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The living room is the heart of your home. This is where you can relax and share wonderful moments with those close to you. Would you like to make your living room cosier? You can! Big or small, with these six comfortable living room ideas you can turn your space into a truly cosy nook.
How to create a cosy small living room?
To design a cosy living room, nothing beats soft colours, accessories, and comfortable furniture.
Tip 1: choose light base colours
Opt for warm, light-coloured walls in shades of milk white, beige, or light green. These paint colours offer the benefit of making spaces look bigger than they are, and help bring a refined, warm living room to life. Wallpaper is making a comeback as well, though make sure to opt for light shades.
Moodboard jaune craft_Bloom warm natural
To emphasise the feeling of openness, it is best to pair the walls with flooring in a similar colour palette. For example, opt for the authentic oak ‘Nude’ or ‘Pampa’ BerryAlloc parquet floors with beautiful orange or blue undertones, the ‘Naturel’ or ‘Silk’ parquet floors with yellow or purple undertones, or the warm luxury ‘Gyant’ laminate flooring.
The same goes for your furniture. Opt for sofas, armchairs, side tables, or a TV stand in neutral shades that match easily. Let your creativity run free when choosing accessories: vases, picture frames, candles, cushions, throws... prioritise items you can easily swap to align with your mood or new trends. They will bathe your living room in a harmony of shapes and materials.
Tip: avoid putting too many things on the floor or you risk overcrowding the space (and making it more difficult to clean). Instead, optimise the use of your walls by adding shelves, hanging plants, and wall lamps.
How to create a cosy large living room?
To make a large living room cosier and comfortable, it is best to partition the space into different areas.
Tip 2 : Opt for large pieces
A large living room is perfect because it offers plenty of possibilities. It's important, however, to make sure that the dimensions of your furniture are in proportion. Majestic sofas, an XXL coffee table, a big sideboard, and huge plants are a perfect fit. Think big! You could also apply this tip to your wall decorations. For example, add a personal touch by opting for a big painting or picture of your family or favourite pet. In terms of flooring, we recommend laying long planks, such as ‘Ocean XL’ laminate, ‘Grand Avenue’ high pressure floors, ‘Spirit XL’ vinyl planks or ‘Essentiel XL Long’ BerryAlloc parquet. They will all do a great job at embellishing your living room.
Tip 3: Create different nooks
To stop your living room looking big, empty, and impersonal, it is best to create different nooks. Think, for example, of a TV nook or a reading corner with a large bookshelf against one side of the wall. And, if you play the piano or practice yoga, you could of course create a nook for this as well. Use open shelves, a bookshelf filled with books or accessories, low furniture, different shades of paint, wallpaper, or carpet to define the outlines of each nook. Partitioning a space without overcrowding it: this is the secret formula behind a cosy, yet functional living room.
Another tip is to combine different types of flooring. Do you have an entirely open living area? You could, for example, define the kitchen area by laying a different floor. To preserve the harmony, we recommend limiting yourself to a maximum of two different flooring options per room. Preferably by combining shades from the same colour palette, or using complementary colours. For a living room bathing in warm tones, you can choose a ‘Nude’ parquet floor and combine it with BerryAlloc’s Spirit tiles in the colour ‘Vulcano Greige’ in the open kitchen.
What gives a living room that cosy feel?
Whether your living room is modest or large, certain elements are vital to creating that truly cosy feel. Green plants, organic materials, textiles, decorative lighting, candles, and carefully selected accessories add character to your room. Which details matter the most when decorating an elegant, modern living room?
Tip 4: Bring nature into your home
A touch of green warms up your room immediately (read more in this article). Plants bring your interior to life and purify the air. Did you know that the colour green is particularly relaxing for the eyes? Monstera, Alocasia, and banana plants are always a good choice. And cacti are trending at the moment. If you don’t have a lot of space available, you may want to choose hanging plants instead.
In addition to plants, opt for furniture and accessories made of natural materials. Excellent choices include seagrass, rough wood, knitted wool, linen, velvet, and cotton. For example, opt for a rattan armchair, a faux-fur throw, a sheepskin rug, wicker hanging baskets or BerryAlloc parquet flooring made of authentic wood, such as the designs offered in the Les Essentiels and Les Exclusifs collections; or laminate flooring with a realistic wood look, such as ‘Gyant Natural’.
Tip 5: Add more lights
The secret to a warm feel is the combination of multiple light sources: a central fixture on the ceiling, an accent lamp in your reading nook and a couple of low intensity lamps. This helps you to set the mood of the living room by adjusting the different light sources, without losing the joy of dimmed lights. And to make things even cosier, you could put candelabras in different spots: on the mantelpiece, on the coffee table, or at the end of a sofa. Success guaranteed!
Tip 6: Make your living room cosier with beautiful textiles
To create a cosy living room, a rug or carpet underneath the sofa plays a key role. What’s more, a rug will help you zone the space. Comfortable carpet or Berber mat? It doesn’t really matter. As long as you pick the right size. Not too big, not too small! Make sure to add curtains in the windows. Linen or cotton gauze curtains are perfect. Next, add cushions on the sofa and armchairs, and keep a cosy throw within reach. Don’t forget the floor pillows. They provide additional comfort in the living room. For flooring options it's best to look into floors with subtle yellow, orange, and even red undertones, such as the BerryAlloc ‘Nude’ or ‘Naturel’ parquet flooring options. Don’t hesitate to use warm colours when decorating as their light, neutral base will add extra warmth and cosiness.
Strong wood floors, Parqwood, Nude natural
