Spruce up your living room
The living room is by far one of the most used rooms in the home. Whether you use it to watch television, read, study or even eat your dinner it’s always got something going on. In order to create a warm and homely atmosphere you need to ensure you design your living room to suit your style. You want the room to feel inviting and cosy, and this can sometimes fade when the room hasn’t been updated in a while. Giving your room an extra splash of life will instantly brighten it up and recreate that warm, inviting feeling that you once had. One of the best ways to update your living room and create a new sense of life is the paint. Take a look at your current design, think about the colours and whether you wish to stay with the same theme or maybe mix things up a little bit. By even adding an extra coat of the same colour, you’ll be surprised how much of a change it will make.
When it comes to painting your living room you need to make sure you’re prepared, especially if you are going to be working around large pieces of furniture and other miscellaneous items. Ensure you have large dust sheets, remove any items that can be removed from the room such as photo frames, candles, books and so on. Cover everything, you don’t want to risk the slightest drop of paint on anything. Try and cover the sofas, television and tables first, and then use smaller sheets to cover the other items. Also make sure you change into something you don’t mind getting a little messy.
Decide what colour you wish to go for, as mentioned before you don’t have to change anything to add a new burst of life to a room. A fresh lick of paint will simply be enough, however if you’re bored of the current colour you have and want something new, why not take a look at some new colours and see if any stand out to you. Once you’ve decided on your paint, you need to prepare the walls. Using masking tape, cover any skirting boards, light fixtures, junction boxes or switches, as you don’t want to get any paint on these. Then give the walls a quick wipe down with a dry cloth, to remove any excess dust or dirt.
Always start at the top, and work your way down. You don’t want to start painting the bottom of the wall first as you will end up smudging it as well as having to awkwardly work around it. Work in the same pattern as you go down the walls, make sure you stick to the same stroke as you don’t want the wall to have different lines everywhere when the paint dries. Once you’ve applied one coat, leave it for around 6 hours and let it dry. After the time is up, check to see if the walls are dry, if so you can then add your second layer. If you’re applying the same colour as before you will only need 1-2 coats, if however, you have changed your colour altogether, you may need 4 or 5, depending on the gradient of the colour. Once you have applied the right amount of paint, remove all masking tape, dust sheets and extra protective equipment and pop everything back into its chosen place.
You can always make additional changes to your living room to create an extra bit of character and revive the overall look. By changing simple features such as cushions, plants, paintings or maybe even a table centrepiece, you are able to create a new feel whilst still working with some of your older features. There’s no need for a complete makeover, sometimes the smaller changes can make just as much of an impact as the larger ones.
