The living room is a type of business card for your home: it is the space in which you generally greet visitors, that which says the most about you, your heart and your mind.  This is also why it is the space that you care most about and to which you devote the most attention.

A classical living room offers a unique and unrepeatable appeal, rich in styles and aesthetic features derived from antiquity and reproduced in current times perhaps with a more modern twist. However, as for other interior design styles, as much as it conveys classical symmetrical harmony, this approach can become irritating over time.

It is natural that you desire to renovate interior spaces after years spent in the same house. You don't need to start completely from scratch and revolutionise the entire micro-space, you can simply reinterpret one or two aspects to convey a new image.

Aspects such as colours, accessories, the walls or the flooring. The furniture that has accompanied you for years often assumes a value that goes beyond money: you can simply change the "contours" or modify it slightly; you don't have to replace everything with new items.

Here we offer you 5 ideas or suggestions if you are looking to renovate your classic living room, refreshing its look without structural or style changes.

 

You need to have a plan (perhaps all you need to do is change the arrangement)

When you decide to renew the interiors of your home, you must avoid plunging in without any form of research or plan. Perhaps this is somewhat obvious, but it's the case for any important project in our life and unfortunately it is often neglected out of exaggerated excitement: it's a sure way of wasting your time and money.

It's best to sit down with pen and paper and if you are “technologically advanced” to make use of specialised software, and try to form some understanding of the change desired in your living room. It may require small tweaks or perhaps more radical solutions. The important thing is that you have some idea beforehand in order to quantify costs and time required.

A first step can be seeking inspiration from trade magazines or the Web, sources of ideas, proposals and suggestions.

It is worth asking yourself: are we sure that a new arrangement of what already exists will suffice? Moving the sofa, the mahogany table with chairs or the dresser may be enough to radically change the appearance of the room. Or perhaps you just need to move the accessories around, from the more stereotyped of those in the classical style (statues or half columns, that are not really the most used) to the more usual (lamps, plants, etc.)

Renew your classic living room with accessories

When speaking of accessories, and so additions and decorations as well (we are consciously generalizing), it's all about imagination. It is the most telling moment for an interior designer, including DIY enthusiasts. A classical style space, however, requires special attention: the elegance and harmony that distinguish it is at risk of being compromised, transforming the interior into a form of circus.

It is often details that make a home unique, particularly its interiors.

The furnishings often confer an aesthetic and distinctive tone that make the space more personal. The elimination and replacement of accessories can therefore significantly change your classic living room.

It may be a matter of plants and flowers (only real), curtains and cushions, ornaments and other objects, lamps and lampshades.

These last in particular help to shape the renovation thanks to changes in light projection and not merely at a physical level.

How flooring can “overturn” the appearance of the living room

If furniture and accessories in your classical living room are all to your liking, you can decide to work on the base for your furnishing: the flooring. It is a renewal that is based on material and colour. It is clear that the effect of prized parquet will be different from a marbled material. Changing the colour alters the contrast with light and therefore the effect on furnishing.

This renewal that should always be undertaken in a consistent fashion, can also involve floor rugs, a neglected aspect yet one that can vary the overall impression of the space. Experiment in terms of size, colour, pattern and design: it may be enough to renew your classic living room without undermining anything else.

Change the appearance of your living room with colour

This is a macro structure for a designer: choosing to modify significantly the colours in a living room affects everything, the walls, furniture, accessories and decorative finishes.

It is not enough to re-tint a single element in your living room, you must analyse the chromatic circle and think of a colour scheme  upon which to base your colour palette that fits the classical style of your furnishing such as clear and neutral colours that enhance the prized materials of your furniture.

A change in tone, if done with care, can offer a new and fresh look to your living room without the need to touch or move the furnishing.

 

Walls are not just supporting elements

The last of our suggestions for the renewal of your classic living room concerns the walls. There are many ways that you can customise the walls in the living room and just as many options for renewal of the same.

You can repaint, use wallpaper, insert panels made from prized wood, elegantly framed mirrors (to create the illusion of space or increase light) and paintings, or you could even install a real fireplace. As always, the final choice is up to you.