How to Achieve Traditional Living Room Style

Traditional living rooms are a staple in most homes. While most styles come and go, traditional living rooms never seem to go out of style. If you are going for the traditional look in your home check out our advice on how to create a classic living room.

Solid Colors

A traditional living room is not complete without solid colors. Try not to go overboard by adding too many colors. Try instead to keep it simple with three colors. To add interest you can use different shades of the three colors. Blue and white are classic colors for a traditional living room. Pair solids and patterns using these colors to bring a sophisticated look to your room without seeming bland. Neutral tones are also used in traditional living rooms. If you are afraid of a neutral palette being too boring try adding a punch of color to your accessories. This will help to keep the traditional theme and create added interest for the space. For a spring time fresh look to your decor, add a few pillows to your sofa in vibrant spring colors! Be bold. It will jazz up a traditional room.

Choose the Right Rug

A traditional living room requires no rug, but a rug is a great addition to bring pattern or interest to the room. If you have a beautiful hardwood floor that you want to show off try a smaller rug and be sure to include a rug pad for hardwood floors. A smaller rug can be placed under the coffee table to bring interest to the room but still show off the floor. If you are using a smaller rug be sure to use a non-slip rug pad to prevent your rug from sliding or bunching from foot traffic. If you want to use a larger rug make sure to leave a border of the floor on all sides of the rug. Never completely hide your floor with a rug. Instead leave an even border on all sides. This is a great way to add dimension to the seating area.

Furniture Placement

Typically in traditional living rooms the front legs of sofas and chairs remain on the rug while the back legs hang off the rug. This type of placement is perfect for a traditional space and helps to create a border for the room. If you are working with a larger space or an open floor plan, consider splitting up the seating areas. This creates greater intimacy and will make conversation flow more easily. If you are concerned with the seating areas looking disjointed, try using matching area rugs and an area rug pad under each seating area. If you cannot find matching rugs you can always try rugs with a similar color or pattern to tie the spaces together. For more information on how to combine area rugs in a larger space, check out our earlier blog post, “How to Use Rugs in an Open Concept Home.”

Mix it up with Pattern and Texture

As we said earlier, a rug is a great way to bring pattern and interest to a traditional living room. Most traditional living rooms have neutral furnishings. Keep the room from becoming boring by using a unique texture or pattern. Chevron is a bold print that can be used on an area rug to bring interest to a traditional space. If Chevron seems like too bold of a pattern for your tastes, try a smaller pattern or an oriental rug. Small patterns add interest but also will not drown out the rest of the room. Despite their bold patterns, oriental rugs fit perfectly in any traditional living room. The mix of colors in oriental rugs allow them to be matched with any colored furniture or accessories. If a pattern really isn’t your style try a textured rug like jute or sisal. A jute rug is a great way to bring texture to a bland room. The neutral tone of these rugs fit perfectly in a traditional living room and do not take away from the overall theme.