How to personalise your living room

We’re going to take a wild guess that you spend a significant amount of time in your living room. Beyond the kitchen, it’s the space where one relaxes and entertains, which is why most of us spend so much time on the decor. This stands to reason; the more time you spend somewhere, the more you’ll want to make it your own.

But how do you personalise your living room? How can you avoid filling it with furniture and accessories that are already in countless homes across the world?

It’s easier than you might think…

Commission a piece of artwork

We’ve all bought artwork from big-name stores only to find that a friend has the exact same piece in their living room, but if your budget can stretch to commissioning original work by a local artist (it might not be as expensive as you think), you’ll end up with something truly unique.

Better still, if you know a friend who’s handy with a paintbrush, why not ask them to create a masterpiece for your living room? Or ask your child to throw some paint onto a canvass? Art is in the eye of the beholder, after all!

Create a scene

If you can add unexpected decoration to your living room, you’ll create little surprises that consistently amaze both you and any visitors.

For example, you could drape a signed football flag from an open drawer, or create a small shrine for your festival wristbands. Whatever it is you love to indulge in, work it into your living room as a mini ‘scene’ and window into your life.

Look for ‘upcycled’ furniture

Although in danger of becoming rather mainstream, ‘upcycling’ remains a great way to find furniture for a living room that beats standard chairs, tables and drawers hands down in terms of theatre and personalisation.

Upcycling is the process of turning unwanted, disused stuff into everyday objects that regain some form of usability.

For instance, an old engine turned into a coffee table, or once battered, old car seat transformed into a lounger are perfect examples of genre-specific upcycling that will offer a unique and relevant dose of personalisation to a car lover’s living room.

Display your interests

If you’re into cross stitch or have a love of writing on old typewriters, why hide your creative endeavours?

Put your hobbies to work in the living room by displaying the tools you use. The priceless typewriter you normally stuff in the drawer might look great on the coffee table and will provide a fascinating insight into what you’re all about.

Share your travels

If you’re a passionate traveller and have oodles of photos, trinkets and plane tickets you keep stored away in a box upstairs, why not get them out and create a feature of your travels in the living room?

In doing so, you’ll add a highly personalised statement to the room but also continue to inspire yourself to travel further.

Final tip:

Don’t pick blue, that’ll make the room cold! Red? Yuck - that’ll be way too intimidating.

Don’t listen to the naysayers who douse the flames of your favourite colours when you’re deciding how to decorate your living room. It’s your space, so if you fancy throwing around a colour that goes against every home decor tip you’ve read - brilliant!

If you abide by the rules of others, you’ll never personalise your living room - remember that.