Mix vintage, bold, and patterned pieces for a chic boho style living room.
My husband and I have just started an evening tradition of watching old TV sitcoms.
We love their easygoing storylines and often chuckle at the dated styles and trends.
Bell bottoms, perms, and wildly patterned furniture covered in thick plastic showed up in last night’s episode.
I especially love the home decor details.
The truth is, just like fashion in clothing, home decor has trendy looks that fade away and then come back again.
Modern boho style is exactly that. Its nod to the vintage looks of the 50s, 60s, and 70s brings an easy, breezy feel, but it can also read as neutral and classic. I have been slowly adding it to different corners of our home.
So far, boho style elements have made their way into our master bedroom, dining room, and now the living room.
How to create a boho style living room
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Choose boho style wall art with bold shapes
The focal point of this boho living room is the amazing wall art piece above the couch.
I found it on Photowall, and was thrilled with how it sets the tone for a great boho style.
Rather than hang a bunch of small pictures for a gallery wall above the couch, I wanted one large piece of art instead.
(By the way, Photowall is offering my readers a coupon code for the next 30 days. Just enter ritajoy25 at checkout for 25% off canvas art, wallpaper, or framed prints. Head to Photowall to start shopping now. And if you are Canadian, you’ll be happy to know it arrives at your door in about a week or less!)
If you feel adventurous, you can even paint your own boho landscape art. (It’s really fun and easy!)
Lay down a patterned rug
Chic boho style is nearly always paired with a patterned rug of some sort. The Wayfair rug in our living room is neutral and subtle, but its print adds to the overall boho feel of the space. Boho style is often layered with textures and patterns, so you could even stack rugs of different sizes and patterns.
Install wall lamps above the couch
Ever since we moved into our townhouse, I’ve wanted to ditch the side table lamps and try wall lamps above the couch.
We finally took the plunge, and we LOVE them!
Tips on installing wall lamps above the couch
Once I finally chose a wall lamp style (similar to this one), I found there were many more decisions to make! Here are some tips we learned along the way:
- Tape off the size of the wall art you’ll have above the couch (if you don’t have it yet) to help you choose where the wall lamps go.
- We set the lamp base 18 1/2 inches above the back of the couch.
- Play around with the adjustable arm to get the look you like, and adjust each lamp so they match. We have the back arm completely vertical and parallel to the wall, with the front arm pointing down.
- Don’t forget about the bulbs! Gone are the days of grabbing a 60 watt bulb at the store. After lots of research, we chose dimmable 2700 kelvin bulbs (a soft, warm color) with 800 lumens (equivalent to 60 watts).
- Add a dimmer to the bulbs. Since the lights sit directly above your head when you are on the couch, they are perfect for reading. Still, it’s nice to dim them when you want to watch those old TV sitcoms in the evening! We found an amazing dimmable extension cord that is a total game changer. We plugged both lamps into it, and we can switch them on and off and dim them with it. I highly recommend it!
Mix up fabric patterns for a boho chic look
Wildly mixing fabric patterns and color shades is a hallmark of freestyle boho decorating.
Our local fabric store was having a clearance sale, so I bought a few coordinating patterns and made some easy pillow covers with zippers. They will be easy to swap out when I’m ready for a new look!
I wanted to play around with bright Fall colors this time, but if you prefer a more classic neutral look, it could be done with shades of black, white, and leather brown.
Generously add plants
As I researched boho style decor, I noticed that rooms described as boho always had lots of greenery and plants. I have recently taken a liking to collecting houseplants, so I gathered them up to create this boho living room vignette.
I placed our largest plant in a DIY planter stand to the side as an anchor point, and scattered smaller plants around the space. Feel free to mix plants of different sizes and leaf shapes, and use vessels made of rattan, wicker, pottery, or wood to hold them.
Add in some vintage pieces
Vintage pieces are some of my favorites, and I’ve collected items over the years. They fit perfectly with boho style! Vintage chairs sit beside the couch, and the round side table was originally bought decades ago by my grandparents (in the 70s?). I love having a reminder of them in my home.
Have fun!
As with every other decorating experiment in my home, I’ve loved playing with options and looks for this boho style. It’s fun to keep the big basics in place (like the couch – click here to read how we chose it), while the small things can be changed for different looks and feels. Don’t be afraid to try something completely new for you. You might just love the result and the freshness of a new-looking space.
Living with this boho style living room decor look
How do we like living in this space, you ask? Well, here’s the deal. For pictures, I enjoyed styling this space heavily with plants. In everyday life, though, most of the real ones in this photo just won’t thrive here, since the room doesn’t get much natural light.
On a day-to-day basis, we only keep 2 pillows on the couch, and the real houseplants are swapped for smaller items on the tables. We love having a place to set our coffee cups!
We absolutely love the new lights above the couch. They are a much better lighting solution in our dark room than the old table lamps.
Want some more resources for boho decorating?
- Here are over 15 free printable boho art designs
- Create a boho tapestry wall hanging using fabric and printables.
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