Natural Decor in your Living Room

In 2018, we have seen a shift towards natural decor in living rooms, as well as in other rooms of the house. We have a whole range of resources, materials and colors at our disposal for creating this style.

In general, these spaces have a style which is not unlike minimalism, with very little in the way of furnishing. Plus, we are seeing a move away from the Nordic style, which is being replaced by others such as the vintage style, which has become increasingly popular over the last few years.

One downside of this turn towards natural decor is that it has revealed some flaws in the materials we use. But that doesn’t mean they don’t look great.

Before we talk about the materials you can use in attempting to create natural decor, let’s briefly focus on the most common colors:

• Woodland colors: here, we predominantly see greens (especially dark green), ocher and earth tones. These colors have clear ties with nature.
• Mineral tones: in this case, we see blues, purples and violet tones.

These colors can be used for the wallpaper, which should ideally be painted by hand. With these colors, you can even create natural scenes, like woodlands, seaside scenes or floral images. We often see white too, which you can combine with some of the other colors we just mentioned. You can also choose to use materials with a natural finish.

Using natural fibers in your natural style living room

Next let’s take a look at some of the most common natural fibers (made from plants and animals) used in natural style decor.

• Wicker: you might want to buy little wicker baskets. You can use them for storage, or maybe put them on a shelf or on the floor if you have medium-sized or large baskets.
• Rattan: we often use rattan to make baskets, furniture and frames for mirrors.
• Flax: for blinds or curtains, sofa covers or cushions.
• Cotton: mainly found in upholstery and covers, it can have beautiful patterns and designs
• Jute: you can use jute to make covers for furniture, like armchairs, although we can also use it to create tapestries or for curtains.
• Sisal: we usually find sisal in the form of string or cord, which you can use to hang decorations. People also use it to make mats and rugs.
• Wool: this is a really versatile material which we often use to make blankets, which you can fold up and leave on the sofa when you’re not using them.

Other materials you can use

• Wood: preferably wood that hasn’t been treated – the more natural, the better. But it’s even better to use recycled wood. If you decide to use pallets, you could use them as low tables, as the base of a sofa or chair, or as shelves or storage spaces. You could also put down wooden flooring.
• Clay: we commonly using clay for making decorative items (like vases or pots) or as floor tiles.
• Cork: this material is especially common in decorative items, like containers, coasters, or small lamps. You can also buy cork boards for your walls, or even one large enough to cover an entire wall. That way, you can use it for putting up notes, photos, decorations… You can create a whole wall of inspiration.
• Burlap: you can use this material to make centerpieces for your table or even to make covers for your furniture. Plus, you can reuse old sacks, leaving their old labels with things like “coffee”, or whatever other item the sack contained. You can create cushion covers or even curtains, although it may not be the most elegant of looks.
• Leather: especially used for furniture, normally in shades of white, beige or brown.
• Paper: wallpaper is really important, especially if it’s hand-painted. There are an infinite number of patterns and designs. You could also make yourself little paper decorations (taking inspiration from origami tutorials), which can obviously be from recycled paper. Then, you simply need to put your decorations on thread or string, and you can hang them on shelves.
• Bamboo: used in flooring, wall linings and furniture.

Conclusion

Finally, remember that if you want to enhance the natural look in your living room, as well as using the materials and colors we’ve already talked about, you can also try adding plants.

Keep in mind that if you want to create a uniform and coherent living room, you should only use some of the materials and colors we’ve mentioned and make sure they match. That way, you will create a balanced living room that is both warm and natural.