The living room is one of the most important areas in your house for a great hosting experience. It's likely you and your guests will spend countless hours in this room, discussing and entertaining.
Decorating your living room properly will deliver deeply satisfying living for your leisure time. To get there, however, you must pay attention to all of the following areas:
1. the colors that you select
2. material and quality of seats and furniture
3. wall decorations and art
4. lighting and light fixtures
Below we show you some great ideas for decorating your living room.
The Best Colors for Your Living Room
One area that will have a disproportionate impact on the mood of your living room is the color you choose for the walls. While you can install wallpaper to change the look of certain walls, there are areas that wallpaper cannot cover. Getting the wall color right, therefore, gives you the best shot at creating a remarkable effect.
Some of the best color palettes for living rooms include:
1. White - White walls add a touch of class. They are the perfect backdrop for decorating with upscale furniture.
2. Turquoise - This color is great for creating an informal but refined feel. Your kids and family will love the refreshing mood this color creates.
3. Cream - Striking a balance between formal and informal, cream-colored walls create a quiet, soothing effect.
Furniture Choices
With your wall color selection made, you should select furniture that pairs well with the colors you've already chosen. For example, combining white couches with white walls will create resonance in your room design.
Make sure to provide ample seating to avoid crowding. Add multiple sofas, easy chairs and other seats that can accommodate a complete roomful of people, depending on the size of the room.
Furniture like TV stands and tables should generally blend in with the colors of the room and ceiling. There are some natural materials, however, that can work regardless of the colors on the walls. For example, wooden table surfaces look good whether your walls are white, blue or another color.
Lighting Ideas
You can greatly improve the aesthetics of a living room with bright lighting and impressive light fixtures.
To start, you can consider a beautiful chandelier in the center to provide light around the whole room. This central masterpiece ensures adequate lighting throughout the living room while adding an air of elegance.
You can then add to the light sources in the living room with individual lights on tables and around the walls in areas where people will not knock them down.
Carpeting
Consider adding carpeting to your living room to create a comfortable walking area. Carpeting lets you and your guests go barefoot if you choose. The living room almost demands this since you will want to take off your shoes and kick back on occasion. Warm plush carpets provide a good, comfortable surface for this. There are many choices when it comes to carpet size.
If your living room is very large, you can opt for wall-to-wall carpeting. On the other hand, if it's smaller, you can add just an area rug in the place where you will sit. For example, you can have a rug around the sitting and TV area where your kids will play.
The advantage of area rugs over wall to wall carpeting is, mainly, lower costs and ease of replacement. You can completely change the area rug and create a new aesthetic in a fraction of the time it would take to begin installing new wall-to-wall carpeting.
Art Ideas for Your Living Room
Many homeowners like to have some wall art in their living room. If your living room is spacious, it can accommodate a good-sized piece of art mounted alongside one wall. In some instances, you can consider multiple art pieces. Invariably, tasteful art adds to the sophistication of a living room. It adds an interesting item that sparks many conversations from impressed guests.
Selecting art is an opportunity to express your unique personality. If you are fairly conservative, you can select some classical type pieces that portray a quiet life. If you are more adventurous, you can experiment with a post-modern impressionist piece that others might consider risky. It's your space, and so feel free to decorate it to express who you are.
Being able to control the TV with your smartphone, or just your voice, is a game changer. No more searching for that missing remote buried in the bed covers or deep in the couch.
To turn off my TV with Chromecast I use a Google Home Mini. Here's a quick overview of what the setup is capable of. Read on to learn exactly how you can do this too.
What you need to turn off TV with Chromecast
Before we cover the exact steps you need to take to turn off your TV with Chromecast, let's review what you'll need to get started. I make the assumption here that you already have a smartphone/tablet and a WiFi network.
1) TV with HDMI-CEC
The very first thing you'll need is a TV that supports HDMI-CEC. Without this capability, you simply won't be able to turn off your TV with Chromecast.
HDMI-CEC is short for HDMI Consumer Electronics Control. It's a feature that helps your TV interact and work well with other devices. The problem is most TV manufactures don't call it "HDMI-CEC", they brand it something else.
Here is a list of the most common TVs that have HDMI-CEC and their associated brand name for it, so that you can identify it easily.
AOC – E-link
Insignia – INlink
LG – SimpLink
Mitsubishi – NetCommand
Onkyo – RIHD
Panasonic – VIERA Link, HDAVI Control or EZ-Sync
Pioneer – Kuro Link
Runco International – RuncoLink
Samsung – Anynet+
Sharp – Aquos Link
Sony – BRAVIA Link or BRAVIA Sync
Toshiba – Regza Link or CE-Link
Vizio – CEC
2) Google Chromecast
Once you've made sure your TV supports HDMI-CEC, you'll need to get Google Chromecast.
Chromecast is a device that plugs into the HDMI port in the back of your TV. It then allows you to use your smartphone as a remote control to stream video content from apps like Netflix, YouTube TV, and Hulu, on to your TV.
There are several different versions of Chromecast out there, but all of them will allow you to turn off your TV.
If you already have Chromecast, great. If not you should pick up the latest version: Chromecast – 3rd generation.
Chromecast (2nd generation) – Sales discontinued: Oct 10, 2018
Chromecast (Ultra) – Current generation – Released on Nov 6, 2016
Chromecast (3rd generation) – Current version – Released on Oct 10, 2018
3) Google Home App
Not to be confused with the "Chromecast" app. Confusing I know.
Once you've already setup your Chromecast, the Chromecast app allows you to screencast your phone or tablet directly on to your TV. You can even "cast" photos or videos from those devices on to your TV.
But in order to actually set the Chromecast device up, you'll need the Google Home app. So go ahead and download that to either your smartphone or tablet from Google Play or Apple App store.
4) Google Home
Google Home is a product line of smart speakers made by Google. The newer products also include a visual display, in addition to the speaker.
All of these versions of Google Home can be used to turn off the TV with Chromecast.
The Original Google Home – speaker
Google Home Mini – speaker
Google Home Max – speaker
Google Home Hub (aka Nest Hub) – 7 in visual display and speaker
Google Home Hub Max (aka Nest Hub Max) – 10 in visual display and speaker
Step-by-Step instructions to turn off TV with Chromecast
Now that you've made sure you have everything you need to to actually turn off your TV with Chromecast, let's jump into the step-by-step instructions.
Step 1: Enable HDMI-CEC on your TV
Most TVs that have HDMI-CEC, have it disabled by default. You'll need to enable it.
To do this go to your TV's menu, options or settings and find HDMI-CEC. I'd start by just using the TV's remote, click on "Menu" and then scan through the menu, looking for this option.
If you have trouble finding it you might want to do a quick Google search for the "model of your TV" + "how to enable HDMI-CEC".
I recently enabled it on my Samsung TV by clicking "Menu", scrolling down to "System" and then clicked "Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC)".
From there I was able to switch it to "On".
Step 2: Plug your Chromecast into your TV
Now that HDMI-CEC is enabled on your TV, you'll want to plug your Chromecast into an available HDMI port on the back of your TV.
With the HDMI cord of the Chromecast plugged into your TV, plug the other end of the Chromecast into an outlet on your wall.
This is important! Make sure you power the Chromecast by plugging it directly into an outlet. If you try to power the Chromecast with the TV USB port alone, you won't be able to perform this automation.
So, to recap: plug TV into wall, plug HDMI end of Chromecast into TV HDMI port, and plug power end of Chromecast into wall.
Step 3: Setup your Chromecast
Now it's time to setup your Chromecast. To do this make sure your TV is powered on. The screen should be telling you to "Get the app". If you don't see this screen on your TV, use your remote and click on "Source" and then "HDMI".
Now, on your phone or tablet, download the Google Home app. The Google Home app will request that you setup an account, go ahead and do that.
With your Google Home account all setup, start by clicking the + icon at the top left.
Then select "Set up device".
Followed by "Set up new devices".
Select your home that you'll be adding the Chromecast to.
Now Google Home is going to automatically begin "Looking for devices".
Since your TV is powered on and your Chromecast is plugged in, Google Home should pick up your Chromecast no problem. When it does your phone will show a 4 letter/digit code and so will your TV.
Make sure the code on your phone matches the code on your TV. If it does, click "Yes" on your phone.
Then you'll select which room in your home the Chromecast is and click "Next".
Last, you'll connect the Chromecast to your WiFi network.
Great, your Chromecast is all setup!
Step 4: Setup your Google Home
With your TV HDMI-CEC enabled and your Chromecast setup, the last step is to set up your Google Home.
Luckily, this step should be super easy. Since you've already setup the Google Home app, you should be able to just plug your Google Home into an outlet and as it powers on, your Google Home app will automatically pick it up.
(If, for whatever reason your Google Home app does not automatically pick up your device, follow the same steps I outlined above for the Chromecast setup and you should be fine)
During the setup process, when you're prompted to select your WiFi network, make sure its the same WiFi network your Chromecast is on. Once you select that network, the Google Home app should remember your Wifi password (from your Chromecast setup) for you and automatically connect.
Also make sure when you select the "room" your Google Home is in, that you select the same room that you added your Chromecast to. If you didn't do this, don't worry, you can go back and it edit it.
Step 5: Turn off TV with Chromecast!
If setup correctly, you should now see both your TV and your Google Home speaker within the Google Home app.
If everything looks good, give it a try!
Make sure the TV is powered off and then say, "OK Google, TV on". It might take a second or two, but Google Home should send a signal to your Chromecast to turn on your TV.
Conversely you can try, "OK Google, TV off" and your TV should shut off.
Additional Google Home commands to try
Volume Control
"Okay Google, lower the volume on the TV"
"Okay Google, volume up on the TV"
"Okay Google, set the volume of TV to 50"
"Okay Google, turn the volume down on TV by 20"
"Okay Google, mute/unmute TV"
Channel Control
"Okay Google, change channel to 91 on TV"
"Okay Google, next channel on TV"
"Okay Google, channel up/down on TV"
Playback Control
"Okay Google, fast forward/rewind on TV"
"Okay Google, play/pause/resume/stop on TV"
Can Chromecast Turn On TV?
Yes, Chromecast can turn on your TV without a remote, as long as it is HDMI-CEC enabled. To turn your TV on with Chromcast follow these steps:
Make sure your TV is HDMI-CEC enabled
Plug your Chromecast into the HDMI port on your TV
Plug the power end of the Chromecast into a wall outlet
Download the Google Home app to your smartphone/tablet
Setup your Chromecast in the Google Home app
Setup your Google Home in the Google Home app
Turn on TV with Chromecast!
Notice these are exactly the same steps to turn your TV off with Chromecast. Once your Chromecast is connected and HDMI-CEC is enabled, your Chromecast can turn your TV on AND off!
How to connect Netflix to Google Home
If you want to take this automation beyond just controlling your TV, you can use your Google Home and Chromecast with Netflix, Hulu, YouTube TV, etc.
To connect your Netflix account to Google Home follow these steps:
Select theMenu icon at the top right.
SelectAssistant settings.
Select theServices tab and thenVideos and Photos.
LocateNetflix and tap theLink icon to link your Google account to your Netflix app.
Conclusion
To turn off your TV with Chromecast you'll need to:
Make sure your TV is HDMI-CEC enabled
Plug your Chromecast into the HDMI port on your TV, and plug the power end of the Chromecast into a wall outlet
Download the Google Home app to your smartphone/tablet
Setup your Chromecast in the Google Home app
Setup your Google Home in the Google Home app
Turn off TV with Chromecast!
Having issues? Leave a comment below and I'll help you work through it.
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