Having spent so much time at home over the last few years, it’s only normal for some of us to start feeling like the furniture in our homes has gotten a bit stale. Let’s start 2022 off with a facelift to our homes! Check out some of these trends that may work in your living space.
Keep an eye out for the 
1. Mix and Match
With all of the furniture options out there, it’s important to remember that different furniture styles can go perfectly together. Mixing and matching different items is a good place to start exploring not only what looks good, but the aesthetic you actually like. Try mixing different materials like wood with metal or different finishes like black with white. You can even have a mixture of different styles like rustic, contemporary, and modern in the room. Hopefully, by playing around with different options, the result is a dining room, living room, or bedroom that looks more stunning and more you than it was before.
This furniture design tip is especially useful if you are on a budget and need to buy the furniture on your own. You can buy a few pieces of furniture that are not too expensive and combine them with your current pieces without going out of your budget. Or, if you aren’t looking to buy a lot of new furniture this year, try shuffling furniture placement throughout your house and move that sofa from your basement to your living room and pair it with an ottoman you may have in a reading room no one really had seen. By mixing things up, you’ll breathe new life into your space and give it a new, updated look!
Summary: Mix and match different colors, materials, and styles to create new looks while also rearranging the furniture in your home to update your spaces!
2. Use High Quality
If you’re looking for that more sophisticated look, it's becoming more and more popular to invest in the highest-quality materials that you can buy. When thinking about the long run, it really actually ends up saving you money, because if you decide to pay a few hundred dollars for a new recliner, sofa, or dining room set that is made with high-quality materials, it will both last longer and serve you longer. A well-made couch, chair, and bedroom set can be thoroughly used for years to come while also creating an environment of luxury and sophistication.
This furniture design tip is especially useful for those that may not have their forever home yet but are beginning to invest in furniture. If you have a room in the house that is used less frequently and are planning to move into a new home, you can use the sofa, recliner, sectional, etc. in your new home and create a sophisticated look with essentially a brand-new item.
Summary:Using higher-quality materials saves you money down the road in terms of longevity, while also giving your home a sophisticated look!
3. Use Less, Not More
Homes with rooms that have a lot of clutter tend to look older, not because of their style or décor but because they no longer look clean and tidy while making the overall space look smaller. Having a clean home and making sure rooms aren’t overflowing with items makes your home not only look larger but more refined. You can do this by placing a nice area rug on the floor of your rooms, making sure it is cleaned regularly, and only having one or two items placed on it, if anything. By doing this, it will give your room a very crisp, open look.
Summary: Having less in your space and keeping it clean makes rooms look larger and more refined!
4. Decorate with Mirrors
If you have a living room, dining room, bedroom, or even a bathroom that is big enough, use the space to your advantage and decorate it with as many mirrors as possible. Mirrors are used in bathrooms to provide light, but they can be used to reflect light into your bedroom. This furniture design tip is really useful if you want to increase the perceived size of your room and make it look more spacious. Plus, they can work as great decorations throughout your home!
Summary: By decorating with accent mirrors, your rooms are perceived as larger!
5. Include Cozy Pillows
Having cozy throw pillows in your room can make it look more inviting and comfortable. You can also use blankets or throws, depending on the theme that you're going for. This furniture design tip is especially useful if you have a living room used less frequently and has hardwood floors because it is adding a more “comfy” appeal. However, keep in mind the Use Less, Not More trend and make sure you don’t drown your furniture with pillows and blankets.
Summary: Add cozy pillows, blankets, and throws to make your living room more inviting and comfortable!
6. Use Candleholders
Maybe you live in an older home where there is little to no overhead lighting, and you just don’t feel lamps are always the most aesthetically pleasing for your space. Something else you can consider using is candleholders instead of basic candles or lamps. Candlesticks will allow you to stick small candles (real or fake), votives, or even flickering candles, creating a new ambiance to your space. This furniture design tip is best used on nightstands and large dressers placed near the bed as well as on dining room tables and end tables in living rooms and reading rooms. This is also a money saver, yes, on that electric bill, but also in not having to invest in lamps and light bulbs.
Summary: Consider using candleholders to light your space and bring a new ambiance to your rooms.
7. Decorate with Small Accessories
Having a few small accessories like small vases filled with flowers, clocks, accent pieces or framed photographs is a great way to add an element of personalization and style to your room. These accent items not only make a space look put together and completed, but also can reflect your style and taste.
This furniture design tip is helpful for those that are hoping to have themed rooms. You can use the small accessories to emphasize certain themes in your room and find unique places for them on nightstands, a coffee table, or end tables.
Summary: Use smaller accessories such as vases, clocks, and accent pieces to complete your room while portraying a theme and your style.
8. Utilize Unique Lighting
Another way to complete a room is by using unique lighting, such as lantern lighting. Lanterns are on-trend and interesting to see in homes, especially if you use them to work with a theme. Using lights that look like a lantern helps to accomplish an elegant and sophisticated look regardless if it is modern and sleek or rustic and vintage.
This furniture design tip is applicable if you have a living room or bedroom used less frequently, and you want to make it look more worldly.
Summary: Try using unique lighting such as lantern lighting throughout your home to work a bit more sophistication into your space.
9. Choose Materials with Longevity
Another budgeting tip: consider all materials being used in your home in terms of durability and longevity. For example, when choosing or customizing your dining set, consider using marble tabletop because it is sturdy, durable, and you can count on using it for a long time. By choosing materials like marble and granite, you can have a timeless design without needing a new dining set every few years
For your living room furniture, such as recliners, sofas, loveseats, sectionals, and ottomans, consider investing in leather. Leather furniture is more durable and much more stain-resistant. Also consider the color choice of your chairs, couches, sleeper sofa, sectional couch, etc. and think about using neutral colors so that as more furniture circulates through your home in the years to come, your current furniture can easily match it. A new off-white or cream-style chair will look elegant if placed next to your older white loveseat or easy chair, matching without having to worry about finding a new loveseat or chair.
This furniture design tip is very useful if you want to keep a certain style in your home for a long time or make sure that your furniture lasts for several years.
Summary: Before buying new furniture, think about its material and color, and consider how long it will realistically last in your home.
10. Decorate with Accent Colors
Accent colors can help you add a little more detail to your space while helping emphasize your theme and taste. When you choose accent pieces that are a neutral color, it is typically just more of the same, matching the furniture in your room. Avoid that by using accent colors on the wall decor, accent pillows, accent seats, etc. This furniture design tip is best used in rooms with many large furniture pieces that are made from neutral fabrics and some color could bring the room alive.
Summary: Add life to your rooms, especially those with multiple neutrally-colored furniture pieces, by inserting accent colors throughout.
11. Use Beds that Have Storage
A place we may not think of often but may start getting cluttered is the bedroom. To avoid cluttering the space in your bedroom or having things pile up on your mattress, consider having a headboard with doors or a footboard with drawers and underbed storage. These solutions are perfect for people who don't have enough space for an extra dresser or wardrobe because it provides even more hidden space for clothing right within the bed. Or, utilize a bed with a bookcase headboard and use that space to add in decorations and more accent pieces to liven up your space.
Summary: Save space in your bedroom by utilizing a bed that provides additional storage.
12. Include Footstools and Ottomans
Using an ottoman or footstool in your living room is another furniture design tip that can give your room a more elegant, luxurious, or sophisticated look. Footstools can help you create extra seating for your living room or can be placed at the end of your bed for an added level of comfort.
Using this furniture design tip is also very useful if you want a room to look less cluttered since most footstools and ottomans have additional storage space within.
Summary: Not only does adding a footstool or ottoman in your living room give you more seating space, it also adds more storage space as well.
13. Try Something New
There are a lot of options when it comes to furnishing your home, so don’t be afraid to try something new. That may mean introducing a new theme within each room or maybe going for a specific vibe such as modern, traditional, or farmhouse.
This furniture design tip is really useful if you have a lot of old or outdated furniture in your home, save a bit of money and try using it! Perhaps try to restore some of it, or keep it as is and make it a theme within a section of your home.
Summary: Be bold when it comes to furnishing your home, because remember, you can always change it up if you’re not happy with the end result.
In conclusion, there are many things that you can do to make sure that every room in your home looks even better for this upcoming year. It can be tough with all of the furniture trends and options we’re faced with, but take some time this year to really figure out the kind of space you want to be in every day, and then make it happen!
