Living Room Decorating Ideas

 

Glamorous Blue

There's never such a thing as too much blue according to designer Tobi Fairley. She wrapped this glamorous Fayetteville, Arkansas, living room in layers of pale blue tones. For a hazy and serene look, the walls are a powder blue Venetian plaster

Sophisticated Simplicity

"No fuss" was Lynn Morgan's mantra when she decorated this Savannah Row House: "I wanted it simple, clean-lined, and inviting, with a little bit of glamour and a lot of comfort." An ottoman in Zig Zag by Alan Campbell lends modern oomph between a pair of Louis XV style bergères. To highlight the architectural details, she painted moldings in high-gloss white. A David Hockney lithograph hangs above an antique mercury glass mirror. Garden stools from Emissary.

Purple Accents

In the living room of this Manhattan apartment, designer Alexander Doherty painted the walls painted Pavilion Gray, and the trim is Lamp Room Gray, both from Farrow & Ball. A blue-and-white Qing dynasty lamp and a 20th-century painting by Michael McGuigan, behind the piano, reflect the owners' wide-ranging connoisseurship. Throw by Frette.

French-Inspired

In the living room of this Victorian home in Illionois, original Beaux-Arts plasterwork and parquet set off imports from designer Annie Brahler's company, Euro Trash. On a seagrass rug from Lowe's, she grouped linen-covered Belgian bergères and a Louis XVI side table with a 19th-century French gilt settee and Dutch footstools. Vintage curtains hang at the windows. A Belgian crystal chandelier and sconces sparkle against walls in Ralph Lauren Paint's Design Studio White.

Dark and Moody Living Room

In a Manhattan apartment designed for a couple in the fashion world, Miles Redd lacquered walls in Farrow & Ball's Hague Blue, "a great way to do a moody color because of the way it reflects light. It doesn't look dark so much as rich."

Eclectic Park Avenue Sophistication

Designer Daniel Sachs used antiques and a mix of ikat, floral, and striped patterns in this high-bohemian living room. The owner's collection of contemporary art is integral to the overall style, including this series of drawings by Andrew Lord above the sofa.

California Living

With a breathtaking view of the coastal California countryside, this living room is an ideal spot to entertain. The multiple seating areas accommodate either a large or small crowd. Designer Suzanne Tucker chose warm colors for a cozy feel even on a foggy day.

Small Living Room

The soft, creamy gray color running through this small living room helps it feel bigger, since the eye doesn't focus on it and goes straight to the windows. Designed by Ginger Barber

A Blue and White Living Room

David Lawrence uses blue and white to make the perfect summery living room. The fabric on the sofa is Vizir in Indigo from Old World Weavers. Throw pillows by Ralph Lauren

Wine Country Farmhouse

Chardonnay grape vineyards surround this contemporary California farmhouse. Designer Jean Larette wanted this living room to have a seamless indoor-outdoor flow. Two walls of foldable, glass-paned doors take the place of solid walls so the owner can feel the breeze and enjoy the view.

A Modern Manhattan Living Room

"I'm a recent convert to sectionals," says designer Eric Cohler, who built the main sitting area in the living room of a Manhattan apartment around an L-shaped model he designed (the longer side is shown). "Sectionals are just so accommodating. The owners read here, the son watches TV, two huge Labs nap — all at the same time. Everybody's happy." The sofa's Torino velvet is from Yoma

Hollywood Regency Style

Designer Melissa Warner's rental living room is formal without being too stiff. She energized the soft color palette using a variety of patterns like an animal print, a floral, a geometric print, and an appliqué

High-Gloss Shimmer

This mint green high-gloss paint has a fresh and cool look that really shines. Then, to add a touch of whimsy, designer Todd Klein selected graphic black-and-white furniture and fuchsia accessories.

Blue, White, and Green Living Room

This living room, designed by Marshall Watson, evokes a traditional mid-20th-century American sensibility but with a modern twist. Watson's senior designer, Wendy Monette, mixed colors, patterns, and styles that lend a clean, graphic edge to the room, like the sofa's superscaled houndstooth and the rug's green and navy stripes.

Southern Remodel

This formal living room by Richard Norris and Mark Leslie is full of drama from high-backed furniture pieces. Green-painted screens by David Braly mimic the garden outside the window.

A Sea-Inspired Living Room

Designed by Jason Bell, this living room features a 40-year-old sofa and chairs that came with the house. They were reupholstered in a chrysanthemum fabric, Chrysanthe, from Osborne & Little. The ottomans are covered in a Norbar cotton, Wink in brick. Bell used unlined linen panels for all the curtains in the house, to let in maximum natural light.

A Cottage-Style Living Room

Designer Ken Fulk replaced one big coffee table with two African drum tables in front of the Ralph Lauren sofa. "They're better for traffic flow than one of those huge knee-knockers, and easily moved to wherever we need them," says Fulk. The galvanized steel French bistro chairs around the vintage dining table are from the Sundance catalog.

Room with a View

In this living room, designed by Jeffrey Bilhuber, one side of a back-to-back sofa faces the room, and the other side looks out through folding glass doors toward the swimming pool. The club chair has ivory-and-gray strapwork that echoes the crossbeams of the architecture.

A Masculine Living Room

In a new 37th-floor Manhattan apartment, designers David Greer and Andrew Halliday mixed modern classics — a Karl Springer coffee table, a Jean-Michel Frank-style sofa, and Barcelona stools by Mies van der Rohe that the owner's Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Emma, claims for her own.

Nantucket Living Room

In the living room, T. Keller Donovan reveals his genius for turning tradition on its head: Wicker furniture has surprisingly modern silhouettes; he designed the plaid rug with an oversize scale and put a fresh spin on the classic convex mirror by painting it blue and white. Blue fabric is carried through from the dining room. "I like fabric to go from room to room. I think it feels more comfortable that way," he says.

A Natural Living Room

Victoria Pearson gave a natural look to this living room, which makes the majestic eagle by Ojai artist Katie Van Horne look even more real. The floor lamp is made of a manzanita branch. Belgian linen covers Jean-Michel Frank chairs; hemp covers the sofa. Green, Pearson's favorite color ("It's so calming"), accents every room. The terrazzo fireplace surround, original to the 1946 house, has a cave-painting motif.

Glamorous Style

Designers David DeMattei and Patrick Wade used tailored furniture and sleek white ceramic accessories against a chocolate background, keeping the living room current in this 1905 Edwardian San Francisco house. The crystal chandelier casts an elegant light and gives the room an air of relaxed formality. White ceramic fox is 1950s Italian.

A Seaside Living Room in Blue and Green

Designer Annie Selke said, "Since this is a vacation house, I gave the family oversize tables on which they could do their puzzles and play games." Everly Square cocktail tables, Track Arm Sofas, and Bertram Chair by Annie Selke Home. Curtains are Shalini Bluemarine from Calico Corners

A Soothing Living Room

Grandly arched windows in the 18-foot-high living room, designed by Christopher Maya, are framed by the icy blue of Holland & Sherry Glace curtains in Glacier. Maya designed the sofas and had throw pillows made from antique Fortuny fabric.

Soft and Feminine Living Room

Beamed ceilings and shiplap walls lend a sense of history to this living room, designed by Phoebe Howard, while earthy neutrals and updated versions of florals and checks give it a fresh, more modern feel. Chairs are covered in a Grey Watkins linen, Aurora Bella; curtains are Hodsoll McKenzie's Albemarle Check.

Clean and Simple Lines

Three walls of tall windows flood the sunroom with light. "Mature trees march right up to the house, so it's almost like you're in a treehouse," says designer Susan Tully. "It's wonderful to sit here and watch the snow fall in winter and birds flitting about in summer." To help give the new house a sense of history, she chose an iron-framed cocktail table with an antique French parquet top and tongue-and-groove panels for the spaces between the old barn beams. John Rosselli armchairs, Holly Hunt chandelier, Elizabeth Eakins rug

Classic Blue and White

Designer Tom Stringer calls the rehab of this northern Michigan lake cottage Renovation-Lite, because he consciously avoided overhauling its charming eccentricities. A coffee table designed by Stringer holds stacks of old National Geographics. "They added the perfect yellow punch. They're so classic — just like blue and white. But we also knew they'd be great rainy-day reading," he says.

A Comfortable Living Room

Designer Albert Hadley wanted to create a feeling of intimacy in a large living room by breaking it up into smaller seating groups. Two Clark sofas by De Angelis, upholstered in Tango in beige by Lulu DK, are cozy because they curve to embrace you. A pair of Louis XV bergères is covered in glossy Athene leather in Sabbia, from Cortina Leathers. Double Gourd lamps in an ivory crackle glaze by Christopher Spitzmiller

Light-Filled Living Room

"I wanted to make everything light and airy, because I want your eye to go right out the door to the view, not be dragged down by furniture or rugs," says Allison Caccoma.