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Living Room Tips

1. "Enlarge"a Picture. If the painting you'd like to put above your sofa is too small to make an impact, visually expand it by nailing a large frame of molding to the wall, then center the painting within that space.

2. Turn on the Power. "Lots of prints and whatnots deplete a room's power and sense of authority," says interior designer Nancy Braithwaite of Atlanta. Her advice: choose furniture for its form. "If the forms are exciting, the living room will be, too — especially if you overscale things a bit and cover all upholstered pieces with the same color solid fabric."

3. Consider a Mural. You can find wonderful historic reproduction murals in wallpaper books at your local home decorating center. Cover an entire wall or just a large picture-sized space of it framed with molding.

4. Divide and Conquer. To define the living and dining areas in a long room that has to accommodate both, install two waist-high shelf units (with doors) that project a few feet in from each side wall. The low units will keep air space open, add a needed horizontal element, and provide handy storage for both areas.

5. Add Visual Space. Painting woodwork and walls in the same light color will make a small room seem larger.

6. Create a Skyline. Don't keep all the elements at the same horizontal level. As Larchmont, New York, designer Libby Cameron suggests, "Arrange — or add — pieces to establish an interesting contrast of heights so that the eye goes up and down as it travels around the room."

7. Layer the Lights. Overhead spots (like track lighting) are great for highlighting special areas. But you also need table lamps for warm, eye-level light, as well as floor lamps (like torcheres) to complete the effect.

8. Maximize Mini-blinds. Add a rich sense of detail by centering a length of embroidered tape over each of the two front slat-connecting cords of your mini-blinds. Cut each tape length 1 inch longer than the length of blind when fully lowered. Iron cut edges under 1/4 inch, then use needle and thread to tack the back of the tape to the cord at the top and bottom of the blind, and at 12-inch intervals in between.

9. Make a Display Tray. To unify a collection of small items on a tabletop, cover the photo-backing cardboard of a wall-hung type picture frame with fabric that complements the display. Insert that in the frame, behind the picture glass, and arrange items on top.

10. Pay Attention to Detail. "When a room has a distinct architectural style, your furnishings should respect it, not fight against it," says Chicago interior designer Maxine Snider. "If there's no detailing to begin with, you can establish the spirit of a style by adding baseboards, window and wall casings, and other moldings suitable to it. These elements should give a sense of symmetry, of height and verticality (which you can achieve with shutters), and of scale."

11. Camouflage It. Hide an unsightly radiator behind a pretty four- or five-paneled standing screen to create a decorative element.

12. Vary the Shapes. When it comes to sofas, windows, rugs, and so on, rectangles rule. To balance them, try adding a few round throw pillows, an oval coffee table, a jar-shaped lamp, a round ottoman, a free-form sculpture, and/or flowers and plants.

13. Add a Faux Fireplace. A fireplace makes a perfect focal point, but if you don't have one, you can buy a quality portable version. Or create the same effect by placing an antique fireplace mantle-cum-frame against a wall. To make it look real, hide the exposed wall area within the frame with a painted fireboard.

14. Open it Up. If you've had it with clutter, simplify. Says interior designer Sally Sirkin Lewis of J. Robert Scott in Inglewood, California, "Pull up the carpeting, bleach the wood floors, and keep window treatments to the absolute minimum needed for privacy. And to really 'air' a room, arrange your furniture in a central island instead of lining it up against the wall. Then put a tree or a sculpture in that bare corner instead of a furniture piece."

15. Use the Door. Fasten a brass towel bar to a connecting door for displaying a folded quilt or a colorful crocheted throw.