Whoever said contemporary living can’t be cozy?
Of all the rooms in your home, you spend the most time of all living and welcoming others into your living room, so you want to make sure you fill it with style and function. Let these beautiful living room ideas from some of the best interior designers in the world inspire your space.
Whether your living room is small or large and your taste is modern or traditional, you’ll want to select just the right decor and arrange your furniture in a way that feels right for the space as you design it. Consider eye-catching color combinations to bring life to everything from the wall design (perhaps with fearless splashes of color or richly patterned wallpaper?) to the flooring and rug selection. Looking up, the room’s lighting should be selected to give off a good ambiance, not too bright or too light, and you’ll want to hang voluminous curtains around the windows to add a pop of color or pattern that pulls the rest of the look of the room together.
No matter your taste, simple or full of patterns, these living room ideas are sure to inspire you as you curate patterns, colors, textures, and shapes with function, quality, and style you and those you share it with are sure to enjoy for years to come.
Muraled Walls
This home on Maryland’s Eastern Shore designed by Jess Weeth features a dreamy mural paper by Susan Harter. Coffee table, Arteriors. Chair, custom by Bungalow Classic featuring Samuel & Sons trim.
Coastal Flair
This Ellen Kavanaugh-designed home in Sea Island, Georgia is a masterclass in easy, breezy living. The living room is peppered with a mix of vintage and custom pieces. Kavanaugh found the vintage accent chairs with Parsons arms at Circa Who and the rest of the seating—as well as the upholstery—is from Nicholas Wolfe.
Monochrome Masterpiece
In this Naples, Florida, rebuild, Bobby McAlpine and Susan Ferrier selected a tropical grisaille mural (Ananbô) to headline the living room. Like the rest of the home, the fabrics and carpets are monochrome neutrals and earth tones. Sofa, Promemoria
Relaxed Grandeur
Relaxed grandeur reigns in this Beverly Hills living room designed by James Radin for client Benjamin Soleimani. Vintage ikat throw pillows top the Claremont-covered sofa in this home that blends British and Persian antiques with invigorating color. Draperies, Lelièvre Paris
Whimsical Wonderland
In Liz Lange’s restoration of Grey Gardens in East Hampton, teal pops from two vintage chairs by Mastercraft, complementing the sofa’s Arbre de Matisse Reverse upholstery (Quadrille) in a nod to Billy Baldwin.
Calming Retreat
Striéd walls, vintage lighting, and intimate seating areas define the living room in a youthful reboot of a 1920s New Jersey estate designed by Steven Gambrel. Gambrel and architect Eric J. Smith composed the home with invigorating pattern and brilliant finishes. Custom armchairs and ottoman, Dune.
Jubilant Expression
It had always been a dream for Garrow Kedigian to live at the legendary Carlyle Hotel, and so when that dream became a reality, the decorator looked for ways to pay homage to the iconic landmark. The citron color covering the living room walls nods to Dorothy Draper, whose signature yellow velvet banquettes are still found in the Carlyle lobby. Meanwhile, the black moldings were inspired by the building’s iron doors and the faux window mullions.
Fairytale Beginnings
Designer Summer Thornton pulled inspiration from both places near and far when it came to decorating the living room of her 19th-century Chicago townhouse. The apricot shade on the living room walls comes from a sunlit building she’d seen in Venice while the hand-marbled paper (Marbled Art) covering the ceiling also mimics styles found in that region.
Joyful Living
Janie Jones and Elizabeth Miles, the duo behind Hundley Hilton, may have different style preferences, but together they make one powerful design team. As illustrated in the joyful living room of their client’s Birmingham cottage, they know how to mix various colors and styles with ease. The vibrant yellow sectional (Lee) paired with a mod game table and Pierre Paulin-style Z chairs create the optimal space for easy conversation.
Literary Magic
Design team Bill Brockschmidt and Courtney Coleman aimed to preserve the historic architecture of New Orleans’ famous Faulkner House Books while instilling a youthful spirit in the living quarters. Aerodynamic Italian chairs in a decadent silk brocade animate the room’s existing silk draperies and duck-egg blue paint. The coffee table is covered in a velour textile by Arabel Fabrics.
Sunset Hues
Believe it or not, the soft sunset palette of Renvy Graves Pittman’s Bel Air living room originated from the antique Spanish rug. The warm tones carry over onto the apricot silk draperies and the floral sofa, upholstered in Lee Jofa’s Hollyhock chintz.
Clean Lines
Brooke and Steve Giannetti, the married duo behind the architecture, design, and lifestyle firm Giannetti Home, aimed to maximize the Los Angeles villa’s connections with the gardens and accommodate business-related entertaining. The living room features multiple French doors, framed by billowy Rogers & Goffigon drapery, that open into a sycamore-shaded garden for a private cocktail party.
Verdant Youth
Decorator Heather Chadduck Hillegas relied on buzzy patterns, verdant pops of color, and a pearly coat of paint to give this century-old Arkansas farmhouse a fresh chapter. In the living room, the sofa’s leafy Malmaison Fontaine pattern (Jasper) and a vine-sculpted tole chandelier balance the traditional wingback chairs (Mrs. Howard) and a gilded French mirror.
English Revival
Esther Cayzer-Colvin took a few decorating notes from her grandmother and co-founder of Colefax and Fowler, Nancy Lancaster, and played with buoyant patterns in the newly added drawing room of her Wiltshire estate. Italian-strung curtains in Turkish-inspired patterned linen (Carolina Irving) frame views of the lush gardens. The sofa and slipper chair are both from Howard & Sons.
Cottage Charm
Before filling this Napa Valley cottage with heirlooms, designer Dan Fink and architect Carl Baker of Ike Kligerman Barkley needed to rethink the configuration and flow of the living spaces. The biggest change was the addition of the great room, which extends off the back of the house onto the pool and outdoor dining room. The beechwood armchairs are by Sergio Rodrigues (Espasso).
Beach Vibes
To break up the ballroom-size living room in this Pebble Beach chateau, the designer Mary McDonald devised three separate seating areas, all accented by different rugs. A diamond-patterned sisal rug lays the foundation for an airy lookout. Pale, near-neutral blues on the sofa (fabric, Clarence House) and drapery (fabric, Kerry Joyce) amplify the sunlight in the living room.
Americana Drama
“I like to utilize the entire volume of a room,” says designer Anthony Baratta, pointing to an American painting by Tomory Dodge and oversize custom floor lamp, both of which take advantage of the capacious height of this New York City apartment.
Equally ample upholstered furnishings are clad in arresting colors and patterns, including cherry-red velvet (Pierre Frey) and the sofa’s block-printed linen (Christopher Moore). Plaster and marble objects, including an over-the-top amphora lamp, echo the color and classical tone of the original ceiling moldings. The medallion border on the drapes was inspired by one in a Christian Lacroix showroom.
Americana Drama
“I like to utilize the entire volume of a room,” says designer Anthony Baratta, pointing to an American painting by Tomory Dodge and oversize custom floor lamp, both of which take advantage of the capacious height of this New York City apartment.
Equally ample upholstered furnishings are clad in arresting colors and patterns, including cherry-red velvet (Pierre Frey) and the sofa’s block-printed linen (Christopher Moore). Plaster and marble objects, including an over-the-top amphora lamp, echo the color and classical tone of the original ceiling moldings. The medallion border on the drapes was inspired by one in a Christian Lacroix showroom.
Anything But Mellow Yellow
Designer Todd Romano’s San Antonio living room might as well be a virtuoso’s guide to owning the color wheel: Taxicab yellow, pure red, and cobalt are a mighty foundation for soft pastels and nuanced naturals. A pair of Chinese baluster vases fitted as lamps bookends a custom button-tufted sofa. Central artwork, C-Ring 1, Todd & Fitch.
Midcentury Cool
In the living room of architect Ken Pursley’s Charlotte, North Carolina, home, a Calacatta marble partition separates the seating area from an open kitchen, shielding countertop clutter while inviting conversation between cook and guest. The custom sofa was a wedding gift from fellow architect Bobby McAlpine.
BY RACHEL SILVA AND CHARLES CURKINPUBLISHED: MAY 18, 2023
Thanks To: https://www.veranda.com/decorating-ideas/g1638/living-room-ideas/