Let's consider an option that is not so often discussed on interior and design forums - a budget renovation of your living room. Not often, because people with a limited budget most often have no time for design - especially, they do not dare to turn to a specialist. However, the situation in which there is a budget of one million rubles for everything is quite common in the regions of Russia. For everything - this means for materials, furniture, plumbing, and wages for workers. It happens that people do not have any special requests, but there are other cases: impetuous and creative enthusiasts who dream of the perfect design and hang out on renovation sites for days. What should they do on a shoestring budget? Let's try to outline the correct course of action.
The living room is assembled from furniture that is different in style
The best is the enemy of the good
Let's say you have the same case when you have a full-length two-room apartment with a standard layout at your disposal. There’s no point in trying to make a three-ruble note out of it. Leave everything as it is - it’s better to try to improve the layout with proper arrangement of furniture, and spend the money that could have been spent on new partitions, for example, on a kitchen set or more expensive bathroom fixtures.
The living room should have a bright accent, for example, a red armchair and a wall panel
Zoning the premises by sector
If the apartment is one-room or studio, then it is extremely important for the owner to divide it into sectors with certain functionality. At all costs, you need to allocate a work area, rest and sleep. It is not necessary to build walls for this. It is enough to mark these areas with different colors or purchase screens. By the way, this is an interesting idea that came from Asia.
In addition to flowers and screens, you can place lighting fixtures. They are also able to delimit space according to different criteria: the type of lamp, the lighting itself (warm, cold, fluorescent). This does not make the room smaller or more crowded.
Furniture: time to retire or start a new life?
Think about the list of furniture items: what are you ready to take into your new home from the old interior. Don't get rid of everything at once. It happens that a very slightly repaired and repainted chair lives for a very long time, and the owners themselves no longer understand why, in fact, they wanted to take it to a landfill.
Modern furniture in the living room interior
Hall design in Provence style
The Provence style in the design of the hall is characterized by the dominance of light bedding colors and decorative furniture. Placement of finished frescoes or images of cozy Provençal streets with floral motifs on the walls is welcome. The shelves are complemented by decorative ceramics using the decoupage technique.
Decorative living room furniture should have curved legs with carved patterns. The floor should be tiled, never covered with carpet.
It is advisable to choose light colors with watercolor floral patterns for the upholstery of wooden furniture. The ideal option for decorating a room would be to fill it with furniture made using the “artificial aging” technique, imitating scuffs, scratches and chips.
My own interior designer
Replace the shade or lampshades in an old chandelier - and now it’s a completely different thing. Don’t let stereotypes deceive you and approach the revision of interior items with maximum flexibility: you shouldn’t discard a thing right away just because you’ve been living with it for 5, 7 or 10 years. There are many video tutorials on the Internet on updating old things. Evaluate furniture, lamps, and accessories according to several parameters: design, functionality, good condition.
The living room is combined with the bedroom and is fenced with a radius partition
Lighting
Light design for a small room Source mykaleidoscope.ru
The first thing you need to know: a small living room should not be dark, otherwise all efforts will be in vain. You should not purchase volumetric chandeliers, as they will clutter the room.
Uniform distribution of spotlights Source womanadvice.ru
It is best to evenly distribute spotlights, which will help divide the room into zones or sconces.
Light solutions in the design of small rooms Source homeli.ru
Timeless materials
If you have a Stalin-era floor, critically evaluate the condition of the parquet - as a rule, it is cheaper to restore it (sometimes it is enough to just scrape it off). Even if it looks a little older, it will only work to your advantage, because wood is one of those materials that ages gracefully. Herringbone parquet is a godsend; it will suit any interior, even if you have minimalism in mind.
The walls can be painted and decorated with framed photographs.
Briefly about the main thing
The variety of methods and methods for wall cladding is infinitely diverse, but not all of them suit the owners in terms of costs. Each type of finishing has the most budget option. You can decorate your walls stylishly and inexpensively using wallpaper, plaster and paint. There are inexpensive varieties among tile varieties.
Wooden panels can seriously undermine the family budget, but they can easily be replaced by PVC panels that reliably imitate the shade and texture of wood. In order for a budget material to meet expectations, it is important to select it taking into account the operational properties and characteristics of the room for which it is intended.
Cutting the budget into pieces
When starting repairs, pay attention to windows and radiators: they may require replacement. In this case, set aside some money for this important matter.
Living room in beige color
Now let's break the remaining budget into three parts: materials, labor and furniture. A modest interior with smooth wall lines and clear tile seams is quite capable of making a good impression - especially since we are initially talking about non-standard moves and bold decisions. But a modest interior with crooked seams and waves on the ceiling will look depressing - no matter how interesting your idea is. Therefore, choose a specialist carefully.
You can place bright upholstered furniture against the background of bright walls.
More actively involve multidisciplinary specialists who work alone and charge much less money for their work than organized teams. If you have recommendations, you will lose only in time - usually such craftsmen work well, but not quickly, but with feeling, with sense, with arrangement.
The walls and ceiling can be left in their original form with the effect of wear and antiquity
Stage No. 4. Finishing
Finishing work begins from the ceiling. If the surface has already been puttied, sanded and primed, then you can proceed directly to finishing. If sheets of plasterboard were used to level the surface of the ceiling, then the seams between them must be sealed so that the surface is completely flat and suitable for finishing.
The ceiling can be painted in any color, whitewashed, or decorative plaster can be used for finishing. The simplest option is gluing polystyrene boards ; you can also use wallpaper for the ceiling .
If the design project involves the use of multi-level suspended structures , the use of a slatted or suspended ceiling, then installation is carried out after finishing the walls and floor, since a lot of dirt will not form.
As for wall decoration , you can easily handle the installation of the vast majority of coatings with your own hands. You can use wallpaper , and don’t rush to call them a banal and boring option, because today’s assortment allows you to create absolutely any mood in the living room and even visually correct some of the shortcomings of the premises, and all thanks to the variety of colors and patterns. Eco-friendly and easy-to-hang non-woven wallpaper is perfect for the living room; textile wallpaper will bring the necessary comfort; cork wallpaper is one of the most natural options for wall decoration. Metallic wallpaper can give your living room a modern, luxurious look, and photo wallpaper can work wonders: it not only sets the atmosphere in the room, but also solves the problem of lack of space.
An all-time option for decorating the walls in the living room is painting and decorative plaster . Such walls will become a wonderful neutral background for furniture and accessories, and with the help of an accent wall of a different color you can get an interesting interior solution. Part of the walls in the living room can be decorated with decorative stone , for example, the area near the sofa, fireplace, TV or dining table. Alternatively, you can use lining, MDF panels or laminate, and an even more interesting look can be achieved through the use of soft wall panels, ceramic tiles, mirror tiles, fabric and other materials that most closely match the chosen style and preferences of the living room owners.
As for the flooring , it is important to find a balance between attractiveness and good performance, because guests, friends and family members will often be here. On the other hand, the flooring should be easy to maintain, so for the living room we can recommend using laminate and linoleum . Solid boards and block parquet are very expensive and capricious materials, but with proper care they will last a long time. An option that compromises on price is parquet boards . Carpet is not used as often in living rooms, although if the room is intended primarily for family gatherings, then it is an excellent option. To decorate the dining area in the living room, if provided, you can use stone or tiles . The most modern solution for living rooms is self- leveling flooring ; it is durable, practical, wear-resistant, and can imitate any material.
When the floor and ceiling coverings are installed, proceed to the installation of floor and ceiling plinths. After this, you can begin to complete the electrical installation work : install sockets, switches, lighting fixtures, and mount the indoor air conditioner unit.
Savings should be done with taste
Now let's talk about materials. You're very lucky if you actually managed to save something old - and it's great if it's parquet.
All communications in the room can be left visible - this is an ultra-modern solution
What remains are the rough materials, which will take approximately half of the allocated amount. The workers will tell you how much and what you will need. With the remaining money you need to buy paint for the ceiling, wallpaper for the walls and much more.
You can place completely different furniture in one living room
Choosing a floor covering
The floor is the surface that bears the heaviest load, including heavy furniture and, of course, constant walking. The choice of material depends on whether you plan to receive many guests, or whether you want to turn the living room into a cozy island for privacy and relaxation. To finish the floor in the hall use the following:
- Laminate is a beautiful, high-quality and fairly inexpensive finishing material. The surface of this material can imitate natural wood of any species. There are panels painted in more exotic colors;
- Parquet is a natural and environmentally friendly material made from various types of wood. Using parquet boards laid out in one pattern or another, you can decorate any room. Parquet is quite expensive, so it is used very rarely in ordinary apartments;
- Cork floors are an excellent natural material based on the bark of the cork oak tree. This floor has good noise and heat insulation qualities. The material is hypoallergenic and not hazardous to health. Cork can be used as a stand-alone covering or as a backing for laminate flooring;
- Linoleum is one of the most popular materials used in living room renovations. Why? It is very easy to install; even a beginner can handle this floor. The surface of linoleum can imitate natural materials from wood to granite and marble;
- Self-leveling flooring is expensive, but it is perfectly smooth and a very beautiful option. The coating with a 3D pattern looks most impressive;
- Ceramic tiles are not the most suitable option for the living room. It is better to leave it for the kitchen area if the room is combined.
When thinking about renovating your living room with your own hands, choose natural wood, cork or laminate for the floor. If desired, you can also install a heated floor system.
By correctly arranging the texture of materials and their colors, you will create a harmonious and beautiful interior in the room. Renovating a living room with your own hands is not that difficult, the most important thing is to decide on it.
We buy expensive things first, then cheap ones.
There is a great way to shop for interiors. In accordance with it, we begin creating the environment with the most expensive pieces of furniture: sofa, wall, armchairs, ottomans and in descending order.
Living room in eclectic style
Pay special attention to your capabilities. For example, a wall can be quite functional and have upper shelves instead of cabinets - their absence will significantly reduce the cost.
Blue sofa with velvet upholstery
A sofa can replace a full bed. There are transformer models on sale that can turn from an ordinary large soft sofa into an ottoman, coffee table, or bed.
Don't clutter the living room with unnecessary items
Preparatory work
First you need to decide on the scope of work and draw up the necessary diagrams. The arrangement of the living room is no different from other rooms in an apartment or private house. And one more main rule - you should never skimp on building materials.
After design comes an equally important stage - the delimitation of space. This is useful for drawings and diagrams in order to make all corrections in time in case of errors. Therefore, the discussion of the situation includes the following aspects:
- Where all digital equipment and electrical outlets for it will be located.
- How will upholstered furniture be placed in the room?
- Is a desk suitable for a computer or is a special shelf for a laptop sufficient?
- What space will the wall take for books, clothes, stationery and other household items?
- Number of lighting fixtures and their types.
- Is there room for an air conditioner?
- What additional decorative elements will the walls be equipped with?
- Availability of LED strip.
- Relevance of a false fireplace or electric hearth.
Repair is creativity for adults
It must be said that the more creativity and imagination you are willing to show in your approach to budget renovation, the more unexpectedly interesting the result can be. Believe me, you can do a lot with your own hands - the main thing is to carefully read the procedure for observing the work and become familiar with the technology. For example, almost anyone can paint walls: instead of wallpaper, try using a non-standard painting technique or even making a drawing.
You can completely abandon wall decoration
Hang the mirrors
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A mirror is a decorator’s best friend: it visually expands the space, improves illumination and adds completeness to the interior. A large mirror can simply be placed on the floor. A small one will look luxurious as part of a wall gallery. Or, instead of one large one, hang several medium-sized mirrors: they will reflect the light beautifully.
Video tip for those who want to add a mirror to their wall decor:
What to buy
- Triangular mirror with shelf from Asos Supply, 2,190 rubles →
- Round decorative mirror from Umbra with a diameter of 60 cm, 10,800 rubles →
- Small octagonal mirror on a chain from Stradivarius, 1,799 rubles →
Make way for experiments
Paint the ceiling: the price of white and colored paint is comparable, but the effect is incomparable! Surely such a ceiling in the room will become a distinctive feature of your interior.
Small living room with original IKEA lamp
Newspapers or magazines instead of wallpaper? This technique has not yet been canceled. If the best decorators in the world still use it, why shouldn’t you?
For a small living room, you can choose a glass coffee table
In the case of furniture, it is also important to think outside the box. There are many examples of the use in interiors of such improvised and inexpensive products as cargo pallets (pallets), vegetable boxes, car tires or building bricks (as in this photo). Try non-standard materials in action! At worst, you will be considered eccentric.
Stage No. 1. Project development
Before even starting dismantling work, you need to know clearly and down to the smallest detail what the living room should ultimately look like. It is important to think over an interior solution, choose a style, decide what furniture and what size will be used, where the TV, air conditioning and other equipment will be placed . You also need to decide what finishing materials will be used, whether windows and doors need to be replaced, or a heated floor system needs to be installed.
It is especially important to think about the location of lighting fixtures, sockets and switches , and this can only be done after you have decided where the main functional areas and pieces of furniture will be located. It is better to express your vision of the future bedroom interior in a visual project . To do this, you do not need to have any education or experience as a designer. Today there are a lot of programs for computers and mobile gadgets, which are not difficult to master, but in the end you can get a three-dimensional model of your future living room.
Owners of small living rooms should be extremely careful, since literally every centimeter counts, and the space needs to be organized competently, carefully measuring each piece of furniture. If you are not confident in your abilities, then it is better, of course, to resort to the help of designers, having discussed all your preferences with a specialist.
