Traditional Living Room Styles

When we think of traditional living room design we often associate it with large houses, manors, hotels and palaces. Traditional living room design has existed for a long time because of the formal and graceful effect it brings to the home.

1. Lighting is essential in creating the mood of your traditionally designed living room. Make sure to use the right lighting fixtures to help you set the desired ambiance. Traditional living room design calls for soft lighting to give the room a dramatic feel.

2. The use of correct color pallet and fabrics to help accentuate and illuminate the room is also essential. Use sheen fabrics for your sofa and chair upholstery. Emphasize your living room's color scheme by using repeated colors and patterns on drapes and upholsteries. However, do not overdo by just sticking on one pattern all over the room. Make sure your design is elegant and not redundant.

3. Expose your sofa's legs by using tailored or customized sofa skirts to give your living room a more traditional ambiance. Use upholstered wooden chairs to match and arrange them accordingly without breaking the symmetry of the design.

4. Wall coloring is also important. Choose colors that will help accentuate the design. Avoid bold or dark colors for your walls if you want to maintain the open feel of the room. Traditional living room design calls for classic elegance, so keep the colors in tune to keep the ambiance in tact.

5. Choose furniture pieces that will complement each other. Avoid clashing textures, colors and loud designs. The furniture itself is part of the traditional living room design style, so there's no need to exaggerate on the choice of material. Buy furniture that comes in twos or threes to meet the symmetrical style of the design. These could be the wall lighting, sofa set, armchairs and other smaller pieces.

When you opt for the traditional living room design, you should always remember the above mentioned aspects. Keeping the room open, cool and airy is important especially in daytime. Lighting sets the mood at night time and furniture enhances the design without overpowering the style.

Part of the fun of decorating often comes from using design in creative and often surprising ways. Even if you live in a modern high-rise apartment, you can still enjoy a traditional style of decorating. If you'd like to add a traditional look and feel to your modern living room, here are some decorating tips to help get you started.

Bridging the Design Gap

If you think that a modern living room can't be decorated in a traditional style, think again. In fact, adding traditional touches can add a sense of warmth and charm that is often missing in many contemporary styles. Although you might not want to decorate in a strictly traditional style, there are certainly ways of blending sleek sophistication with traditional charm and grace. For example, you can bridge the design gap by choosing traditional furniture styles in cool colors such as gray, blue and sage, which will work wonderfully with the room's modern architectural features. Or, use the rich warm color palette that is so common in traditional decorating styles, such as burgundy, gold and deep green, combined with modern touches such as stylized metal wall art. Hang traditional oil paintings in sleek metal frames to seamlessly combine the two decorating styles. Preserve the beauty of your city skyline view by using window toppers in rich shades. Art Deco pieces are also quite useful for combining traditional and modern decorating styles. By combining traditional and contemporary styles, you can create a comfortable and attractive eclectic look that will be uniquely your own.