Room for Improvement: Living Room

WSVN--Today's room for improvement is a living room that requires some minor tweaking to take it to a whole new level of style. Our design plan calls for coming up with some better ideas to display collectibles and even decorating a hallway which can sometimes be a very challenging space -- but we've got it covered!

Martin Amado: "Room for improvement"

Joanne: "Hi Martin!"

Martin Amado: "What do you feel it's missing?"

Joanne: "It's a small space and I don't have enough seating and I just didn't know what to put in here."

Martin Amado: "What's happening at the moment is the room is pretty bland because there is lots of beige everywhere. By introducing some richer wood tones and accessories will give us the contrast and wow factor we are looking for. Even though we have an existing valance by adding curtain panels on the side, it's going to make the room much warmer."

Martin Amado: "Now we need something over here and I have just the thing."

Martin Amado: "Two trunks stacked on top of each other make a nice focal point right here underneath the window and you can even use them as end table too."

Martin Amado: "Notice that by simply adding darker wood tones the living room already feels much richer."

Design Direction:

Joanne has an amazing collection of figurines but I am going to go ahead and use storage boxes and frame mirrors to elevate some to give it some height and at the same time visually enhance the entire collection.

Martin Amado: "Now let's move on to the hallway, this mirror is out of balance with the wall, so the first thing we are going to do is actually center it vertically and add it a console table right underneath."

If you don't have room for a lot of furniture in your home an accent chair is a perfect piece, in this case it helps to anchor the corner and create a cozy conversation area.

Martin Amado: "And we are done."

Martin Amado: "The right final touches through the window treatments, furnishings and accessories brought the whole space together for a budget than less than $1,300."

Martin Amado: "One...two...three."

Joanne: "Oh my gosh, this is magnificent. What a difference."

Martin Amado: "If you feel your home is not quite complete even though you have it painted and furnished, take a look around and see what's missing in the overall design plan. Sometimes it's those final details which are the least expensive to shop for that can dramatically change the look of your home."