I am a firm believer that your home should be your sanctuary. Life is long, arduous, sad, and filled with endless work (pardon me, I’m feeling a wee bit existential lately), but your home can be a place where you get to take a little break from all of that.
I’ve always thought that the term “living room” was kind of funny since really all you do in there is rest. “Resting room” sounds a bit more appropriate to me, but whatever you want to call the room in your house where you watch family movies, eat TV dinners, play cards, take accidental two-hour naps, or finish your favorite book, it should feel like a place of refuge.
If you’re doing some little home renovations and you’re looking to play with some color pops, the “resting room” is a great place to start, and the color blue is a great color to choose. Blue can be so many things. It can be regal, it can be modest, it can be exciting, it can be calming, it can be bold, and it can be subtle. For a room with such versatility, it’s appropriate to choose a color as adaptable as blue!
1. The Deep Teal Reading Corner
Floors & Walls: This is a rather sweet little reading nook, wouldn’t you say? Using a more neutral tone of hardwood floor feels like a good choice since the blue accent wall is such a bold color. The room has a bit more of a cooler tone to it, which is successfully warmed up by some more organic tones in the room. I find that this color of blue would only work as an accent wall since it’s so bold. The floor-to-ceiling window really helps offset the intensity of it.
Furniture: This adorable reading nook features a single lounging chair with a corner arm that really allows you to snuggle up with a crossword or your favorite book. A sweet little ottoman is set beside it that can act as a footstool or a place for extra seating.
Decor: A built-in blue shelf holds a small collection of books, a funny little potted tree, and some neat sculptures. The beautiful green scenery from outside the window is extended into the room with a couple of lovely potted plants, and a throw blanket adds some nice texture, another shade of blue!
2. The Beautiful Blue Loft
Floors & Walls: It was always my dream to have a loft (along with every other 20-something who moved to a big town), but it turns out that furnishing and decorating open spaces can sometimes be a little bit more of a challenge!
This gorgeous industrial-inspired loft starts with old hardwood floors (and old here is used as an admiring term), a brick accent wall surrounding the huge windows, beautifully high white ceilings, and blue walls.
Furniture: I think this is a good example of a beautiful space that has been decorated in a bit of a silly way, or the person who lives here moved in kind of recently and hasn’t finished furnishing, OR this person is terrified of couches and will only sit on various accent chairs.
With lofts, you often have to use your furniture as room separators, so having bigger couches can actually be super helpful in this room. In this space we can’t really tell the difference between the bedroom and the living room, which may work for some, but it doesn’t feel like a very host-able space.
Decor: If you have an eclectic living room with this much floor space, you can play around with different arrangements! Using big rugs is a great way to separate different parts of the room, as well as bigger plants that can act as screens, or you could even put up a bead curtain if you wanted to get real cute with it!
3. The Boldly Blue Sitting Room
Floors & Walls: This sweet little room is so bright, despite having a darker shade of blue for the walls! I personally detest this color of blue – it reminds me of the gross pinnies we’d have to wear during elementary school P.E., but I can appreciate its tenacity. A very light shade of floor has been used to offset the darker blue wall.
Furniture: I think this room becomes more tolerable to me because of all of the softer elements that help tone down the intensity of the blue, starting with this furniture set complete with super rounded edges and soft upholstery. A circular, fuzzy, mustard-colored rug holds a neat up-cycled coffee table made from a couple of old palettes!
Decor: I like how a lot of the decoration in the room is made from lighter-toned wood, bringing an organic element to the more stark features of the room. This is found in the sweet and simple shelving unit, the basket hanging light, and the really neat trellis on the wall for some climbing plants!
4. The Regal Blue Hosting Room
Floors & Walls: We’re really switching gears with this room. Living rooms can really be so diverse, and this is a great example of that. This elegant, refined, and quite frankly, bougie living room setup reminds me a lot of my ex-boyfriend’s parent’s home (they were rich) that always made me feel like I was at the spa, just by sitting in their living room.
This beautiful room starts with dark hardwood floors, which guide us up towards dark and elegant blue walls with cream-colored trim. It’s rather rare to see a black ceiling, but this charcoal finish is surprisingly fitting.
Furniture: This luxurious living room features a lovely living room set with cream-colored upholstery with a satin finish, golden-painted framing, and brass studs on the edges. A cocktail bar with a white marble countertop lays host to three elegant bar stools with darker framing.
Decor: This living room truly oozes lavish living; the color gold usually accomplishes that. Golden throw pillows, golden flowers, a golden framed mirror, and sheer golden drapes somehow don’t feel like too much in this room. This is a beautifully balanced color scheme.
5. The Tiny Home’s Blue View Room
Floors & Walls: It’s always such a treat to bear witness to the unique designs that people come up with for their homes. This incredible-looking tiny home uses geometric shapes and wildly different colors and materials to separate the different spaces of the home.
Here we have a neatly arranged home that uses wooden walls to separate different portions of the house, with a wild geometric roof to tuck away this incredible blue sitting room! While it is a cozy little sunken nook, the landscape window really helps it feel larger than it is.
Furniture: This super cool room is adorned with built-in furniture. The room is entirely made of bench seats with cushions. Different shades of blue have been used for each aspect of the sunken lounge, which creates a very cool effect. I love the idea of gathering in a space in close quarters like this, designed for connection.
Decor: With colors so bold, you really don’t need to do very much in order for a room to feel complete. But we still have some small accent pillows (I would personally have bigger pillows in some pastel colors) and a sweet little shelf over the landscape window that is filled with a book collection.
This wonderful living room design comes from Philip M Dingemanse Architecture + Design.
6. The Art-Inspired Living Room
Floors & Walls: This special little room begins and ends with class. It begins with a beautifully patterned area rug with a slight floral aspect, which continues towards the teal walls with white trim. Here lies the foundation for the room.
Furniture: While so many rooms are special because of their architectural feats, this one comes alive because of its furnishings. A beautiful tan leather sofa centers the room while matching orange velour accent chairs engage in a stand-off across from a rugged-looking circular coffee table. Small accent tables act as book ends for the sofa.
Decor: The room becomes even more special because of its decorations. Satin finish throw pillows add a bit of brightness, matching black shaded table lamps provide symmetry, and beautifully framed prints give a sense of age and stature.
This lovely living room design comes from M.S. Vicas Interiors.
7. The Collaged Living Room
Floors & Walls: I like to think that this is more of a viewing room than it is a living room. What could be considered a mini-museum, this lovely living room features a hardwood floor matched with a beautiful dark shade of blue walls. Built-in shelving covers an entire wall of the room.
Furniture: Though the room feels very filled, we have only two pieces of furniture in the entire space. A sweet little sofa with winged arms and a dimpled back, and lovely patterned upholstery with a satin finish. A simple white coffee table acts as a place to rest your feet while your eyes gaze outward at all of the fantastical pieces scattered throughout the room.
Decor: I don’t even really know where to begin with the decoration in the room. So many designs we see in modern rooms tend to have a sincere focus on the minimal, so it is rather refreshing to see a space that wants to be maximal. This space has been maximized for its love of wall art, vases, books, sculptures, and just about everything in between.
This wonderful and interesting living room idea comes from Doris Lee Design Studio.
8. The Happy Midcentury Blue Living Room
Floors & Walls: I think that this living room is one of my favorites in the collection. While so much of it is midcentury modern inspired, it has a bright and modern freshness that we don’t usually get from that era. Cherry-stained hardwood adorns the floors, while a lovely shade of navy blue has been chosen for the accent walls. White ceilings prevent the space from becoming too monotone.
Furniture: This blue living room set is truly perfect. I adore the huge sectional blue sofa with deep cushions and low backs and the slight texture of the upholstery. More robust upholstery has been used for the accent chairs, but I think the matching colors of the sofa, chairs, and walls work really well since it is all broken up.
Decor: I think that the decoration in this room is really fun. A lovely, yellow patterned rug adorns the sitting area, and this color pop is extended to the throw pillows on the chairs and the beautiful floral lampshades. The teak credenza is a thing of beauty, and it matches the sweet little nesting coffee table ottomans.
This happy living room design is thanks to MadeComfy.
9. The Navy Blue Living Room
Floors & Walls: A living room like this may seem simple at first glance because of its cohesion, but if you take a moment to look a little closer, you can see just how much thought and detail was put into this lovely space.
The interior design starts with dark hardwood floors, which have been decorated with a lighter-toned area rug. This acts as a great way to break up the darkness of the hardwood with the darkness of the navy walls. White trim and a white fireplace facade also act to ensure the room doesn’t become too dark.
Furniture: A very plush-looking sofa sits across from a gorgeous caramel-colored leather chair, which almost looks like an adult version of a bean bag. A clear glass coffee table sits in the center of the room, which is a great way to make sure that a smaller room doesn’t end up feeling too cramped.
Decor: The designer clearly had some fun decorating this room! Two credenzas with geometric drawers sit on either side of the fireplace, while bright potted plants bring some life into the room. A teal lamp and vases give a nice bit of color pop, and furry throw pillows provide a nice bit of texture.
This lovely living room has been designed by Studio 152.
10. The Patterned Blue Living Room
Floors & Walls: I personally really love the bohemian vibe of this living room. Beautiful teak-like hardwood floors match very nicely with this particular shade of teal, and a floor-to-ceiling window lets that daylight beam through, ensuring that this darker-toned room stays feeling light and welcoming.
Furniture: I kind of love how it looks like outdoor furniture has been used for this room. Maybe it’s a sunroom, but I certainly wouldn’t mind lounging in here all day. A wooden framed sofa sits next to a lounge chair, and a larger sofa with fun patterned upholstery. Extra pillows sit on the floor to act as extra seating or as foot cushions.
Decor: I really appreciate how there are so many different shades of blue living room ideas being used in this space, but you still wouldn’t automatically assume that blue was the driving factor. We have bold blue, patterned blue, textured blue, and subtle blue, all in the same space but doing very different things. This room is fun, cozy, and interesting.
This special living room design is thanks to Domus Nova.
11. The Regality Blue Lounge
Floors & Walls: Now, I’m not often in the business of gendering rooms, but let’s just say that this is a fancy-ass man cave if I ever saw one. This fanciful lounge is darker in theme, but it remains to be quite elegant and refined. This starts with richly dark hardwood floors, and a very deep and impressive shade of blue that has not only been used for the walls, but for the ceiling and window frames as well. I think the feeling of closeness is very intentional in this way.
Furniture: What would a fancy-ass man cave be without dark leather chairs with dimpled backs and a desk that looks like it was nipped straight from the Whitehouse? In all seriousness, this room looks like it smells like documents and cuff links. But seriously, in all seriousness, this room is nicely furnished with beautiful vintage pieces that have been pristinely cared for.
Decor: What would a man cave be without two dead animals hanging on either side of a screen of the same live animal?
Sorry, I had fun with that one.
12. The Low Lounge Living Space
Floors & Walls: There’s something rather endearing about this living room design. A beautiful rug fills the entire room with a distressed pattern and contrasts against the bright blue wall, which looks like wallpaper with a very subtle pattern to it. I appreciate this subtlety; since the upholstery of the furniture is solid, why not be textured with the things surrounding it?
Furniture: I honestly adore this furniture set. The sofas have really deep seats with plush-looking cushions, and I love low-set furniture both in that it’s close to the floor and the backs of the sofas are low. They feel very inviting. A circular, multi-level coffee table is a bit more punchy and modern but really works against the softer edges of the sofas.
Decor: I love how casually decorated this room is, with small potted cacti, framed illustrations, very soft-looking cushions, and a great collection of books in the built-in shelving unit. I’d live here, you’d live here, let’s be roommates.
This wonderful living room design is thanks to RoomService 360.
13. The Periwinkle Sunroom
Floors & Walls: Wow. This interior design is quite a shock when you first look at it. And while this type of matchy-matchy-ness in the color palette isn’t for everybody, you can appreciate the room for what it is. And what it is is a periwinkle-themed sunroom. The floor is painted periwinkle with a geometric periwinkle border for more of the accent color. The walls are windows, but the ceiling is adorned with a patterned periwinkle blue hue.
Furniture: Plush periwinkle plaid pillows portray a pristine place to peek at a paper or ponder over past happenings. Thank you for entertaining that ridiculous sentence; this outdoor set is actually rather lovely, with rounded framing and lovely diagonal plaid upholstery.
Decor: I think that the happy potted plants do a really great job of breaking up the periwinkle and adding some visual interest and movement to the room. I’d honestly not change a thing about this space. It’s just so over the top that you can’t help but love it.
This incredible sunroom design comes from James Schettino Architects.
14. The Cozy Blue Room
Floors & Walls: I appreciate how classic this room feels. It’s traditional, rustic, inviting, and stylish all at the same time. The space starts with wooden floors that have been protected with a clay-toned area rug. The walls are a bold midnight blue color with a lovely large window to let the daylight in.
Furniture: The closely knit furniture set starts with a really cozy-looking sofa with two-toned upholstery, a matching ottoman with silver studs, and a set of plaid-clad armchairs to match. Varying accent tables throughout the room are a bit contradictory – from a live edge wood table to a Greek-themed pillar.
Decor: The decoration in this room really livens up the entire space. Plush throw pillows really tie together each furniture aspect in the space; white floor lamps are simple and refined, while bright yellow curtains act as a wild color contrast against the midnight blue walls.
This classic living room comes from Bob Greenspan Photography.
15. The Fancy Fun Living Room
Floors & Walls: Wow! What an absolute blast! I love how the elements in this room are rooted in classic aesthetics, but little details bring them to a whole other place. This wild room starts with light gray carpeted floors and bright blue walls. It’s so neat to paint walls that are so gorgeously molded with such a crazy shade of blue! Shining white ceilings probably do a great job of refracting the sunlight, too.
Furniture: The furniture in this room is really something else. Blue and red are one of my favorite color contrasting combinations, and we get that with these deep scarlet red velour sofas with blue fringe. A speckled accent chair is still funky, while we get grounded a bit with the matching light gray armchairs at the end of the room. Simple tables scattered throughout do a great job of preventing the room from becoming too much.
Decor: With such bold furniture pieces in bold colors, I think it’s best to keep the decoration at a minimum, which was done beautifully here. Pops of yellow are found in the throw pillows and vases of flowers (which really hits the primary color theme over the head), white light fixtures help simplify things, and I just love the painting on the right side of the fireplace.
This beautiful blue living room is thanks to Summer Thornton Design, Inc.
16. The Curvy Living Room
Floors & Walls: Another very special room. This one is more subdued in its design which I appreciate, and this room is most special because of the pure foundation of the space. This starts with stunning herringbone-patterned floors and floor-to-ceiling windows set in a corner that almost feels like you’re sitting outside. We have one brick accent wall, and another accent wall that is cerulean blue. It’s rare to see rounded ceilings, but it’s remarkable to see!
Furniture: Simple yet stylish furniture adorns this room. Sandy-colored sofas sit across from one another, one with sharper edges, shallow seats, and a higher back, while the other has deeper seats, rounded edges, and a lower back. These are met with a really gorgeous patterned coffee table which is just the right amount of interest.
Decor: The space is minimally decorated and in all the right ways. A super fuzzy rug just feels right, a vase of fresh flowers is necessary, a little yellow table lamp is just the right amount of color, and a potpourri of throw pillows adds a nice kitschy thing.
This perfect living room is thanks to Mark Hardy.
17. The Plaid Room
Floors & Walls: Now, I know that this room is completely ridiculous, but I felt like it just had to be added to the collection. It’s so over the top that it just feels completely right. I don’t even know what to call this. Country chic?
This incredibly odd room starts with a beautiful pink area rug, which connects sparks of pink throughout the rest of the space. This genuinely incredible architectural masterpiece of vaulted ceilings reveals foundational exposed beams, but in between, it is adorned with either plaid wallpaper or plaid fabric. It kind of feels like the inside of a dollhouse.
Furniture: Country furniture fits the bill with plaid wingback chairs with brass studs, a matching ottoman with a beautifully embroidered image, and a sofa set of white with floral decorations. A blue-painted chest has been used as a coffee table, giving us that lovely shabby chic aspect.
Decor: I just can’t get over how much of this is plaid. The chairs are plaid, the walls are plaid, the lampshade is plaid, and the shutters are plaid. And not only are they plaid, they are all somehow the exact same pattern and color of plaid. This is a feat. I’m in love. I will live and die in this room.
This incredible living room design is thanks to Anthony Baratta LLC.
18. The Observation Living Room
Floors & Walls: Now, I couldn’t exactly finish off the collection with a room as wild as that. We’re toning it down a bit at the end with this really adorable living room that feels like a more productive version of a living room. Less of a resting room and more of a thinking room.
It all starts with slightly gray-toned wood floors that lead up to bright blue accent walls with white trim. Where things get really fun is with the ceiling, where we find a mural that depicts the night sky. I love a room with a theme.
Furniture: This sweet space is furnished with a small striped bench for repose, while the main feature of the room is a dark hardwood table set with four chairs. I think that this room is where crafting gets done, where dreams become realized, and where homework is complete with satisfaction.
Decor: As I said, I love a themed room. We have an observation theme going on here with a telescope, a set of globes, encyclopedias, and a rather impressive library of books in the next room. I love a house where you get a grasp of who lives there just by looking at their things. This is very special.
This wonderful observation room design is thanks to SUBU Design Architecture.
