An interior designer critiqued my neutral living room. Her tips showed me easy tricks to make a space cozy and stylish.

• I asked an interior designer how to make my neutral living room feel more stylish and cozy.
• She suggested adding black and wooden accents to the room to create warmth.
• The designer told me that strategically rearranging my furniture can improve the room’s ambiance.

My husband and I have been enjoying our new home for a while now, but it’s been a huge undertaking to decorate every room.

One that’s been especially difficult to design is the living room. We thought we could simply move the furniture from our old place into our new space. Unfortunately, there’s a major style discrepancy.

Our new home’s living room has a built-in wood-burning stove and a shiplap ceiling. These style choices are partly what attracted us to this house, but we have no idea how to decorate around these elements in a complementary way.

To learn how to incorporate these elements better into my living room, I consulted Kim Turner, principal designer of Kim Turner Design and advancement director at Dwell with Dignity.

After sharing photos and a video tour of my space, Turner shared advice on how to make my living room feel more stylish and cozy.

She said replacing our accent pillows and table could transform the ambiance of the space

The biggest issue I’ve faced in decorating our living room is figuring out how to incorporate the fireplace into our design. Currently, the darker elements surrounding the fireplace seem out of place in our otherwise neutral space.

To tie the room together and avoid having a lone black corner, Turner suggested bringing some of the black accents from the fireplace area to other parts of the room.

We can do this by replacing our current coffee table with a darker one. This could completely transform the ambiance of the room, the designer said.

“The current table maintains a contemporary feel from your previous home, but a change in shape and materials would add warmth,” Turner said.

She recommended a table with a blend of iron, wood, and glass to bring the wood from the ceiling down to help anchor the space.

Additionally, Turner suggested replacing the dark pillows on the couch with textured ones in a lighter shade. She said this simple swap can help make the space feel warmer.

Hiding wires and clutter can easily upgrade the room

To clear visual clutter, Turner recommended we conceal any unsightly exposed TV wires and put away other random items we’ve collected on our shelf below it over time.

“To create balance, consider placing two large, identical items on either end of the shelf,” Turner said. “The existing candle lantern is perfectly sized and shaped — finding a matching one for the opposite end would be ideal.”

We can bring the room together better with some simple rearrangements

To make the room cozier, I should simply rearrange some of the pieces we already own, Turner said.

She suggested I move the small, round side table to sit between the sofa and the recliner.

The tall lamp hovering over the recliner should be positioned over the coffee table and couch to avoid it feeling like a spotlight over that specific seat.

Turner also suggested placing another floor lamp where the side table once stood to provide extra light.

“Play with placement until it pleases your eye. Sometimes, I’ve found myself shifting an item to the right, then to the left, and even readjusting it by an inch to the right again,” Turner said. “You’ll instinctively know when it’s perfectly positioned.”

She suggested adding a gallery wall to fill the white space and add texture

Turner suggested we move our brass mirror and build a gallery wall to fill that empty space instead. She suggested adding artwork, black-and-white photography, or even macrame to incorporate texture into the space.

When building a gallery wall, the designer said, always hang an odd number of items.

“Perhaps you start with five — three if you find something large. There’s a fine line between having an interesting grouping that draws your eye and a cluttered wall,” Turner said.

She suggested we try out different configurations by placing the pieces on the floor and spacing them out to our liking before hanging them.

We can enhance the room further with customized window treatments

To add another textural element to the space, Turner recommended adding window treatments to our bare windows.

She suggested we use iron hardware and solid-color linen draperies.

“To create an aesthetically pleasing effect, position the rod halfway between the top of the window and the bottom of the ceiling molding,” Turner said.

The draperies should hang straight, which will help soften the look of the windows and add more texture to the space.

Overall, I learned that pulling elements and colors from the room’s focal points can upgrade my space

Turner’s tips gave me some ideas to make my living room feel warmer and more stylish.

My biggest takeaway from her advice is that I should consider pulling inspiration from the colors and textures of the existing style elements in the space. In this case, that’d be the shiplap ceiling and the matte black fireplace.

Currently, everything in our living room is fairly light in color. If we incorporate darker shades and more wood into our design, the room can feel warmer and much more chic.

This story was originally published on February 9, 2024, and most recently updated on November 5, 2025.

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