Black, Red and White

Sometimes it can pay to be bold, this is as true in real life as it is in your living areas. To conjure up a striking atmosphere in your living room, not for you are the pastel shades and natural tones, but the contrasting colours of black, red & white.

These colours have always been used in the past to add a level of drama to any background, sometimes to intimidate, and at other times just to demonstrate power. But the fact is that it has always been striking.

Not that we could ever compare a living room with examples from history, the fact is that these three colours go well together to convey without words something that tugs at the very soul of the human being.

If you want to try this in your home, before buying a brand new black or read leather sofa, start with the other accesories. These can be found easily in most of the online furniture retail websites that are out there. Why not give it a try?

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Choice of Fabric

Sometimes the emphasis in the choice of sofa is overly about the design, however this is to overlook the choice of fabric, which can be crucial in whether or not a room has the right 'feel' to it or not.

Things have moved apace since the 1970s and flock wallpaper, the contemporary living room is judged as severely as high street fashion. "Keeping up with the jones'" means exactly that in today's world.

Although colour is often rated above the choice of fabric, when deciding upon the fabric, a luxurious leather sofa, can transform the entire vibe of a room. From the normal into the elegant. From the bland into the exotic.

Remember this when considering how your living looks and what that will say to your house guests, the next time your friends pop round.

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Makeover

Sometimes you don't have to go overboard when making over your living room, you just need a bit of thought. I don't mean a fresh coat of paint nor do I mean shifting the existing furniture. But there are lots of other things that you can do besides.

Candles in alcoves set off the contrast between the furniture and the wall spaces in a way that gets you part of the way there. But there are other things....

Stenciling - This is an easy way to decorate a rather bland background, but you have to be sure that the few designs you make are what you want, otherwise you might as well try.....

Grafitto - given a bad name by it's modern counterpart Grafitti, grafitto comes from the Italian word for scratched, and it involves painting a wall twice, then removing some of the upper layer in order to show the contrast between the tones. This is a good bit more difficult but it is far more pleasing upon the eye if done well.

Lastly, think about the curtains, I do prefer to have blinds, in the midwinter they can be completely closed, yet I seem to think they let in more sun in summer. Perhaps it's just in my mind.

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