Joanna Gaines is an authority on home decor, and she's the right person you want to turn to for advice when redecorating. She shares helpful home decorating tips when hosting Fixer Upper alongside her husband, Chip. The couple showcases the process of renovating and remodeling homes on the show. They are primarily credited for popularizing the "Farmhouse-chic" trend.
The living room is a place to relax, entertain, and host. That's the room that reflects your style preferences the most. Gaines shared her list of dos and don'ts that should help anyone working on putting together the perfect living room.
Ditch The Fake Plants
Adding plants in the living room is one of the best ways to liven up your space. Their natural respiratory process (photosynthesis) releases moisture vapour, and in turn, it increases the amount of humidity in the air. Gaines' is all for plants as a decor option only if they are the breathing variety.
She feels like fake plants end up being a sore thumb in the room because it's quite apparent that they are not the live, breathing kind. Gaines says that they look lifeless and it's better not to have plants altogether than to go for the fake ones.
Leave Chintz Decor In The Past
Chintz textiles have their roots in India, and they predominantly feature flowery design motifs. They have become a popular theme for bed and breakfasts found in New England, in particular, as well as just about every other living room. Most people who choose this theme go for Chintz wallpaper, curtains, and couches.
Gaines feels like the Chintz theme should be restricted to bed and breakfasts. Chintz has also sadly become synonymous with cheap-looking decor. The look is dated, and unless you are going for a 1500s look, there are more modernized decor schemes to explore.
Dressing Up Furniture In Skirts
In the past, dressing up pieces of furniture with skirting was something done out of necessity. It was a task that paired remnant cotton material with faulty furniture that needed to be spruced up. It soon became a trending decor choice, with furniture skirts available in luxury fabrics and varied styles.
Gaines thinks otherwise and says that skirts should be left to those with a heartbeat. She encourages exposing furniture legs unless you want to create a porthole to the past. For anyone who is set on dressing up their couch, table, or chairs in skirts, Gaines suggests going for a straight skirt.
Using The Same Fabric For The Sofa & Curtains
The most satisfaction when decorating comes from striking a balance between different style aesthetics. However, most people choose to take the easy way out, and they match as opposed to complimenting the diverse elements in the living room. The culprit is often going for curtains in the same print as your sofas.
Gaines frowns on this type of uniformity, and instead, she promotes the idea of transforming your living into a motif. It helps to find balance by choosing a base colour, but you want to make sure that each element in the living room serves a unique, aesthetic purpose.
Plastic Storage Bins Don't Blend With Sophistication
The need for extra storage space in different rooms in the house is never-ending. That's where plastic storage bins come to the rescue because they instantaneously provide additional storage space in any room. The trays fit right in when placed in bedrooms, the laundry room, or the kids' playroom.
They stick out in the living room, screaming out that they don't belong. Gaines says plastic storage bins have no place in a living room that blends luxury and sophistication. The only exception would be a kid's living room where these storage aids prove highly functional.
Bold Doesn't Mean Settling For Lime/Glossy Hues
Painting your living room walls is the easiest and most affordable way to shake things up. It also presents the opportunity to make a statement while at it by going for bold hues. Bold, in this case, doesn't mean shouting colours in the lime or glossy spectrum.
Gaines recalls moving as a child into a home that had horrendous-looking walls. The living room had a splash of lime green paint on the walls, while the state of the dining also wasn't any better with a coat of cherry-red paint. Matte black, teal and canary yellow are better bold hues.
Give Life To The Room With Some Color
On the flip side, you always want to approach the living room painting process like you would when working on a blank canvas. It's easy to settle for crisp, white walls and run with the colour for the entire room.
Gaines says purely white rooms make you feel like you are in a sterile hospital. You don't want to conjure up images of a place where people struggle to stay alive, but rather, you want your living room to exude life with some colour. Going the monochromatic route is better than leaving your living room all white.
Keep Your Mounted Animal Heads Elsewhere
Hunters pride themselves in bringing home their kill. It's the reason why they choose to preserve the skull of these animals and hang it up as a trophy. Along the way, regular folk got the idea that mounted animal heads are neat pieces of art to have at home.
Gaines, and every animal rights activist, are against it. If the animal holds sentimental value, say it was a beloved pet, it's best to put it somewhere else other than the living room. Remember that the living room is a place you go to cheer up and not to upset others.
Leave The Futon For The Teenagers
Most of us start the living room furnishing process with a futon. Sure, they are versatile, and in fact, they are a Japanese-style bed that can also fold up into a sofa. Most are often affordable or hand-me-downs representing the start of a journey.
They work well for a teenager or a college student's room, and that's about it. A grown-up adult working on sprucing up their home can undoubtedly scrunch up for something more elaborate. Sofa prices can be ridiculously high, but there are always options like buying one piece and working around it.
Skip The Temporary Furnishings
There's a rise in people embracing the DIY movement, and they are making their furnishings. It's led to more folks embracing the temporary look which symbolizes a work in progress. Whether store-bought or made in your garage, most of these temporary TV cabinets, benches, or shelves just don't last.
Gaines disapproves of the temporary concept and figures that traditional sofas and other furnishings, in general, are more appropriate. The temporary ones might look cool, make you proud, and serve their intended purpose for a while, but they just never last.
Rethink Buying Or Making Pallet Furniture
Still, on the DIY home decorators, folks are increasingly leaning towards pallet-made pieces. We've seen just about everything from sofas, beds, and coffee tables fashioned out these wooden crates. On the one hand, they promote recycling and repurposing, but they just don't fit into a sophisticated home.
Gaines frowns upon these coffee tables which families keep trying to force into homes. They don't blend well in a living room with wooden floors and fixtures. No one wants their living room looking like it's stacked up with lumber, and that's the look several of these pieces create.
Store Your Collections Somewhere Else
Everyone collects something. It could be bottle tops, coins, stamps, dolls, Tupperware, or costly items like art. Some people accumulate their collections passively while others actively work on building their prized stash. Most folks will then display these collectables in their living room.
Gaines says that it's the last room you want to display such items. Worst of then yet are shot glasses that most people make away with from different establishments. She thinks that any adult in their 30s who collects these glasses should find a new hobby and leave it for the kids in university.
Pare Down On The Gold Fixtures
Back in the '80s, were pretty standard in every household. Five decades down the line and a couple of people are still holding onto them even though they've lost their former glory. If we were talking about real gold, these pieces would receive a stamp of approval, but that isn't the case.
These are the gold-painted pieces that deck out living rooms, and too much of the motif can end up being glaringly unsightly. Gaines says stick to one or two pieces at most, unless you receive them as inheritance or you marry into Saudi royalty!
Some Trends Shouldn't Be Revived - Shag Carpeting
Past trends have a way of making a boomerang back into popularity like shag carpeting. The floor treatment was a huge hit back in the '70s, and some folks either stuck with it or revived it in recent years.
Gaines describes the look these carpets create as something that has a similar effect like laying some hairpieces on the floor. It simply isn't her cup of tea, but it all comes down to taste. It's best to uplift your living room with a design that blends in well with everything else.
Don't Buy Into The Wood Paneling Trend
Still, on dated trends, a couple of homeowners prefer wood panelling over drywall and paint. They are versatile, naturally warm, have some sound-proofing capabilities, and they are unique. However, they do teleport a room back to the '60s and '70s when they formed the inner skin of just about every room in the house.
Gaines thinks that they are very dated, and worse still are the ones that hold on to the fake panels from the '60s. While modern panelling makes use of superior wood, Gaines doesn't think that they should have room in your home for whatever reason.
Leaving Your Living Room Windows Bare
There's a reason why lots of windows rank high up on the list when most folks search for their perfect home. Everyone wants to enjoy natural light streaming in from their floor-length windows. If anything, it helps cut back on power consumption in most households.
Well, these aren't the days that choosing to leave your windows without any treatment would fly. There are just too many people who can't resist poking around to peep into the privacy of your living room. Gaines says, save yourself the peace of mind and get proper window treatment.
Keep Your Blankets & Ladders Separately
The freezing winter temperatures will make you appreciate having a warm cosy blanket readily available in the living room. There are several ways to drape these blankets so that they don't get in the way but stay accessible.
Rustic ladders have been making their way back to living rooms from the 1800s. Some people decide to make the most out of these functional decor pieces by hanging their blankets on them. According to Gaines, each of the elements should be kept separate. The ladder should stand alone as a decorative piece, and the blanket is perfectly fine on the sofa.
Don't Match Pillows & Couch Colors & Avoid Piling Them
Gaines has several bones to pick with pillows. For one, she doesn't think that pillows should match the colour of the sofa they are on. She says that it shows a lack of imagination and pillows should function as a creative way to dress up a couch.
The second problem Gaines has with pillows on a sofa is their number. Stacking piles of pillows on a couch is one of those traditions that is carried on from generation to generation. Gaines feels like having too many just prevents you from enjoying a perfectly comfortable sofa.
Use Mason Jars As Mason Jars
Storage is the primary function that Mason jars serve. We've seen more people experiment with putting them into different uses; for instance, they make great "shake blenders." We've also seen them transformed into decorative elements for aesthetic purposes.
They are also used as mugs, flower pots, and makeshift lampshades. Gaines just doesn't see the point of converting these jars into vases, blenders or lampshades. If they simplified the new tasks, it would make sense, but they don't make things easier. Gaines says to use a vase for flowers and a mason jar for storage.
Keep Fluorescent Lighting Out Of Your Home
An opening living space that enjoys a direct view of the kitchen is affected by certain elements. Lighting is one of them, and the choices you go for ultimately affect either space. Most people decide to install fluorescent lighting in their kitchen, and it's the type you would expect to find at nightclubs or morgues.
This kind of lighting does provide a reliable light source, but it also tends to affect visibility. No one wants that much glaring light at home, and as Gaines says, your home isn't a Sci-fi convention.
Tumbled Marble isn't Practical
Still talking about kitchens, some people love the look of tumbled marble. They are just stones/kitchen backsplash tiles that are artificially made to appear worn out. Most people feel like it makes them look antique-ish and natural.
Gaines thinks that the imperfections inflicted on them just make your marble tiles appear like they are dirty. They can also be deceiving because of their 'aged' appearance and hide the actual dirt and junk that needs cleaning. In turn, this might just leave your kitchen susceptible to breeding germs and bacteria.
Don't Write Your Words On Walls
It never hurts to listen to some words of affirmation. If no one utters them to you as often as you need to hear them, reading them serves the same purpose. That's why most of us will post inspirational notes on the bathroom mirror or the door of the refrigerator.
Others go a step further and write out the messages on their living room walls. It's a show of commitment in your beliefs, but Gaines questions the act from an aesthetic standpoint. Gaines respects everyone's individual beliefs but doesn't think that it's necessary to plaster them on the living room walls.
Don't Go For The French Country Style
Gaines is credited for making most of us go for the "Farmhouse chic" look. There's also the French Country theme that a majority of homeowners are adopting. Going for such decor schemes should be effortless and not come off as if it's forced into your home.
Gaines doesn't see the point of wanting to decorate your home in the city in the semi-rustic theme. She says it makes sense if you are an actual farmer working with cows. Gaines feels like the only way to achieve this look authentically is by taking up shelter in the countryside.
Get Comfortable Dining Chairs
The dining room table is where the family truly gets the opportunity to catch up. A light banter over a meal goes a long way in keeping tabs on what everyone is up to. The experience can fall short of expectation if everyone is uncomfortable for the wrong reasons.
It's essential to have comfortable chairs to enhance the dining experience. Gaines says you should get rid of old rickety chairs or the uncomfortable ones. A trip to your local furniture store should help you trade up and restore the comfort experienced at your dinner table.
Cheap Glass Pieces Don't Exude Character
Buying a new sofa or simply a coffee table is one of the ways to start perfecting your living room aesthetics. There are undoubtedly many choices out there, and most folks find that they gravitate towards glass-made coffee tables. However, Gaines prefers wooden tables over the glass-made kind.
It's agreeable that glass-made furniture can end up being an eye-sore or a hit depending on several factors. The mass-produced kind doesn't do anyone a favour at home because often they aren't built to last. We've seen a couple of outstanding ones, and we must say that this one is all about a matter of preference.
Kill The Switch On Color-Changing Lights
Night clubs and those storefronts with dancing neon signs are amongst the only places that you are likely to find lights that keep changing their colour. These types of lights have infiltrated our homes in the form of mood lighting, and they can ironically end up being mood killers.
Except for the season Christmas lighting, there's just no reason why your lights should be switching between all the colours of the rainbow. Some people also go for different-coloured light bulbs that are equally terrible. Gaines reminds us to just stick to the basics.
All Your Trinkets Don't Have To Be On Your Mantle Piece
We all have those trinkets that we hold on to for no apparent reason. They could have been handed down to us from family members or things that we picked up as keepsakes. They do hold sentimental value, but how much is too much?
The problem comes when we want to display them proudly on the mantle in the living room. Perhaps we might even get a glass cabinet just to show these particular items. Gaines asks us to cut it out because the result is a mantlepiece that could easily be mistaken for a shelf at the flea market.
Avoid The Dated Lampshades
The bedside lamp is a highly functional item that has gone through evolutions over the years. Besides its decorative function, it provides a source of indistinctive or mood-setting light. The bedside lamp has also found its way into other rooms in the house, including the living room.
Most people are drawn to the antique varieties that have centuries worth of history on them. That kicks the functionality out of them and just leaves them as decorative pieces. While there's nothing wrong with that, you want to always keep up with the times when decorating your home.
Don't Join The Tiny Rug Movement
Rugs are a big deal for most homeowners - you either get it right, or you don't. Trends also keep changing, and it seems like the tiny rugs are all the rage at the moment. The general rule of thumb is to make sure that all legs of the sofa, coffee table, or dining table rest within the rug.
That beats the purpose of going for a tiny rug that barely covers anything. Gaines says go big and cover the entire floor or just keep it uncovered if you can't find a carpet in the right size.
Leave The Barn Doors At The Farm
We can blame Pinterest for putting the idea in every homeowner's head that their living room could use a barn door. We wonder where you would go to buy such a door, perhaps IKEA stocks them. Regardless, they just look a bit too much in any home.
Gaines is a Farmhouse Chic specialist, but we doubt that she would advise anyone to haul barn doors into their house. These are some of those items we say are better left where they belong, and in this case, barn doors belong at the farm.