Feeling tired of white walls, square edges and floor-to-ceiling windows? While modern design has a huge variety of strengths, sometimes the perfect way to enhance your living room is by adding a rustic feel.
From a classic leather sofa to rugs, armchairs and lighting options, a variety of items can give your modern living space more of a rustic, classic feel. Below, we’ve listed four of our favourite tactics, from adding classic furniture to changing your living room’s colour scheme.
Add a classic sofa
Your sofa is the centrepiece of your living room, dividing it into dining and entertainment areas while setting the aesthetic tone for the entire space.
While most owners of modern houses and apartments opt for an equally modern sofa, picking something a with little more classic aesthetic appeal is a great way to add a classic feel to your living room.
Our recommendations? For a classic 20th century American feel, consider vintage sofas dating from the mid-20th century. Or, for a timeless and distinctly English feel, consider classic leather Chesterfield sofas in a dark colour scheme.
Opt for a fluffy rug
Although many modern apartments and houses opt for bare wood or tiled flooring without a rug, adding a rug is a great way to give your living room more of a comfortable, lived-in feeling.
Instead of the usual modern choice of a thin, barely-there rug, consider a timeless, fluffy rug for a more comfortable, lived-in feel. Not only will it feel great to step on in bare feet — it also helps to give your living room more of a timeless, rustic aesthetic.
Add bookshelves, tables and books
As well as giving you some extra reading material, the right books can be the perfect tools for adding some visual flair to your living room.
To instantly add some rustic atmosphere to your living room, buy a small bookshelf that can fit into one of the room’s corners. Pick out a few of your favourite books to add for decoration — if you’re on a budget, you can pick these up cheaply online or from your local used book store.
Got a coffee table? Turn it into a piece of rustic furniture by picking out a few hardcover coffee table books from your local bookstore. Books with travel photography, cars and classic fashion all work well for giving your living room a classic, lived-in feeling.
Hang paintings, prints and photos
As tempting as it can be to leave your house or apartment’s white walls bare (especially if you’re a renter), hanging some paintings, photos and other decorations is a quick, cheap and easy way to give it some extra character.
Got some travel photos you’d love to look at every day? Take them to your local printing shop to have them printed at scale, then frame and hang them. For a real at-home feeling, you can add your favourite photos to a DIY photo corkboard.
If photos aren’t your style, the right print or painting can make all the difference. From famous photographs to classic movie posters, a variety of interesting wall decorations are easy to buy online at a very modest cost.
