Come fall, entertaining moves indoors and plans for holiday hosting start shaping up. Whether you’re casually gathering friends to watch the football game or thinking ahead to special-occasion gatherings, you want your space to make guests feel welcome and comfortable, while still reflecting your personal style. The Home Depot’s extensive selection of furniture and home accents lets you make a big impact easily, and at prices you’ll appreciate, especially during the Fall Savings event (on now through November 3rd).
Here, we identified five smart strategies to refresh your living room for fall, from reassessing your seating to dressing up your walls—plus the best finds from The Home Depot to accomplish each one.
1. Have Enough Seating for Everyone
A living room that seems spacious when it’s just your household can start to feel stretched to capacity when friends and family stop by or stay over. Since we are entering prime guest season, now’s a good time to swap your sofa that seats a few people for a sectional where the whole crew can comfortably hang out. Also consider chairs that swivel, like the leather ones here, or have casters so they can be easily rearranged depending on the group size or activity.
2. Use Ottomans for Seating, Serving, and Stretching Out
An ottoman is one of the most versatile furniture items in your living room. It can accommodate a snack tray that everyone can reach easily; it’s movable extra seating when you’re hosting a crowd; and best of all, it signals that it’s OK for guests to put up their feet and get comfortable. The Home Depot stocks a wide array of shapes, sizes, and materials so you can easily find one that complements your decor style.
3. Anchor the Space With an Area Rug
A design-forward rug can alter the look of your living room in one fell swoop, even if it’s the only change you make. (That’s why interior designers often build an entire decor scheme around a rug.) For a high-traffic area or a home with kids or pets, it’s a good idea to choose a rug made from material that’s naturally stain-resistant and easy to clean—for example, manmade fibers such as polyester or tightly woven wool. In more formal spaces, luxurious materials including leather and silk look and feel elegant.
4. Give Your TV Stand a Style Upgrade
Lots of memorable get-togethers are centered around the TV: holiday movie nights, football games, awards-show watch parties, rainy-day sitcom marathons. Such a prominent focal point deserves to be showcased stylishly. Plus, an entertainment center serves as storage for extra components, a place to conceal cords, and a display surface for decorative touches. Whether you plan to rest your TV on the stand or hang it just above, make sure to choose a piece that extends at least 10 to 12 inches on either side of the screen to achieve a balanced look.
5. Make the Room Look Bigger and Brighter With a Mirror
Design pros frequently hang mirrors to reflect a view of the outdoors or to bounce light around a room, both tricks that create the illusion of more space. You can use one anywhere you might hang a piece of art. A traditional placement is above a mantel, which enhances the fireplace as a focal point. Hanging a mirror directly opposite a window maximizes natural light and gives the effect of bringing the outdoors in—without having to worry about the weather.
