Sustainable Living Room Trends in 2020

Living Room Color Trends

Choosing that perfect living room color that celebrates your taste, style, and stand the test of time may seem daunting, but it's easier than you think. In 2020, designers are not only concentrating on one color but using complementary colors to bring more life to a room. Complimentary colors provide your living room with balance, comfort, and help introduce your personality and style.

Cloud white, soft grey, light beige, lavender, taupe, and powder blue can provide a robust, warm base that helps set the tone for the room. These colors are also an ideal choice if you are looking to brighten up a room that lacks natural light or make the room feel spacious. A living room should feel welcoming and comfortable, not dark and restrictive.

Next, select a friendly, playful tone to compliment your color selection. Light shades of charcoal, sky blue, red apple, sunny yellow, bright pumpkin orange, rose quartz, and sage green are perfect complementary colors. Using a color swatch, overlap your primary color on top of the complementary color. This will provide representation as to what the colors will look like once the walls are painted.

It's also important to consider your furniture and decor. While the conflict between these design decisions may not be a show stopper, they are details to consider. The same color swatches can be held up with furniture and decor in the background. The clashing of color with your furniture and decor will be more noticeable during the natural light of the daytime or in the evening when the room is lit with light fixtures. These are the ideal times to put your new color preferences to the test. Don't be afraid to let your style shine. Living rooms are a place to spend time with your family and friends. It's perfectly fine to be a little self-indulgent and ensure the room reverberates your style.

Repurpose Antique Lighting and Accessories

Purchasing existing lighting, and accessories from antique shops and thrift stores is also an excellent way to repurpose used furnishings and keep them out of the waste stream. Matthias Alleckna, an energy analyst at EnergyRates.ca, is an advocate of smart lightbulbs, "which are proliferating and getting smarter. You can customize the warmth, the color, or the intensity. You can set controls so lighting responds to voice commands, your smartphone, or your Amazon Echo. There's a variety of smart bulbs from different brands in different price ranges," to meet every homeowner's needs. Many smart bulbs can be used with traditional lighting fixtures.

Made With Renewable Resources

When buying new furnishings, ask a lot of questions and find reputable answers to make sure your new couch or lounge, curtains or, carpet have been sustainably sourced and produced. What materials were used to make the item? "Bamboo is a wonderfully renewable resource," Miller says. "It grows quickly, is extremely sturdy, and does not need to come from any natural habitats of endangered creatures or the Amazon rainforest." 

In a Mydomaine.com article on 2020 living-room trends, Mikayla Keating, a designer with Decorist.com, said, "With wellbeing and sustainability on the rise, the biggest trend I see is the use of natural materials and textures. These humble materials like hemp, rattan, cane, and jute can add a huge impact to a space without feeling trendy or overdone." 

Keating goes on to mention "biophilia," a design process that brings elements of nature—from increased natural light and views to the outdoors, to natural materials and textures—into our homes. "I predict that this trend will take the next decade by storm with its organic nature." Keating said.