Everyone wants a neutral living room style. This style is timeless, bright, and looks effortless. Neutral style is similar to organic modern, modern farmhouse or coastal living rooms. You’ll find tons of pictures that I will be drawing inspiration from to give you living room ideas.
Studio McGee has made this style very popular. Ever since they blew up on Netflix, it’s become a highly desired style. One reason this style has become so popular is that it looks great in small living rooms too! Neutral style actually makes a room look bigger. You can emulate this coastal style for your space without breaking the bank. You don’t have to get a construction crew to tear down walls to make it look and feel spacious. You can just pick a few of the design principals to update your living room.
A Living Room Layout That Encourages Conversation
A living room should be structured around conversation. In neutral living room designs, you’ll notice the absence of TVs, and a focus on spaces where loved ones can gather and talk. The best way to create this atmosphere is by moving your furniture in a way that encourages interaction.
Start by facing the sofas towards each other, to ensure that your guests can comfortably sit and hear each other. This step alone makes a world of difference and is at the centre of inviting living room design approach.
When possible, try to float the couches away from the wall. This makes the room look larger. You can still do this if you have a smaller room; you will just have to be more mindful of the available surface area. Don’t be afraid to move the furniture around and try different layouts until it feels right.
Next, in the middle of this conversation area, place a coffee table or an ottoman to ground the space. Make sure the coffee table is a large size.
Natural Textured Rugs
Include a large oversized rug to spice up a living room. The rug can add color and texture. You can even layer rugs to add more interest. A helpful rule of thumb for positioning couches around an area rug is to place at least the front feet of the furniture on the rug. Again, including this textile element pulls the eye towards the centre and helps delineate the seating area.
Curtains are a Key Design Element
Curtains are a design feature so many people overlook! Curtains should always be hung as high, even if the window is not tall. Use a wide curtain rod that allows the curtains to be hung outside the window frame. With these 2 tips, you’ll make the room look taller and wide. Last, pick a pleated curtain in a neutral color.
For smaller windows, use roman blinds. You can be playful and use a pop of color, or keep it more simple.
And, like many of our little tricks to soften up the elements in play, curtains will introduce another textile in the space. You can create different looks and feels by choosing heavy drapes for a solid, grounding feature, or using sheer veils for a delicate and breezy ambiance.
Creams and Whites are Central to Neutral Living Rooms
To construct a living space that feels airy and relaxed, rely on colours that are fresh and calming. Think: light colours, like whites and creams, and oak wood tones.
Picking a white paint color can be tricky. Some favourite white paints of interior designers are Alabaster SW and Pure White SW. These work in many different spaces. If you need more help picking a white, I have an in-depth post on everything to consider when painting a space white. It’s also important to include other, softer elements within the space to create a balance.
Lightening your paint colours actually helps to open up the room. It also makes for a blank canvas, which gives you more freedom in how you want to design your space. Rather than pulling attention, it makes space for the things you want to feature. You may not be able to move any walls, but by painting them white, you’re smoothing out the background.
Add Wood for Warmth in a Neutral Living Room
It probably won’t come as a surprise that another great way to structure a calming space is to introduce elements of nature. This is where the wood element comes in, especially lighter coloured wood. In a space that feels bright and expansive, wood adds warmth.
Look for mid-tone woods. Skip wood that has yellow, orange or red tones. Wood can be added in the obvious places like flooring, armchairs, coffee tables, or bookshelves. But you can also add smaller details of wood like wooden sofa feet, and decorative wood bowls.
Fireplace as the centre of the room
Fireplaces are homey – they give off feelings of cosiness and comfort. So, rather than designing living rooms to work around a television set, use a fireplace as the focal point.
Actually, the fireplace, or the hearth, has been an important central piece in homes for centuries. We just can’t help being drawn to fireplaces, so it makes perfect sense to structure your room in a way that allows everyone to gather near that spot.
Obviously, not all homes are built with a fireplace. If your living room does have one, you can DIY a fireplace, like I did!
Styles of fireplaces
There are so many design elements to a fireplace. Here are a few to consider
The scale of the fireplace – in a space with high ceilings, take the fireplace surround all the way to the ceiling. This will help draw the eye upwards
Fireplace mantle – In some spaces, a fireplace mantle suits the space. However, in other spaces, it can appear bulky and heavy. If you’re opting for cleaner lines, omit the mantle. You’ll see this helps to lighten up the space
Fireplace design – The possibilities are endless: you can use bricks, stones, tile, marble slabs, and trim. Whichever style you use, keep the colors neutral and lighter.
Built-ins to Frame the Fireplace
Having built-in shelves in a house gives it so much character. The Neutral and Coastal Design look has really made having built-ins a must-have, especially on both sides of the fireplace. Of course, like anything in interior design, these come in a few different styles.
Arched Built-ins
In the last few years, arches have made a huge comeback. You will find arched doorways and curved furniture – and built-in shelves are no exception.
Many key pieces in a living room have sharp angles (think: sofas, fireplace, rugs), so having arched built-in shelves will go a long way in softening the overall space.
Built-ins with oak framing
Keeping with the neutral color scheme, bringing oak framing into the built-ins is one of my favorite looks. It elevates the space and bring more warmth into the space.
White minimal built-ins
The built-in trend started with white built-ins. This will remain a timeless look that is well suited with any design style
Trade built-ins for tall cabinets
If you have very high ceilings, or are not a fan of the built-ins, you could add display cabinets on either side of your fireplace to create a similar effect. This addition gives you display space to show off your favourite or meaningful possessions, and the lower space also acts as storage to hide any unsightly items like toys, tech or board games.
Pick Furniture that is Neutral Colored
Since we are aiming to create a conversation area, you will almost always see 2 sofas facing each other with 2 armchairs.
Sofa’s and arm chairs
Sofa Color – The sofa’s are most often in a creamy beige, leather or light grey color. Pick a neutral, organic palette for couches that you can use as a base to any color rug, throw pillow or paint color.
Sofa legs – One detail that is often overlooked is the shape of the legs. Opt for wooden legs that are straight. Slanted legs scream mid-century modern and don’t fit in the Neutral style.
Material – Pick a couch has a deep seat base. It makes you feel like you can simply fall into the sofa and be cushioned in. They are plush and soft.
Coffee Tables and Side tables
Most of the tables in the neutral collection are an oak wood, or lighter wood. They use different shapes like rectangles or circles. The one thing that sets them apart is they are substantial and ground the conversation area.
Create Visual Interest with Throw Pillows
Throw pillows add personal touches of color and style in a neutral space. Avoid having duplicates of the same pillow. Try lots of different pillows in similar color tones and don’t be afraid to mix patterns.
Branches and Florals add Natural Beauty
Add tall branches or neutral florals to create a neutral style living room. Even the plants are more muted in color tones. Avoid long vines like pothos. An olive tree or magnolia branch are a good alternative in a neutral living room.
Don’t Forget Your Ceiling
People often forget about the 5th wall: the ceiling! Ceiling design has become so popular recently – even I tackled a ceiling project in my home using shiplap to cover up our outdated popcorn ceiling. Our new ceiling gives so much charm to the space.
Of course, vaulted ceilings are gorgeous if your home has them, but they’re not necessarily a feature – or even a possibility – in all homes. Adding ceiling beams, however, is a great DIY project that you can do with a good friend or partner on a weekend. It’s another way to bring some wood into the space too, which adds a touch of rustic warmth to the room.
Organic shaped vases, and layers of accessories
Neutral signature style always includes vases, pottery, books, baskets, plants and decor items. Here’s a few ways to include them in your home:
- Adding a large family photo book on the coffee table makes for a great conversation piece
- Use large floor baskets to conceal kids toys, and stash throw blankets
- Use vases of different heights on a fireplace mantle to draw the eye to the focal of the room
- Display thrifted vases on built-ins. If you can’t find your color scheme, paint them with baking soda.
- Place table lamps on side tables to create softer mood lighting
- Pull the sofa away from the wall and place a floor lamp behind it
Large, oversized lighting
In a living room, you need a large light. It’s not only functional, but it also centres the room. In a living room, you most often want to use a round light fixture instead of a drop pendent or linear chandelier which is better suited for a dining room.
If you update your living room, be sure to share with me. And don’t forget to follow me on Instagram for more budget projects!
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