How to Remodel your Living Room

You’re thinking about giving your living room a little facelift. But where do you start? Which elements do you focus on? How will your decisions affect you long term? If you weren’t already considering the answers to these questions, you probably are now. We hope! 

Before you run headfirst into a remodel and end up wishing you took a different route, get a plan in place. That way you don’t just like your results, but love them! Let’s take a look through some of the steps and variables you should think through before getting started on a remodel.

1. Consider your goals

Pause for a moment and consider your current lifestyle. What is the most common activity in your living room? Who uses it the most? 

Now consider how it might change with an update. Different families use living rooms for different reasons. Parties, intimate gatherings, a seating area for many or a cozy place for a few. What are you itching to do in your living room that you haven’t quite been able to (or at least not as perfectly as you’ve wanted to)? You might want an extra nook for a desk and office space, a special game night table, or a play corner your little ones can rule over. 

Think about who’s in your life and who might soon be in your life. Certain spaces work better depending on the people you share them with. For example, if you’re planning on having kids fairly soon, you can develop an area that’s best for them. Or, if you’re hosting parents at an old age, you may want to shift around the living room layout to create convenience and stability. 

Whatever it is you want to do, avoid disappointment by making sure your ideas work in real life and not just on paper. Be sure to ask your friends what worked for them or consult with professionals like us for precise recommendations.

With that in mind, let’s consider how you can actually make changes to your space.

2. Add or redistribute space 

Whether you want to make your living room cozier or more open, sometimes all you need is to shift around what you already have. One of the ways to redistribute your space is to use your current furniture as dividers.

We recommend starting with big pieces like a couch or a bookshelf and setting them up to create separate zones. It may not sound all that impactful, but visually and subconsciously it can have quite an effect! Once you have your designated zones, you can start to fill them with smaller bits of furniture. Before you know it, you’ll have turned one room into what feels like two or more! 

Alternatively, you can actually create space if you’re feeling like things are a little too tight. Some times though, moving furniture around isn’t enough to accomplish your goals. In these instances, you may want to knock out walls or expand the area by building out more, depending on how your house is laid out. In this scenario, you’ll want to hire a professional like Fine Point Homes to guide you through the important steps of the remodel.

Either way, make sure each space has a purpose. Otherwise, the elements in the room will feel random and unbalanced. Hint: Pinterest can be super helpful for validating your ideas before you act on them! 

3. Change or fix the flooring

As the literal foundation of everything you do in your home, your floors can endure a lot. When they start to look beat up, refinishing them is a relatively inexpensive fix. In some cases, however, they might be too far gone - you could need to replace them entirely. But not to worry—Fine Point Homes has you covered! Having worked with numerous clients over the years on various remodeling projects, replacing floors is practically effortless for our team. Feel free to reach out today to get details on how we can help you craft the living room of your dreams!  

4. Update lighting

When you walk in the door or sit down for a movie, flicking a light switch is automatic. You hardly even notice when you do it. The only downside is that you might not notice when your lights have stopped shining on the right items and instead are starting to become a real drag. 

Take this as a reminder to have an extra look at the difference your lights make… or don’t… next time you flip the switch. Sometimes it’s as simple as the wrong kind of light bulb. Other times, it’s the direction, intensity, placement, or source of the lighting. Take a look at our blog on 2023 trends for some easy to implement ideas.

Think of your living room as a beautiful art composition that can’t be complete without the perfect strokes of light in all the right places. If this is beginning to sound complicated, it doesn’t have to be. Here’s a useful tip. Try setting up lamps and other light fixtures to illuminate pieces you want to draw attention to. Naturally, you’ll want to shy away from aiming them in blank or unnecessary areas you don’t want to draw attention to.  For more ideas, take a look at our blog on 2023 trends.

5. Replace your windows

We can’t overstate how much of an impact your windows have on your home. In fact, we already wrote an entire article on that very topic. So, if you’re considering changing your windows, you can read just about everything you need to know.

Think of your windows as the primary source of your lighting. As we just discussed in the previous section, your lighting is responsible for much more than you might realize. Natural lighting, specifically, can add vibrance and the illusion of space to your living room. Take our word for it, this is not something you want to skimp on! 

6. Use color

You can create a splash of color or a whole wave of it depending on what your living room needs. There are a few ways to incorporate color, so let’s break it down.

• Paint: Your walls aren’t the only part of your home that might need some new brush strokes. There are less obvious locations right underneath your nose: your baseboards and ceiling trim. A fresh coat of paint on these can really elevate your space, so don’t overlook them! 

• Upgrade or change your decor and textiles: Take a moment to look around your living room. Do the colors work together? Do you have pillows, blankets, rugs, coffee tables, and other decor colors that are all at war with each other? If harmonizing these elements feels like a tall order, try looking at a color wheel and choosing 2 to 3 colors that go together. Then replace your decor with only those colors and fill in the blanks from there! 

• Highlight a wall: Without direction and something to focus on, things can feel a little chaotic. If this is something you’re struggling with, try centering attention on a single wall. You can do this by painting the wall a different color or even by adding murals, mirrors, wallpaper, or other artwork. This is also a great way to cue your lighting like we mentioned before—if you’re highlighting a wall you’ll want to actually highlight that wall! 

Next steps

During this phase of your remodel, thoroughly consider the scope, budget, and timeframe of the project. Without the necessary research, there are far too many pitfalls for you to encounter and your remodel can become a source of stress rather than excitement. When in doubt, consult professionals to walk you through a step-by-step guide to achieve the perfect living room!

Fine Point Homes believes in cutting through the confusion around your perfect home - whether that’s buying new or upgrading your existing house. We simplify the process and stay in touch during every aspect so that you always know what comes next. 

If you’re interested in setting up an interview with our Construction team, contact us here.