8 Cheap But Chic Ideas to Refresh Your Tired Living Room
We’ve turned the clocks forward, the days are longer (and hopefully warmer where you are), and time finally feels like it is in our favor. It’s time to shake off the cozy winter decor, and let your home project a new, lighter mood. Change the tone with a little living room refresh, starting with these eight easy, budget ideas.
If you’ve swapped your flannel bed sheets for linen, carry the spring textiles over to the living room as well. Change out wool throws for lighter options, or add spring colors to your favorite blanket with DIY tassels. This tutorial from Paper & Stitch will show you how. IKEA’s new spring line has great DIY base options and Target’s Opalhouse is full of fresh throws.
Plant nurseries are getting their spring stock in! Nothing brings new life into a space like plants. Put them on your coffee table, plant stands — or if you’re like me and have a curious puppy — up high on their own shelf.
Alright, I know some people might disagree with this one, but giving your books coordinated dust jackets is a great way to customize your shelf AND protect your books. Cover them in acid-free cardstock or velvet and establish your own personal library with a stamp on each spine. This row of colorful books from Sugar & Cloth looks amazing against the gray living room fireplace.
Gallery walls are great, but collecting each piece and framing them can be time & cost consuming. Try one, large piece for a dramatic statement, or a completely different medium entirely. Fall for DIY’s yarn pieces are colorful and add both texture and movement to the walls.
Hit the reset button on a tired furniture piece with some new decorations. This IKEA IVAR cabinet, redone by A Beautiful Mess, gets a little more glam with its botanical cut outs and fresh mint paint.
Coffee tables are usually in the center of the living room and define your lounge space. Trying a new shape or texture here can instantly transform the room, and doesn’t have to be expensive. For this quick project, I Spy DIY uses reclaimed wood from a local secondhand shop and hairpin legs borrowed from another piece.
On one hand I want to live minimally, but the other hand is already grabbing more throw pillows. My quick switch for spring is to pull together pillows in the same neutral palette but different textures. This keeps it visually interesting but cohesive. Molly’s DIY pom-pom pillow is a way to achieve the high-end textile look on a budget.
When did removable wallpaper get so stylish? Keep it budget-friendly and just use it on an accent wall instead of a whole room, or make it more subtle and paper the back of a bookshelf. This botanical print from Betapet is so lush and full of life.