Renew your Living Room!

WORDS BY TIFFANY CASSIDY, PRINCIPAL DESIGNER—LAGNAPPE, ST. THOMAS, USVI. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF LAGNAPPE

AFTER: When planned well, a room’s appearance can stay exciting for years to come!

BEFORE: Just a blank space.

THE LIVING ROOM could be one of the most used rooms in a home. This is where you spend family time watching movies, talking, and enjoying quality time together.

With all the time spent in the Living Room, your furniture and décor may be getting a bit stale.

Having worked with clients to create a home that reflects their personality and needs, I’ve combined the artistic and scientific of a room to bring residents an interior that manages the complexity, and turns it into beauty.

In accomplishing this, I wanted to offer four simple yet effective tips to liven up your living room, and get you started on creating a space that improves your life.

Curtains

Making this change alone can turn your living room around; a curtain switch is quick and dramatic.

Keep your current furniture outfit in mind, but go for a colour, texture, or pattern that you wouldn’t normally go with. This change will get you out of your rut and give you something new to look at.

Remember that hanging curtains as high as possible in the room can accentuate the windows and make your beautiful Caribbean view seem that much larger.

Pillows

Throw pillows are generally inexpensive when compared to a brand-new couch or entertainment centre.

These smaller items give you plenty of opportunity to experiment with the number of pillows you have and can get you out of your comfort zone with patterns and colours you’re not used to.

AFTER: The right perceptive additions and accents birth a new room!

BEFORE: Very basic.

Accessories

Accessories or knick-knacks are great for adding little touches of colour around your living room.

Many people like to have a bowl of seashells or hang bird cages in the corners, for example.

You can also go bigger and repaint a side table or chair; this will make it feel like a brand-new item!

Re-Arrange Furniture

If buying or repurposing furniture isn’t an option for you right now, consider re-arranging what you already have. Moving a couch to the other side of the room, or changing where your bookcases are can alter the flow of your room in a whole new way.

Making big or small changes to a living room can be exactly what you need to get out of a visual rut.

When thinking of reviving your living room, consider buying new curtains, pillows, accessories, or rearranging your furniture.

Need more help? Not quite ready for DIY? Professional interior designers can make your new look a breeze. There are many qualified designers in the Virgin Islands that can advise you on everything from colours and style, to materials that last. ■

For more, follow Virgin Islands Property & Yacht on issuu.com.