While I’ve shared a lot about how to decorate the most popular living spaces in your home, I’d be cutting corners to not talk about the perfect place to add more personality to the rest of your decor: Do not miss those empty corners! Are you ready for some fun corner decor ideas?
Much like hallways, folks underestimate how much corner decor can add to your interior design style. An empty corner is the perfect place to let your personality shine – and in some cases, gain some extra storage space or solve other design challenges. If you know me, I can’t emphasize how much I love projects that are creative and practical!
I’ve gathered just over a dozen corner decorating ideas to help you transform those overlooked areas into inviting nooks.
How do I decorate a corner? More often than not, I use a combination of items you’ll find on this list. Of course, those you choose will depend on your space and how you want it to work for you.
While you may want nothing more than an eye-catching feature to add visual impact, learning how to decorate an awkward corner will also allow you to get more use out of these empty spaces.
In my living room layout, the corner of the bookcases and wall seemed more empty after I added my end table and decor, despite being set back several feet from the sofa. While the table is useful and the tree is decorative, notice the sightline and how these pieces are complementary in materials and color.
When possible, you can (and should!) combine several corner decorating ideas to maximize the beauty and use of the space. In the list below, you’ll see more example photos that combine more than one of the corner decoration solutions.
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13 Ways to Decorate Corners in Your Home
From touches of greenery to a floor-to-ceiling home office workstation, let’s take a look at some stylish corner designs that pop while keeping things pretty.
1. Trees Bring the Outside In
Greenery can make any room come alive (even if the plant isn’t). A tree or other large indoor plant is the most dramatic natural accent to brighten up a corner. Go for live plants if you have a green thumb and your empty corner happens to be in range of the right amount of natural light. If not, I have an entire post about where to buy the best fake plants.
2. Elevate Things With a Plant Stand
Another way to achieve the freshness that greenery brings to spaces –especially an empty corner of your living room – is to position a pretty plant stand. These help live plants get the light they need and draw the eye to the height level you want, depending on the stand you choose.
In this case, the plant stand doubles as an accent table for matching clocks and just enough space to rest a drink.
3. Accent Chair Relaxation Station
Our living room is exactly that. It’s a family room I like to keep it bright and tidy while keeping it comfortable. I minimize clutter by taking advantage of the spacious bookcases to play with bookshelf decor ideas. Rather than let the shelves do all the work to make this corner cozy, a comfortable leather accent chair does the heavy lifting.
While the chair contrasts in color and texture with our light cream couch, the soft leather and basket full of extra pillows and throws call you to rest your feet (and maybe your eyes, too) after a long day. It’s also positioned well with natural and artificial light sources to double as a reading nook.
4. Reading Nook Escape
And that brings us to reading nooks, which seem to be what empty corners are truly made for. Your corner reading nook can be as simple or luxurious as your space and budget will allow.
While our cozy living room corner does the trick, I love the elegant beauty of this space, which pairs a chaise, floor lamp, an oversized gallery wall and lots of natural light. Beautiful!
5. Artful Gallery Wall Spaces
An empty corner’s wall space may be all the real estate you need to add a few framed pieces of your favorite artwork and call it a day –a lovelier day, that is. I feel that way when I round the corner from our kitchen into our living room and see this trio of landscape art I arranged there.
As you can see, adding anything to the floor here would only get in the way. Yet, taking advantage of the wall space creates a nice transition from the airy kitchen to the Hale Navy walls in our living room. Art is an excellent choice for corner decorating in bigger spaces, too. Consider elevating a sculpture or other piece of art on a pedestal or table, or adding a tiered shelf to display a special collection.
6. Blanket Ladder Charm
Add charm in an instant by propping up a blanket ladder draped with your favorite throws or handmade quilts. These can work well in a bedroom for those chilly winter nights or in one of your empty living room corners if you like to cozy up on the couch.
After many years with one of these on my wishlist, I ultimately decided to DIY it! Here’s the post to learn how to make a blanket ladder like mine. It is so easy!
7. Modern Floor Lamps
While floor lamps go back for centuries, they seemed to reach a peak of popularity of our lifetimes in the 1990s with the black, halogen torchieres, which turned out to be dangerous. Fast forward to now, and there are so many stylish, useful, and (presumably) safe options on the market.
I liked this before/after from the Style by Emily Henderson blog, which shows the impact and extra style this lamp brings to the space. Check out the link with the images for several more great examples.
SHOP THE LAMPS
8. Antique Corner Cabinets
While you’ll still find built-in corner cabinets in many older homes, you can also find them for great deals at antique shops. Depending on the quality of the cabinet you find and your personal style, you may get an even better deal on cabinets you’re willing to strip and restain or paint to suit, like the one below.
Other antique mall finds like dressers, tall chests of drawers, and armoires also make excellent corner accent pieces that double as extra storage.
9. Pretty Pet Crate
I’ve been planning to expand on this topic for a long time, so be on the lookout. While pets are part of the family for many people, their spaces can be especially challenging to fit into your interior design dreams.
Furniture designers have taken note, so we are starting to see more solutions for furry friends that truly elevate the crate. I love this crate that is specifically designed for an empty corner of your living room or den.
10. Nesting Accent Tables Add Value
Accent tables come in a dizzying range of options, so it’s up to you to decide which to choose based on the corner space to fill. Since I usually limit my smaller decor items to my bookshelves and small end-table arrangements, I like leaning more on function for adding accent tables.
Resting in a corner out of the way, these nesting tables do not require much styling beyond their design. When you have guests or need extra surface space for some other reason, they’re ready.
11. Bar Carts for co*cktails, Coffee or Chocolate
While larger corners are made for reading nooks, smaller ones seem best suited to bar carts. While these are traditionally used for serving co*cktails and displaying pretty bar glassware collections, alcohol is not required to style this look.
I like how this cart includes a touch of greenery to add height. You might also consider this solution for a coffee station or hot chocolate bar. Either would be so cute in an eat-in kitchen or casual dining room.
12. Folding Screen Finery
Remember what I said about combining elements in a corner? This includes several we’ve covered, including an accent table, framed art, elevated sculptural art, plus greenery –only in this case it’s in the form of a vibrant green, botanical print folding screen.
The screen doesn’t fill the corner alone, it adds to a grouping of items that maximizes the space. Folding screens may also be a great solution for obscuring pet stations, toy bins, or other items you like having handy.
13. Space Efficient Home Office
Many more people are working from home these days, and yet not everyone has the extra room for a dedicated office. As a result, we’ve seen a lot of creative designs for workstations. An empty corner in your living room or guest room may be just the spot.
This space was custom-built to suit a corner adjacent to a large, built-in wardrobe. While the shelving is reserved for decorative arrangements, there’s plenty of desk space to get things done. Also, note the bits of greenery with small plants.
You’ve probably picked up the mix-and-match approach works best to customize an empty corner to suit your style and needs. I hope these ideas have gotten the ball rolling to help you decide what will work best in your home.
I’d love to hear how you’ve used these tactics or others that I may not have included!
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