Tips on how NOT to arrange Living Room Furniture
Designing a living room layout isn’t so easy unless you’re an interior designer. If you’re not sure what looks good and what doesn’t, you can end up creating an awkward and uninviting living room. The living room is known as the main room of the house, a place where all the family can get together to watch TV or play a card game, and where guests are invited to engage in conversation all night long!
This means that it’s super important to design your living space in such a way that it gives off a comfortable homey vibe to all that enter. To help you do so, we’ve created a list of a few DON’Ts on how not to arrange your living room furniture.
DON’T push furniture against the walls
An easy go-to layout for living rooms is to push all furniture against the walls and call it a day. This leaves, depending on the size of the room of course, a big open space in the centre of the room, which is perfect for those who expect to host parties all the time. For a homier setting though, keep the furniture away from the walls and have them closer to each other. This creates a more comfortable vibe and encourages intimate conversation between you and your guests.
DON’T bombard the room with furniture
Another mistake is to fill the living room with loads of furniture. A common thing to do for those who have large open spaces and don’t want it to look bland, many end up overcompensating by filling up any empty space with a random unnecessary piece of furniture. A great tip is to stick to the essentials, especially if your living room is quite small in size: sofa/s, chair/s, TV stand & TV, and a floor lamp. The trick is to, when designing your own living room, keep 2 things in mind – what vibe does the room give off, and is there space to walk around. Simple is beautiful, so creating a minimalist layout might suit your character.
DON’T create an uncomfortable conversation area
This is especially useful for those who frequently have people over. While a sofa with a chaise lounge at one end is ideal for watching TV with the whole family, people enjoy being face to face with each other when engaging in conversation. So if you’re often the host to friends and extended family, consider having sofas and chairs either face each other or be placed at not more than a 90o angle to each other. Checkout these 7 tips to consider when choosing the correct sofa. This not only creates a setting of closeness but encourages people to converse naturally and comfortably.
DON’T use the wrong-sized rug
A standard problem for many, finding the perfect-sized rug with your preferred colour and design is not an easy task. Yet, when placed correctly, it can pull the whole room together. Using the wrong-sized rug ends up making the room look unbalanced and overall uncomfortable, such as when a table or chair has three legs on a rug and one off. This imbalance not only puts off the whole atmosphere of the room, but makes whoever sits on the chair to rock back and forth.
A straightforward solution is to either put all legs on the rug or all legs off of it. Another way is to keep it equal – if 2 legs are on the rug, 2 legs should be off of it. Which you choose is all based on your living room size, your specific furniture, and your personal preference.
DON’T forget to define activity zones
Today, living rooms are generally open-spaces, leaving some homeowners frazzled trying to decorate it in a way which doesn’t leave the room feeling empty or, on the other side of the coin, bombarded. The trick is to create specific ‘rooms’ within the living room itself. While designing, think of what you’ll be using your living room for – to watch TV, engage in conversation with guests, read a book, etc. Then define the furniture groupings you’ll need for each activity and arrange the room based on this list. Not only will it keep the room organised, but also ensure that you do not go overboard with furniture and preserve the openness of the room.
DON’T underestimate floor lights
When designing a living room, it’s easy to forget about floor lights since the room would typically already come with some kind of overhead lighting similar to a dining room lighting plan. Especially useful for activities like reading, standing lights are optimal furniture accessories. They’re also useful when having company over at night or if your living room has a lack of natural light. This is because overhead lighting creates a shadow on people’s faces which isn’t very flattering, so having a floor light eliminates this problem. The best thing about them is that there are countless different sizes, colours, and designs, so you’ll surely find one that fits your living room!
