Persimmon Homes Logo Navbar
Modern living room with grey sofa, open shelving, indoor plants and monochrome cushions

Living room decor ideas

They're our spaces for entertaining, our sanctuaries for relaxing on cosy evenings, the places where children play and where families gather at Christmas - let's take a look at some of the many options for decorating your living room.

Which is the most important room in your new home? It’s an interesting question once you start thinking about it.

Much is made of our kitchens as the sleek and shiny heart of the home, our bathrooms are awash with walk-in showers and free-standing tubs, and our bedrooms luxuriate in boutique hotel glamour, with more throws and cushions than our sofas.

So, what about our living rooms? The name gives it away. We live in them, relax in them, feel at home in them, share evenings with friends in them, cuddle up with our families in them, and just sometimes, have them all to ourselves.

Living rooms are real spaces, in real homes, for real people, and that’s why the images from our Brand Ambassadors are so special. They’re a truly personal snapshot of ideas for living room décor from our inspirational Persimmon homeowners.

Here are four very different living room styles to inspire you; calm and classic, light and airy, cool and contemporary, and warm and cosy.

Neutral living room with gallery wall, grey sofa, armchair and soft textured furnishings

Calm and classic

The style of this room belonging to @ourludlowbythewater has a contemporary touch that suits this lovely new home. You feel relaxed just looking at it.

Top Tips: 

  • Match your furniture but gently mix the colour and pattern. The main sofa, mini sofa and sofa table get it right with subtle style.
  • Wrap up classic style with casual comfort. The rug over the carpet, the blankets on the sofa table, the throws on the sofas, all create warm layers, and the different textures definitely make sure there’s a feel-good factor in this room.
  • Being brave with colour doesn’t mean you have to dazzle. Try different tones of the same colour instead. The range of greys in this living room sit very comfortably together and the full-length curtains pull the whole look together.
  • Have fun with the finishing touches. The cleverly spaced picture frames are picture perfect and don’t clutter the wall. The tray adds a different texture and is ideal for keeping bits and pieces in place and in reach. The lamp in the corner highlights some favourite things, and the lanterns make the window sill feel like part of the room.

Light and airy

This room styled by @bramblehomesouter is full of energy and enthusiasm. Room for living in the true sense of the word. 

Top Tips: 

  • Starting with a blank canvas? Consider keeping it. The plain white walls and the natural floor set the scene.
  • Colour versus pattern. The approach here has been to use pattern in place of colour to create interest and character. The patterns are different but they’re all geometric – it works brilliantly.
  • Follow a theme. In this room it’s as simple as the black lines of the table legs, the wall shelves, the free-standing ladder shelves, and the picture frames.
  • Bring the outside in. All it takes is the hint of the rustic wooden table top (a great recycling opportunity), the natural wood sofa legs and a sprinkling of houseplants. The feel of the great outdoors inside this room gives it a wonderful fresh and natural feeling.
Modern living room with grey sofa, open shelving, indoor plants and monochrome cushions
Neutral living room with gallery wall, grey sofa, armchair and soft textured furnishings

Cool and contemporary

@from_hatfield_to_home's living area is modern and bright - perfect when your living room doubles up as a kitchen/diner too.

Top Tips: 

  • Keep it simple. The dark blue wall around the wood-burning stove is all that’s needed to make the point. If the sofa was dark blue too, it would steal the show and make the space seem smaller.
  • Balance light and dark. The white shelves with dark blue behind them, the simple white cupboards, the glossy cream floor, and the white frames of the French doors are the perfect partners to the strong feature wall.
  • Let in the light. Curtains would dominate rather than frame the view in this living space. The fitted white blinds make sure that this is a room with a view and by adjusting the blinds you can change the atmosphere.
  • Dual-purpose storage. The shelves are great for display and the cupboards hide things away. All in one neatly fitted package.


Warm and cosy

Getting the blues means something very different in this curl-up-on-the-sofa living room, in @thehousewiththepinkbed. 

Top Tips: 

  • Using dark colours. So long as there’s a good balance with other colours, dark will be far from gloomy. The sofas are the key pieces in this room and the rug, soft furnishings, and wall colour give a lift to the cosy atmosphere.
  • Lighting. Keep your options open with different lights for different moods. The directional lamp in the corner gives you light to curl up on the sofa with a good book or you can turn it away for a gentle reflection against the wall. The lantern on the floor is a pretty daytime accessory as well as creating a low-level focal point for a chilled-out evening with a glass of wine.
  • Mirrors. The sun-burst mirror is just the right size to reflect the light from the lamp or the lantern giving the illusion of another light source. In this room a very large mirror would grab the limelight and it wouldn’t feel so snug.
  • Sofas. L-shaped or modular sofas hugging two walls create the feel of a grown-up den. In this room two sofas pushed up close and personal have the same effect. The little spaces in the corners are the perfect home for the tall house plants, and their dark leaves and extra height balance the room.
Cosy living room with blue sofa, wall shelves, framed artwork and soft furnishings

See what's possible with Persimmon

Choose your ideal location, explore our homes, and find a place you’ll love.