Budget-friendly Living Room Ideas for A Modern Makeover

The Bold and Beautiful Contemporary Living Room

A surefire way to create impact in modern living room design is to go big and bold. The key is to splurge strategically. Just a few statement pieces can help shake up the status quo without breaking the bank. Contrast the usual neutral tones in contemporary living room design with dramatic pops of colour. Infuse bright colours through an oversized artwork or an eye-catching area rug.
 

Add a dramatic flair to conventional living room furniture and reupholster with plush fabrics in rich jewel tones. By saving up on the larger pieces, you can direct your budget to investing in smaller, more impactful objects like an abstract coffee table, a stylish chandelier or an accent floor lamp and even a designer, modern armchair.

Get Crafty with a Gallery Wall for a Modern Living Room Design

If you’re on a budget and on rent, then we recommend rolling your sleeves up for some crafty DIY to decorate the walls. Creating a gallery wall is a relatively quick, easy and pocket-friendly way to transform a modern living room. A few blank canvasses, some paint and a day off from work is all you need for these nifty wall decorations. Alternatively, you can mix and match photographs, record covers, movie posters and more to create an eclectic gallery wall. Or enjoy the shortcut by simply printing some of your favourite art prints and sticking them into inexpensive frames.

Cheap and Chic Cheat Sheet:

If hammering nails into the wall isn’t an option, get self-adhesive hooks or place frames of different shapes and sizes on a simple wall shelf.

Learn to Layer for a Budget-friendly Living Room Makeover

If you’re updating a contemporary living room from the ground up, rethink area rugs. You no longer have to splurge on one expensive carpet – more is more in the world of rugs so mix up colours, textures and patterns to create visual interest. Inexpensive pieces in materials like jute and cotton will work just as well. Area rugs can also be used to create smaller, intimate spaces within the living room without the use of bulky dividers.
 

Similarly, exisiting furniture can be given a new lease on life without going through the hassle of reupholstering. 

Budget-friendly Living Room Ideas that Champion Symmetry

The least expensive way to redecorate your living room is to begin by rearranging the existing furniture and objects. You can also “shop” around the rest of the house and repurpose furniture and objects from other rooms to refresh the living room. Once you are ready to play with the layout of room, look for ways to create symmetry for maximum impact – hang artworks of the same size side-by-side, move sofas and armchairs so they are placed opposite each other but parallel to the same wall and place floor lamps in two corners facing each other and so on. This is a great way to break free from the traditional living room layout where the coffee table is always in the middle, sofas are pushed up against walls with the TV across from the most comfortable seat in the room. 

A Green Approach to Budget-friendly Modern Living Rooms

Getting a little bit of the outdoors inside is one of the best ways to update a modern living room design. House plants not only add colour and texture but also a sculptural element to the room depending on their shape and size. While shopping for plants to decorate the living room, keep in mind more than just the interesting leaf and branch patterns and shapes but also its growth and life cycle for strategic placement as it grows.
 

Cheap and Chic Cheat Sheet:

If you struggle with a green thumb or simply find that large plants don’t fit into your budget, opt for realistic faux plants in pots and planters from retailers like Ikea or opt for natural dried grasses and stems from your local florist xfor decorative purposes.

Stylish Lighting for a Contemporary Living Room

Let’s face it, there are certain elements in living room interior design that cannot be subject to cost-cutting and one of them is lighting. But there are many ways to get your money’s worth and make a style statement. There is no limit to how much one can splurge on living room interior design, furniture, art and objects but without good lighting, our prized possessions will fail to make any impact. But light fixtures can also go beyond the call of duty and take centre stage as accents in their own right. Depending on your style and budget, a contemporary chandelier or ceiling lamp can be the focal point of the room.

Stylish Storage for a Budget-friendly Living Room Ideas

A smart solution to extend your personal style to a living room is by making room for display shelves, niches and glass cabinets that can be accessorised with smart and stylish knick-knacks and decorations. When it comes to a contemporary living room design, open storage is a versatile and budget-friendly addition. Whether it’s a built-in bookshelf or TV unit or glass cabinets and free-standing bookshelves, they offer homeowners a flexibility in styling the modern living room space. Everything from prized possessions like antiques and family heirlooms to photographs, curios, knick-knacks and plants can help set the tone and mood for the room.