and relaxing conversations. Move living room furniture set closer together or add love seat or bean bag in your sitting room to make it more warm and intimate.

3. Go for velvet, suede, or wool

Warm fabrics made from these materials makes living room more relaxed and comfortable. Use it in cushion covers or table runners instead of using polyester or silk materials. You can also hang thick curtains to keep living room look cozier and prevent draft at night. Just make sure to fully open the curtain to allow sunlight to enter the room in the morning.

4. Cozy up with lights and candles

Nothing makes a room more relaxing by the enchanting whiff of scented candles. Make living rooms more romantic by installing lamps and scattering decorative candles on different places inside your home. Just make sure to keep them away your living room furniture set, curtains, table covers and other flammable materials to avoid any fire accident.

With little home make over, you can come up with a comfortable living room face that can look and feel more accommodating to your family and guests. Snuggle up while hugging your favorite throw pillows and enjoy a relaxing living room this winter season.

Guests are coming! Prepare Your Home with these Simple Tips

In a span of two weeks, people will be coming in and out or your home bringing presents, paying a quick visit or just joining your party. Is granny, auntie, or cousins from another state coming over the weekend? How about your old buddies from a nearby city? Plus your office mates also invited themselves to try your home cooked holiday dish! Are you ready to welcome them inside your home? 

Preparing your home this Christmas to receive guests over the holidays can be challenging and a little unnerving. From scheduling visits, to buying new living room furniture set to accommodate more visitors, to deciding what food to serve, there are definitely a lot of things to do to keep your home more comfortable for your guests!

Don’t get overwhelmed!

Here are some helpful tricks to welcoming guests this Holiday season.

Write Down Your Plans

Get a small piece of paper or keep a notebook handy so you can always write down notes, lists of things to do or items to buy. If you can’t rely on your mental notes, also list down names, contact information and date of visit so you can keep track of who to expect everyday.

Call a Professional Cleaner

Your modern living room furniture set, drapes, or carpet needs some cleaning to keep them looking their best. If you don’t have enough time to give your home a deep cleaning, you can always dial a professional cleaner to make your home spotless clean. Make sure to schedule in advance so they can attend to your home before holiday guests come marching through your door.

Think Safety

After kids unwrap their presents, chances are they will be rushing to play with their toys even before you can catch them. The best you can do is to keep your home safe and accident free as much as possible.

Keep your porch, hallways, bedrooms and the whole living room properly lighted to avoid accidents especially after sun down. Make sure to position your living room furniture set in such a way that it won’t hinder the natural foot traffic in your home to avoid bumping into sofas or tables. Also make sure all fire exits and extinguishers are functional in case of emergency.

Give Entryways an Upgrade

Squeaking door or rusty screens can be a real turn off. Ask your handy man to tighten screws, or oil hinges to prevent squeaks. He can also help in installing additional racks or hooks for coats and hats while you’re clearing the doorway from shoes, umbrellas and other clutter. Decorate entryways with holiday ornaments, rags or lamps for that nostalgic and heartwarming look. 

Image Credits:  David DeHetre, Dave

Give Your Living Room a Holiday Makeover!

Holiday is a time of the year where people travel from all over the country to stay with their families or visit friends and loved ones. While most of us will be busy shopping for gifts and cooking a feast for the whole family, we should also not forget to prepare our living room to make it more accommodating to incoming guests.

Greet visitors with a warm and cheerful holiday greetings by simply hanging different decorative items or adjusting your contemporary living room furniture set to make more space for fun and dancing.

Giving your living room a makeover doesn’t need to take your whole weekend. With the available materials in your home or closet, you can instantly create a cozier atmosphere fit for this time of the year.

Show off Your DIY Skills

Have you been pinning different Holiday decorating ideas on Pinterest? It’s the best time to try your hands on some Do it yourself projects! Use your creativity to craft a unique decoration for a more personalized celebration. Check out diy instruction or videos to create holiday wreath, oversized socks and other ornaments.

Decide on a Theme

Choosing a theme for your overall holiday decoration will keep the accessories and ornaments coordinated and organized. To make it more exciting, you can choose a different theme each year instead of just recreating the same look every year. You can go modern, festive, classic, or magical Christmas depending on your taste or expected visitors. If kids will be coming over for the holidays, you can add some cute figurines or images to decorate your living toom.

Enhance Living Room Entrance

Greet your guests stylishly by draping your porch or doorstep with garlands, decorative gifts and colorful holiday traditional items. Set their mood before they even step inside your home. Make sure to match the decoration in your living room area by using similar or complementing items.

Check Traffic Patterns Before Moving Furniture

One easy way to give a fresh look to a living room is by simply moving your living room furniture set. A simple change on the angle or the placement of your sofa can help make your living room look more spacious and neat. Remember to consider natural traffic pattern before moving any item or placing decorations like Christmas trees, corner tables or extra seats.

Dress Up Your Furniture

Pick up a Holiday themed furniture covers to spice up your living room furniture set. You can also put bright table runners to spice up your everyday living room. Spread the holiday decoration around your house by putting wrapped gifts or small holiday items in shelves, desks or tabletop vases.

Make receiving guests and small parties more exciting with these tips!

Is There Anything Other Than Leather?

Furnishing a living room can be quite the challenge, especially when you are not sure on what to put in it.  If you still feel like you have everything in the bag, then consider this: One of the first things you must get to know more of is what kind of material would you be getting for your living room furniture set design. If you answered leather and nothing else, you might be shortchanging yourself to more options. 

Getting an interior designer to help you out can cost you extra, not to mention your point of view as the person who owns the house may not be that successfully translated by another person. So, the next best thing is to go online and do some research to give you ideas on how to go about this. There are always the decorating magazines and books, but unless you have a basic background on designing interiors, you might find yourself scratching your head, without that much of a clue what these things are talking about. 

image credit: hosowo

While actual publications will lead you to more sophisticated concepts straight on, assuming you already know the basic stuff, online sources are fairly much the type that will give you a “for dummies” background before getting to the “meat” of interior design details.    

Now, let’s go back to the basic details on material. There are several kinds of materials you can choose from for your sofa and arm chairs.  It really depends on your personal preference as to what to get.  Just keep in mind the methods for cleaning as this might be the clincher for you.

·         Treated canvass

This is one of the popular choices when it comes to living room furniture sets because it is easy to clean.   The strands of the cloth are already protected so cleaning up spills can be easy to do.  Just wipe with a wet cloth with a few drops of soap and you are good to go.

·         Fabric

This is a great material if you love lounging around as the material can be comfortable, especially when it is cold outside. The only challenge in maintaining this is the cleaning part as you would need to wash out the spills right away. A smart idea would be to make fabric covers for leather furniture and just replace them every time you feel they are getting dirty. The key however, to these fabric covers, is that they have to snuggly fit the furniture pieces. Ill-fitting furniture covers would make the entire living room look inexpensive, tacky, and shoddy looking.

·         Microfiber

This living room furniture set can be quite expensive but it lasts long and easy to clean. This would be the best choice for people who love lounging around in the living room but would not want to catch allergens. Animal dander and dust do not stick themselves to microfiber surfaces, so it is easy to take them out.

These are just some of the materials you can choose from for your furniture set.  Now can you be rest assured that leather is not your only option. There are more choices, so do not hesitate to see if your chosen material has living room furniture in them.

A Festive Home for the Holidays

Christmas time is considered to be the most wonderful time of the year.  Kids love this season because aside from the gifts, the decorations that fill the home make the whole place and even the whole town festive. For adults, it’s just a great time to swap presents and feel like they’re children again.

Of course, the endless parties and dinners are great things to look forward to, as well! For people who want to feel Christmas in their homes, the season is the perfect time to go all out and feel the coldness of winter and yet the warm and fuzzy mood of the season. So, aside from the Christmas tree, there are a lot of things that you can utilize for the decorations. Even your beautiful living room furniture set can be used as the focal point of your decorations. 

The great thing about the Christmas season is that there are a lot of options for decorations.  You can go the easy way and buy everything and just hang them around the house.  If you are the crafty one, you can go the do-it-yourself-route.  This is a great thing to do as you can involve the kids and it becomes a bonding activity that kids look forward to every year.

Moreover, this is the holiday where all rooms of the house can get a special treatment. You really can’t get a bedroom decorated for Halloween, right? However, you can get Christmas linens for the bedroom, green and red candles for the dining tables, and of course, a beautiful tapestry, among other things, for the living room.

Here are more design ideas you can incorporate for the living room to give it a special Christmas spirit:

•    Use ribbons for color

Ribbons are affordable and readily available in different materials. It is great to use to add color to the place.  Place extra-wide ribbons on the front door for a pop of color against the white paint and green wreath. Other great factors about ribbons are the different textures, which you can mix and match, and the colors, of course. Use shiny ribbon fabric in rich, deep colors associated with the season such as forest green and burgundy.

•    Utilize pinecones 

 

These are abundant this season.  You can paint them in any colors and even use glitter for the sparkly effect.  And yes, they may give off that winter aroma that could get anyone pumped up and excited for the season.

•    Add lights

 

Lights on the tree are common but you can also use lights to decorate the whole room. Use holiday colors of green, orange, and red.

•    Colorful pillows

These can be placed on the living room furniture set to add more color and life.  Your living room will really look festive.

These are just some sublime suggestions to get your living room in a festive mood. It may not be overkill, but these tasteful accents can definitely make anyone feel the spirit of the season.

Image Credits: trendszine, cambreenotes, smoothwink

Can Traditional Patterns Be Used in Contemporary Furniture?

Shopping for new furniture can be a fun activity.  If you do not have any idea on where to start, you can have the opinions of an expert like an interior designer on how to go about with designing your space. On the other hand, if you want to stay away from paying professional fees, you can definitely go online to look for ideas as well as to know the latest trends in design.  This way, you will be able to find the perfect contemporary living room furniture set that will definitely make your home look like those living spaces that you see in magazines or the ones featured in decorating sites.

If you want to have a polished look for your house, then a contemporary theme is recommended. Yet, you may also want to consider adding more traditional elements, because adhering too much to the latest trends may take away some degree of sophistication to your space. One way of making your living room look contemporary yet still maintain the traditional feel is by mixing patterns into your décor.  Traditional patterns like plaid, argyle and chevron will definitely give your living room an established and not too flashy look.  The great thing about this is that you can mix and match styles as this would make your room unique in its own way. 

Here are some furniture patterns you should consider:

·       Chevron 

 

This is one of the prints that are making a huge comeback, not just in fashion but also in contemporary living room décor. For those who want to make this pattern work, color is of utmost importance. Get something in magenta or pink to make the piece more feminine, and bold and dark for those who want to give their room a manly appeal. 

·       Stripes

 

 This is a traditional print that does not go out of style.  A wise way of making any furniture in stripes look contemporary furniture is going with smaller patterns, like pin stripes. Wide stripes can also be considered, but they need to be in darker colors so they won’t look too loud.

·       Polka Dots 

 

This is another traditional print that is still being widely used today. But this is another print that should be used with caution. Dark , smaller dots should be used to avoid making the space look too busy.

·       Floral prints 

 

This is one traditional print that you still see in modern contemporary houses. The approach to this print should be careful, as some floral prints may look too feminine.

Using these prints is relatively easy.  You can start with choosing the color palette that you would want to use for your living room and build it from there.  It is advised though, that if prints are used on furniture pieces, the walls should be in solid colors, and vice versa. Having prints in both walls and furniture pieces will make the room look crazy! Varying sizes of the pattern will definitely leave out the boring factor in your living room furniture set. 

Image Credit: decorpad.com

The Right Colors for Contemporary Living Rooms

You have been meaning to give your living room a new look and you finally, you have the chance.   Now that the time has come, difficult (okay, that may be exaggerated, let’s go with challenging) decisions have to be made. One of the first things to consider in a design point of view would be the color scheme that you would want to put in place.  The chosen color scheme would (and should) be a crucial factor in tying up the whole look of the place. By place, we of course include the contemporary living room furniture set that would most likely be the centerpiece of the whole room, unless you’re going for a Japanese Zen look that would only have cushions, a huge, super low wooden table and a rug. 

On choosing the color for a contemporary look, you have several options.  But take note: Contemporary looking living rooms usually gear toward light and basic colors. Gone are the days when living rooms would have dark colors because of the wood material often used to decorate it.  Now, living rooms have a light and welcoming feel because of the modern color schemes installed. Of course, that is not to say that wood is not present as a material in contemporary furniture pieces. On the contrary, it is still very much used. However, wooden pieces are given lighter shades to imbibe a more contemporary appearance, so they maintain their popularity. 

Here are some colors that would surely make any make any living room furniture set (as long as it is made of good material and the design detail is not dated):

·         White and Peach 

 

This is one of the combinations that you can often see in contemporary living rooms for your family.  The white trim scheme gives it a traditional look while the peach colored walls give the place a modern boost. Yes, you read that right, peach and white – peach for the walls and surroundings and white for the furniture pieces or the living room furniture set. By peach, we are not talking about bright peach, but more into a warm but subdued shade. This combo is warm and inviting as a living room should look like.

·         Linen Beige and Wisteria Purple 

 

This combination might be a bit too modern for those who prefer traditional colors but the beige color anchors the look in the minimalist feel.  The purple gives it a modern and contemporary twist that would work well as an accent color. The contrast of the two colors would surely make any living room look eternally sleek. There’s that look some things have when they always look new even if they’re years old already. This color combination evokes that effect.

·         Browns and greens 

 

 These will definitely give the living room furniture set a modern look and feel. You can go two ways: Make the browns truly earth toned while your greens in a crisper light hue, or your greens in a very natural green while your browns border on ecru. The look achieved is very sophisticated.

There you go!

These are some suggestions for color combos for contemporary rooms set ups that will surely make your living room look grand. Tweak the colors accordingly, like if you’re biased towards blue, make the Wisteria Purple gear more toward a bluish hue, or if you’re a fan of orange, make your browns brighter.

Image Credits: mcgrawdesign,bgh,

Designing a Living Room for the Family

The living room is the part of the house where most families converge for the most part when they are at home, apart from the dining room.  This is also the first room of the house that guests usually see once they go in.   It clearly reflects the personality of the people and the family living in it, or at least how they want to be perceived by their visitors or anyone seeing it.  Thus, a living room furniture set says a lot about the people living under its roof.

How to Design your Living Room

When designing a living room for a family, there should be a consensus on what to place in it.  It would be sad if only mom’s opinion of what should be in a living room is considered. Also, there are considerations when it comes to the younger members of the family. Some furniture pieces may not be practical to own or place in a living room is small children run around the house. If household pets that aren’t potty trained are allowed to roam around the house, floor treatments like rugs and carpets may be impractical to put in a living room. 

Of course, the first thing to consider when choosing the furniture to comprise a living room furniture set is functionality and quality.  It is also important to consider safety and comfort.   

Here are some things that you might want to incorporate into the design of a living room:

·         Rug 

 Modern Rug Design for Living Room

A rug is good to have in this area to help protect your floor from spills and scratches.  As mentioned earlier, if you have pets that are likely to soil your rugs, rugs that do not require expensive treatment would be your best bet. If you prefer an easy to clean and maintain rug, then a bamboo area rug would be the ideal piece for your living room. 

·         Couch or sofa set

Leather Sofa Set

 

This is an essential item in the living room. Choose ones with clean lines if you want to have a classic look for your living room.  Pre-treated fabric is best if you have kids. That’s because wiping this kind of fabric with sponge alone will easily clean spills and the usual food-related “accidents.”

·         Coffee table 

Glass Coffee Table

Some might say this is not important but this is a great help if you have guests that you want to entertain in this room. Make the entire living room look more organic and alive just by placing a flower arrangement on the table’s center. Otherwise, a coffee table book or two would provide an instant conversation piece, not to mention   

·         Arm chair 

Leather Accent Chair

This could be the designated daddy chair. Whatever its design is, this piece will surely add the comfort and “home” dimension to your otherwise cold living room.

Your living room furniture set will complete the look of the place, so make sure to choose wisely and think of how you want your space to come across to other people.

Image Credits: homedesignresource.com , ladesignfurniture.com

Three Celebrity Living Rooms That Inspire

Celebrities are people we look up to when it comes to fashion and lifestyle.  Also, we take into consideration their personal aesthetic preference, be it for fashion, food, fitness, or even decorating when we do our own. Thus, it comes as no surprise that celebrity homes have become often featured in shows and glossy magazines. There’s obviously a market for it, from Elle Décor, Architectural Digest, to MTV’s Cribs gaining mass following. We simply want to copy their style, including their modern living room furniture set picks into our own homes. 

So many “celebrities” (not particularly television or movie actors, but just personalities we see in reality shows and the red carpet) have cashed in on this influence, much to their financial gain. Kim Kardashian, who we only see in a reality show with her family, has fashion boutiques that are making a killing. “Celebutantes” Lauren Conrad and Nicole Richie have become novelists with bestsellers under their belt. We are currently living in an age where “celebrity taste” is held in high esteem, even if it doesn’t exactly fit our personal likes and styles. But then, as they have the money and more than enough help with their team of experts, following or at least, getting inspired by them would not be such a bad idea.  

If you are doing some redecorating, you might want to copy the interior decorating style s of some stars.  You can always go online to check on some pictures to see if their styles do reflect your own.  

 Here are some amazing homes that you might want to see:

·         Anjelika Huston’s living room in her Central Valley, California ranch