Living Room Furniture Makeovers Help Beat The Winter Blues

By Author: Lisa Santora
Total Articles: 5
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Winter can seem three times longer than any other season when you're cooped up inside and looking at the same four walls. If there were only some easy way to banish winter doldrums! Updating your living room furniture is a great way to focus your energy positively on an activity that can provide immediate and lasting benefits. Rearranging existing furnishings and adding a new piece or two can rejuvenate your room and put a smile on your face!

Getting started with your living room furniture rehab project doesn't have to be difficult. You might have lots of ideas already and can't decide which ones you'd like to follow. Many furniture retailers will be happy to help you with a free home furnishings design consultation. The great part about rejuvenating your space is that you can start anywhere; there is no right answer. We do have a few guidelines to help you begin, and then you can let your creativity take you from there.

First decide if existing pieces are going to be a part of your new space. If you would like to keep some existing furniture, decide which pieces need replacing. For example, replacing your sofa ...
... and re-grouping the end tables and occasional chairs can add a dramatic new effect to your room. It could be that you'd like to start completely from scratch. If this is the case, a design consultant can be helpful in discussing what furniture might best fit your lifestyle.

A key part of your planning is the decision on how much money to invest in your new furniture. Quality home furnishings will pay dividends over the years you enjoy their beauty and comfort. There are important characteristics to look for when purchasing quality furniture and these points can help you make apples to apples comparisons when you shop. Better-quality living room furniture offers these and other features:

- Bench-made

- Solid, kiln-dried hardwood frames

- Secure support mechanisms

- Time-honored construction techniques

- Fully padded frames

- Muslin wrapped back and seat cushions

Many people crave light during the darker winter months. You can invigorate the atmosphere of your room with a stylish and inviting upholstered fabric sofa. Those long winter nights call for an inviting place to stretch out and relax. Cozy up in front of the fire and enjoy a softer, casual look by including an upholstered chaise lounge in your seat grouping. A sumptuous fabric low back sofa can be the answer to revitalizing a den or library, or a living room area near a large window.

You don't have to sacrifice comfort for elegance. Add a feeling of warmth and character as well as comfort with a leather sofa that can become the center of an elegant seat grouping. This warm look is easily accented by classic leather chairs.

Keep in mind that all of your new furniture pieces can be tied together with accessories like afghans, throws, pillows and wall art. You can also place table and floor lamps in new spots in the room and introduce overhead lighting to produce different effects.

When you're stuck inside avoiding winter's icy blasts there's no better pick-me-up than updating your home furnishings. It's a fun activity that can lead to unexpectedly pleasant results. With all of these great ways to shake the wintertime blues, your only problem now will be deciding which pieces to choose to make it happen. Write down all your ideas and get some free advice from a number of furniture retailers to help you refine your inspirations into a refreshing new style.

Written by Lisa Santora; guest writer for Arhaus. Arhaus is an ecologically minded home furnishings company that specializes in designing unique living room furniture and other sustainable furnishings and then finding the best craftsmen in the world to create them for you. Lisa Santora is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2011 Arhaus.