Would it be horribly outing to ask for a picture of your lounge?

[TheGirlWhoLived]

I’ve recently moved and mine is just not looking right. My 8 year old summed it up saying it’s just not ‘homely’ enough- whereas the furniture really suited my previous house.

I can summon some cash to throw at it, but not huge amounts, and I have the added bonus of not being able to paint/wallpaper as it’s rented. I’ve tried looking in Instagram and Pinterest, and all the magazines (living etc.) but I would love to see REAL homes, not show homes. So if you please wouldn’t mind, any chance of a picture?

This is my living room. It’s narrow and long. I’ve brought the sofa and chair in so it’s not against the wall which I think makes it look cosier. The cushions and throw are Habitat sale and TK Maxx. The rug is from a charity shop. The coffee table I painted the top with blackboard paint. The lamps were my biggest outlay. The oversize ceiling lamp is Habitat sale (which was still pricy but I love it) and the table lamps Laura Ashley sale (also still pricy). The side tables were Habitat and were really cheap. Dining table is ikea. It’s quite a grotty HA flat but it feels very cosy in there somehow. I must confess to loving the fairy lights over the fireplace even though they’re probably naff. The mirror was Tk Maxx too.

Habitat is never cheap! Argos Home is cheap the ceiling light does have a dimmer, Ive just got it switched all the way up so I can see xfactor properly. That photograph wall is awesome @Mightygerbil I thought they had to be eclectic and mismatched, but yours looks lovely and square. I think I have an undiagnosed Square issue

This our living room. We also have a dining end which has a table bookcase and gaming desk for DH. We're pretty obsessed sign grey and mustard as you can see!!

Dining table is another thing!! This is a free cycle one. Came with the old Christmas tree, they happened to be getting rid of both 8 years ago so I scooped it up. Should I go for something more modern like glass? Or something more rustic like.... driftwood!?

Actually the side tables were about £20 each which I didn’t think was too bad. I am not very arty so don’t think I did a particularly great job with my gallery wall but on Pinterest there’s loads of inspiration for good ones. In hindsight I’d have gone for mismatched instead of black frames and tried get a better layout. But I still like it though. Dining table I think if you like the one you have keep it. What about a cloth or a table runner over it if the budgets tight? And as for glass or driftwood there’s no right or wrong. It’s what you like best that matters. Glass is a hard taskmaster in terms of fingerprints and dust though,

An easy and cheap thing would be to get coloured boxes for the square units. You seemed to have some red boxes in the pictures of your old lounge - what happened to those?

And agree with everyone else about lamps and plants.

Go to charity shops if you can't spend much - almost all my furniture and artwork came from charity shops. Makes for an eclectic style but I find that more homely than more coordinated styles.

For instance, here’s an (Argos) rug:

www.argos.co.uk/product/8709839

Slightly squared in pattern! But loads of colours. Then you can pick out accents from that.

Loads of other options but I think if you start with something you love, like picking the curtains or the rug, then you have a base to begin from.

We have a salt lamp which I don’t think cost too much. It’s pink and supposed to purify the air or something but it looks great. I also bought a ‘wishing tree’ from the Sue Ryder sale which is basically a cardboard tree with lights on the end of each branch (better than it sounds!) plus candles around too so the lighting is nice and homely on an evening.

As lots of others have said, plants! Spider plants are nice on shelves plus something with colour. Our bookcase is one of those that goes up in levels sort of like a half pyramid so we have the wishing tree on one level, plant on the next, photo on the next and ornaments on the top.

I'd inject some colour - change the curtains for ones with colour, tie in with a rug and cushions.

Then a big mirror on the TV wall, a couple of colourful pictures on the walls and some plants on the units

It just looks very sparse

Rust red and mustard yellows.golden bulbed floor lamp.cushions.

One end of our living room. Scandi here, explains the greys and ikea

shop.sueryder.org/led-tree-53cm.html

Mine is an ok size but open plan with my stairs in it, so I make it smaller by where I have my sofa, I like to be close to the radiator!
I like 'stuff' and don't really match things, if I like it I buy it.
Check out charity shops, I buy stuff then paint it.

Lamps will help a bit

Are you on Instagram? Medina Grillo has done amazing things with her rented home

instagram.com/grillodesigns?igshid=nfi0s0uqw4c

The Range is your friend!
Pick a colour scheme - perhaps a forest green and purple. Dark prints. Large rug. Candles. Lamps. The room is light and cold so needs warmth and colour

Apollo that's gorgeous

You have the same fire as me. I find lighting helps make a room look cosy but that only works at night time

I think you need to play around with the furniture layout. You have a to unit, fireplace and another unit in a line facing a line of seats. Maybe put the sofa at right angles to the fireplace, have the tv unit across the corner at an angle and the other unit where the couch is currently.

The lighting is a bit unforgiving, although I can understand if you put the main lights on for the photos. Scattered pools of light can improve a lot of otherwise rather uninspiring rooms.

This is mine at night

Yes, because the last time I posted a pic on here of my living room it ended up in the daily fail 🤣

It's quite cold and bland op, there is no warmth in there. It looks like you'd imagine a social room in a prison or youth hostel,

You need softness and warmth, candles, throws, warm muted colours.