4 Tips To Prevent A Small Living Room From Feeling Cluttered

The living room is often the most-used room in the house. It’s where you bond as a family, sitting down to enjoy one another’s company after a long day separated by work and school. 

Even if you don’t have the biggest space available to you, it’s still a central and important focal point of your home.

While living rooms tend to be on the larger side when compared to the rest of the house, they might not always feel like they have all the space that you - and your family - need. 

One of the biggest reasons for this is that there is a tendency among most families to overstuff their living room, creating a cluttered look in what should be a calm and reasoned sanctuary from the world.

If that’s something you want to avoid, then look no further than these valuable tips to stop the clutter piling up…

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#1 - Limit Decorative Touches

If you’ve only got a small space available to you, then it’s important that you don’t overfill the room with decorative touches and knick-knacks. 

Lovely as these pieces are, they can quickly result in the feeling that the room is closer than it actually is, crossing into the living space.

If you do want to have lots of nice decorative pieces, from the modern trends to timeless pieces like those you can discover when you visit this website and take a look at the delights on offer, then keep the decor on the walls. 

Space on shelves and bookcases can help create the illusion of space even where there is none, so don’t stock them too high with decorative goods.

#2 - Pull Furniture From The Walls

For an instant visual trick that makes your room look bigger, pull the furniture from the walls by an inch or so. This is particularly effective if you choose furniture that is not solid, but shows the space beneath it, creating a roomier effect. Definitely one to keep in mind the next time you’re furniture shopping.

#3 - Use Blinds, Not Curtains

Curtains can be wonderful at adding texture to a room, but also take up more space than you really want to be giving away in a small room.

Use blinds instead, which fit into the recess of the window and don’t intrude onto the interior of the room. This might sound like such a small change, but if you try it then you will be surprised just how big of a difference it can make.

#4 - Use Tricks With Paint

The idea of an accent or feature wall is nothing new in home design, but there’s a trick you can use that makes it even better. 

Paint the wall farthest from the door in a white, or very light colour. All of the other walls should be a shade or two - at the very least - darker. This helps to create a feeling of continued light spreading through the room and lasting onwards - making the space look far bigger and, as a result, far less cluttered.

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A Big Boy Bed For Ru...

Last week we ordered a new bed for Ru.

We have been wanting one for a while, but kept holding off as we thought a single bed would take up most of his room.

Ru was no longer sleeping in his cot-bed and continued to co-sleep with me which I don't mind at all buuuuut Jon and his back don't really get on with it. 

Even though we have a super king sized bed, Ru will take up all of my side leaving me in the middle and Jon feeling like he's about to be kicked or poked in the back.

So we spent a while looking for different sorts of beds and going back and forth from his room with the tape measure and finally agreed on the MALM bed from Ikea.

The bed wasn't too pricey for a bed but we made sure we spent a bit on the mattress - as we're hoping it will last him a while!

The Ikea delivery turned up Thursday evening, so Friday I completely emptied out his room and took down the cot-bed, his little face had no idea what was going on and he kept asking for his bed back!

Eventually he got excited when we got his new big boy bed out of the box.

It didn't take too long to put together and then I was able to put everything back in its new place.

I thought it would be nice to show you his new bed and bedroom lay out along with where some of my favourite bits are from.

The bed is a great size, it fits both of us on it, so now when it comes to the time when he wants to get into bed with me, ill just get in with him.

It also doesn't take up too much room and he still has plenty of room to play in and it also doesn't look like we've just stuffed any old bed in there.

It looks well planned.

At the end of his bed and behind the door is his Ikea unit full of all his clothes and a basket full of all his soft toys.

Ghost light - alittlelovelycompany

The Rupert Bear teddies were presents bought for me when he was born!

Above his bed now is a shelf full of all my favourite things and favourite books that I bought him

Dream catcher - canny_little_clouds

Garland - sausage.and.the.dog

Sonny Angels - the-pippa-and-ike-show.

On the other wall are more books and the start of a picture wall....

Dream Big & Adventure Awaits - blueberrybookids

Dino Ru - Nichola Cowdery

Hanging R - Next

Super Hero Rupert - Frame my name

The two Where The Wild Things Are prints are from a free printable site but I've completely forgotten which one.

If I remember I will update this with a link.

Ru's new bed covers have of his big Totoro but I still think he looks cute peeking out like this.

I got him off amazon.

Bedsheets - Argos

By his bed he now has his Peppa Pig toy box which is also from Amazon, which we were sent for a campaign we were working on.

It's full of rubbish but works well as a bedside table too.

Toadstool night light - theirishfairydoorcompany

Just above his head is my favourite poster ever ...

Moon für Neil print - Martin Krusche which I got from the-pippa-and-ike-show.

His moon night light is from Ikea and I also have his beloved amber necklaces hanging up as he's not allowed to wear them at nursery :(

Just be the door he has his Peppa pig book shelf which we were gifted for a campaign but you can find it over on amazon.

It holds the rest of his books which didn't quite make the shelves, but every now and then we have a change around.

His rainbow bunny was a gift from my mum who bought it for him when he was born.

The little ride along car was found at a carboot fair a couple of weeks ago for only £6, so a proper bargain!

A Sound Night’s Sleep For You And The Dog

Living with a dog can feel much like having a newborn baby in the house, sometimes. With their need for attention taking full-force as you put your head down, it can be impossible to get a good night’s sleep with a canine. 

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Of course, some aren’t as bad as others. But, even the most well-behaved girls and boys still need a bit of help, sometimes. In most cases, owners will work on ways to make this better for themselves, by finding somewhere to put the dog without distractions. 

But, in a lot of cases, this doesn’t tackle the real issue.

Instead, it’s better to focus on the dog. And, more specifically, getting the dog to have a good night’s sleep. To help you with this, this post will be going through three of the best ways to achieve this sort of goal.

You can look at a dog in a similar way to a child. They don’t care how much sleep they get at night because they can’t understand the consequences of not getting very much. 

Without the burdens of work and adult life, dogs can sleep as much or as little as they please. So, you have to find ways to get them sleep if you want them to get through entire nights. Like a child, you should never feed your dog right before bedtime. 

And, they should never be expected to sleep without exercise. Your routines for both food and exercise have to be the same each day, to avoid complicating the issue. 

For most dogs, this will mean three meals a day with the same amount of walks. But, of course, you know your dog better than anyone. And, you’ll have to figure this out yourself.

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Dogs can’t complain when they aren’t very comfortable. But, this doesn’t mean that they don’t experience discomfort.

On a bad bed, your dog could be struggling to sleep simply because they can’t find the right spot. And, this is easy to solve. 

Leather dog beds are becoming very common on the internet. A lot of these products are being filled with resilient materials, like memory foam, nowadays, too. So, getting your dog a bed which will last for years to come is nice and easy. And, with these materials making them, they will also be a lot more comfortable for your good boy or girl, even in summer.

Once you have your new bed, you’re still not quite done, yet. Along with the right sort of bed to sleep on, most dogs will only find it easy to sleep if the bed is in the right place. 

You might not like it, but the best place for a dog’s bed is in a room where humans are sleeping. Like a child, your dog can’t rationalise their fears like you can. Instead, if they get spooked at night, they could be unsettled for hours. 

The comfort they will feel being allowed to sleep near you could solve this issue entirely. And, it will make them feel like a much greater part of your family.

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Hopefully, this post will inspire you to start working on your dog’s sleeping situation as soon as you can. 

Not a lot of dog owners consider this sort of work to be important to their dog. But, as a caring owner, you should be doing everything in your power to make your dog sleep as well they can. It’ll be worth it, too, once you are able to sleep soundly each night.

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