10 Essentials You Need For a Glam Living Room
Clean lines and sleek finishes are all well and good, but sometimes, you want something a bit more old-school, a bit more luxe, something altogether more glamorous. And where better to introduce a great big hit of glam than your living room? Forget minimalism and embrace your inner glamour puss with extravagant textures, indulgent details, and more mirrored surfaces than a 1970s disco. Start planning now as we guide you through the 10 essentials you need for a glam living room.
1. A Sparkling Chandelier
Beautifulhomes.com suggests that a grand chandelier is one of the key essentials for a glam dining room. The same principle holds true for the living room. Forget understated or recessed lighting options and bring a touch of splendor to your living space with a big, glowing crystal chandelier. Go as big and grandiose as the size of the room allows… this is one case where bigger is most definitely better.
2. Floor to Ceiling Curtains
A glam living room is no place for meek and mild window treatments. Forget the discrete blinds and the boring, mid-length drapes and go to town with some floor-skimming, eye-catching curtains. If your room’s on the smaller side, add some height by hanging the curtain rail just a little higher than you would normally… you’ll be amazed at how much higher it makes the ceilings look.
3. Fashion Coffee Table Books
What could be more glam than a coffee table stacked with the latest fashion tomes? Not much, at least according to jadorelexiecouture.com. As well as giving you (and your guests) something to read, fashion books also add a hefty dollop of extra glam to your room, especially when they’re artfully arranged on a coffee table. If you’re as much a fan of fashion as you are of red-hot pokers (and don’t much fancy wasting good money on something you’ll never read), swap the books for a few copies of Vogue instead- you’ll get the same look, but for a fraction of the price.
4. Winged Chairs
What could be more glam than a winged chair? Look for one in a sumptuous texture to elevate the sense of luxury, and get just as adventures with color and style as you like.
5. Pillows
A glam living room isn’t just pretty. It’s comfortable. It has sofas you want to sink into, chairs you want to cuddle up on, and carpets you want to dig your toes into. It also has piles and piles of pillows. If you’ve got an extravagant inner streak, let it out to play as you indulge in pillows, throw blankets and anything else that adds an extra level of swish coziness to your sofas, your chairs, your loveseats, and your sectionals.
6. Candles
Lightening is a big deal in the glam living room. We’ve already discussed the importance of the main lighting (make it big, make it bold, and make it a chandelier) but what about when you want a low-lit, intimate glow? Dimmer switches aside, there’s a simple answer – candles. Candles are an essential part of your glam living room, able to instantly transform even the blandest of spaces into a cozy, glamorous, and altogether more enticing proposition. Decorate your room with as many candles as you can without turning it into a fire hazard. Even better, make them scented candles – after all, a glam room should be a feast for all our senses, not just our eyes.
7. Metallic Accents
If you want to embrace the glam look, then like it or not, you’re going to have to embrace metallic accents. But don’t start introducing them without first considering the overall décor. If you’ve padded your room out in neutral colors, add a bit of warmth with warm, yellow gold tones. If you’ve gone for warmer tones throughout, provide some cooling contrast with some shimmering bright silver accents instead. The accents can be introduced in whatever and whichever way you like, but pillows, candlesticks, photo frames, and vases all make good vessels for a splash of luster.
8. Rugs
Bare floorboards can be lovely, especially when they’ve been polished up to perfection. But glam means luxe, and luxe means comfort. While you’re not obliged to cover your floors in wall to wall shagpile carpeting like some 1970s boudoir, you are going to have to commit to some rugs. Whether you prefer a gorgeously intricate Persian rug, a pile of supersoft sheepskins, or a shaggy, wooly, “sink your toes into me” extravaganza, make sure you introduce at least one rug into the room. But before you do, consider the rest of the décor. While glam living rooms can stand up to some eclecticism, there still needs to be a sense of unity in the furniture, the décor and, yes, the carpeting.
9. Textures
As digsdigs.com comments, texture is a huge part of the glam living room. But don’t stick to one texture throughout. Contrast, mix things up, play up differences.. whatever you do, keep things varied. Faux fur throws work wonderfully against a leather sofa, a velvet pillow adds a sensuous touch to a polished wooden chair, a plush, padded frame is a perfect home for a gleaming mirror. Glam, more than anything else, is fun… the joyous interplay of textures shows why.
10. A Gilded Mirror
As thespruce.com very wisely puts it, a gilded mirror is inherently glamorous, able to add a touch of classical elegance, Hollywood romance, and old school charm to any room you choose to hang one. In the living room, it can instantly make a small space seem larger, a dingy space seems lighter, and a boring room seems interesting. If you want to feel like a silver screen star of old, do yourself a favor and invest in at least one gilded mirror (although if you want to add a unique touch, a series of mirrors in various sizes and shapes can look as equally wonderful as one, central piece).