The living room should be one of the spaces designed with the following in mind: spending time with your family, entertaining friends, and enjoying some much-needed relaxation/ Netflix binges.
Many forget this and treat their living room like a showroom, which can result in it feeling anything but livable. If you think your space is a little barren or not really suited to its main purpose, here are a few ideas that might help you turn things around.
Pull Seating Away From The Walls
Many will attempt to organise the space in their living room by pushing the sofas and chairs as far back as they can, with their backs against the wall, leaving a larger space in the middle of the room. However, this is counterproductive in a couple of ways. For one, it makes it harder to converse and connect the greater the space is between people. It also means that people simply passing through the space have to interrupt the flow by walking through it, blocking the view of the TV or others around them. By bringing the seating furniture closer together, you create a clean walkway around the central area while allowing for easier conversation.
Create A Central Gathering Point
If your question is “how do we centre the seating furniture?” then you should make sure that you have something to occupy the middle of the room. The simplest and often best solution is a good coffee table. It acts as a great visual anchor for the space while providing a practical surface that’s perfect for drinks, books, and giving the seating area a little more purpose. Adding a decorative object or two, like fresh flowers, can give it a little more of an aesthetic appeal, too.
Offer Some Seating Options
A good sofa and matching seats are the best place to start, but for more comfort and versatility, you want to offer a variety of seating options within the area. For instance, this could include the occasional ottoman, a beanbag, arm chair or even a stool. Modular and lightweight pieces of furniture allow you to adapt the space to the vibe and number of people that you’re planning to host, providing flexibility in the event of guests coming over.
Make It A Little More Personal
There are all kinds of ways to decorate the space to fit your taste. If you want the room to be a place of warmth and welcoming, someone which drawns the family in, you can reflect that in the focal points and accessories you create and add respectively. Placing mementoes of holidays, a gallery wall of photos, or other decorative pieces that feel personal, not just to your style, but to you as a person and your family, can make the space more visually interesting, and also a better representation of the room’s purpose. We have portraits of the family, framed photos to mark milestones from weddings to birthdays and beyond as well as framed original art, and prints, mirrors, plants, and vases, big and small of flowers. Long standing lamps are also a great option.
A living room that feels alive isn’t just about new furniture or renovating the space though. The layout and how you use the space are just as important. Make it personal, mix up textures with cushions and rugs and keep adapting your space until it feels homely and inviting.
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