Your living room is the pride of your home. This is where you lounge with your family or entertain your guests. Your living room is surely busy catering to your daily needs, so it is important to turn it into a functional and inviting area. Here are some ways to arrange your living room furniture for a lovelier and more welcoming conversational space.
Begin with a Plan
When designing your living room, it is always good to begin with a plan. This is to make sure that your furniture arrangement, design, and colour combinations match very well. Creating your dream living room often starts with looking for design inspiration, selecting the right colour palette, and getting the perfect furniture that will work for your lounging and entertainment needs.
For a practical conversation area, match your sofa with lounging chairs facing each other. For a cosy entertainment space, try an L-shaped sofa paired with a television console or a cuddly reclining armchair to support your body while watching. Spruce up your space with designer coffee tables, side tables, and spacious display and storage solutions.
Choose a Focal Point
Having a focal point helps you keep all the pieces of your living room together. An artwork, your television, a gallery wall, or even a piece of furniture can act as your focal point. If you have a noticeable window or a prominent decorative piece, you can easily choose a point around which all your furniture and decorations will revolve. If you don't know how to identify your room's focal point, look for the furniture, a decorative piece, or a wall that you first notice when you enter the room. Once you find your major point of interest, start arranging your furniture and accent items around it.
Measure Your Space and Your Furniture
Before buying your furniture pieces, make sure that they fit your space and your needs. This includes the required number of seats, their height, and traffic flow. When staying in your living room, you should have enough space to sit and move around comfortably without tripping over or bumping into other furniture pieces. Keep a decent distance between your sofa and coffee table. Plan the distance of your entertainment unit from your sofa to make sure that you get a good view of your television without straining your eyes. It is also important to consider the size of your staircase and door.
Do Not Push Your Furniture Against the Wall
Now that you have the right measurements for your room, you can plan your furniture arrangement in the most convenient and aesthetically pleasing way possible. Even for those with a limited living room area, keeping a reasonable distance between your walls and your furniture is essential to give your eyes some space to breathe. This will make smaller spaces look bigger. Arrange your furniture in the middle of your space as much as possible to make it look cohesive and well-put-together. For those with bigger open spaces, feel free to arrange your furniture depending on the open or more intimate look you want to achieve. Make sure to leave some inches between your furniture and your wall to prevent creating an unsettled look.
Create a Space for Conversation and Recreation
Create a living room layout that is both functional and comfortable for your family and guests. When arranging your furniture, consider the potential number of people that will use your space and what activities you will usually use it for. When placing your furniture, conversations should flow as naturally as possible. Position your sofa and chairs in front of each other to encourage conversations. If you want to highlight your gaming or entertainment area, place your sofa in front of your television console. When it comes to these types of setups, L-shaped sofas or sectionals are the champions of the space.
Find Visual Balance
Balance is a very important factor to highlight in interior design. When arranging your furniture, make sure that you do not group large items on one side and small furniture on the other, making your living room look like a ship that is about to sink. Position your furniture starting with the focal point, add the more prominent pieces like your sofa, and then decorate with two to three smaller chairs on the other side to balance the size of the bigger sofa. Play with sizes, shapes, and curves to balance your space. Try mixing a circular coffee table into your living room to complement other angled furniture pieces.
Always Go for Multipurpose Furniture
Whether you have a big or a small living room, getting multipurpose furniture will also give you multiple benefits. A television console with built-in storage will help you arrange your remote controls and gaming consoles in the right place. When it comes to your coffee table, typically, the bigger it is, the better. A coffee table with open shelves and drawers can serve as a safe container for your knick-knacks while giving you ample tabletop space for your drinks and snacks. For a more flexible seating arrangement during large gatherings, try a versatile sectional sofa.
Invite Ample Light
Lighting is an important but overlooked factor in creating a more open and welcoming living room. Usually, homeowners settle on a central source of light.
If you have multiple furniture pieces and display units, compromising on your main overhead lighting will give your room multiple blind spots.
To brighten up your space, accompany your overhead lighting with task lights on your bookshelves, a lamp on your side table, a sconce, or multiple ambient lights in the darker parts of your room. In the morning, do not forget to invite natural light into your area. Use light window treatments like sheer curtains to achieve a fresh and well-lit living space.
Add an Area Rug
An area rug is one of the most important decorative pieces that make your living room look cohesive and well-balanced. It also increases the depth and variety of your design. To make your living room arrangement cohesive, choose a big area rug that complements the design and colour scheme of your living room. A centre rug must be spacious enough to rest the front legs of larger furniture pieces like your sofa, chairs, and television console when arranged around it. Typically, you want to leave the same amount of floor area between your wall and the sides of your rug. In terms of the rug's shape, it is good to consider the shape of your room and your design scheme.
Personalise Your Wall
Mix and match colours and decorations on your accent wall to effectively express your personality. You may add simple wall art or mementos. When choosing a wall to decorate, look for one that is noticeable but, at the same time, not distracting. You can create a reading nook with shelves or show off your collections with a display unit. Do not be afraid to experiment with your arrangements until you get the design that you want to achieve.
Designing your living room is both exciting and daunting at the same time. When you have a lot of furniture and items in mind, it becomes hard to focus on and prioritise the elements that really matter. The key point is to keep your living room clean, pleasing to the eye, comfortable, and functional. Bearing these factors in mind will help you make the most of your favourite bonding area.
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