Interior Decorating: 3 Steps to Creating a Finished Look in Your Living Room

Do you have a collection of mismatched furniture that feels undone?  Read on for my 3 interior designer tips for creating a more cohesive look in your living room.

1. Use Repetition – To coordinate two pieces of mismatched upholstery, unify both upholstery pieces by repeating one color from one piece of furniture to another with a pillow or throw, for example.  Here the blue green color of the ottoman was repeated in the pattern on the pillows, while the artwork brings everything together including the gray velvet sofa in the foreground and the new tile on the fireplace to create a cohesive feel.

2. Introduce a new design element – By introducing a pillow with blue and tan accents on the chair the same color scheme is now picked up in the tan tray that holds white coral and a blue candle, tying both furnishings together.

When creating vignettes of accessories in your space whether its for a tabletop or shelves, try to place objects of various heights, sizes, texture, and shapes together to create a cohesive whole.  Normally placing the taller narrower items at back with shorter wider items at the front works best as shown on this tray.

3. Layer a rug underneath – In this living room the striped area rug underneath helps brings together the white sectional and brown chair plus ottomans to create a cohesive feel.

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