the perfect lounge
Living room design: expert tips to create the perfect lounge
the perfect lounge
To get your living room design right first time, we are here to help. Because, knowing where to start can be a challenge, whether you’re working with an empty space – perhaps you’re moving house – or with a very busy room. So, here we have covered everything you need to know about designing a living room from scratch.
From furniture considerations, to paint colours, layouts and flooring – whatever the size, shape or orientation of your living room – we’ve gone into the detail you need to know, to help you make the right choices. Once you’ve read all the practical advice, be sure to check out our living room ideas for decorating inspiration.
WHERE SHOULD YOU PLACE LIVING ROOM FURNITURE?
The first step of designing a living room is the layout. It might be that you have a small living room with little flexibility for furniture positions, but there’s no denying that most of us, whatever the size of our spaces, work our living room design around one thing: the TV. But while turning your living room into a home cinema room may be great for Friday night Richard Curtis marathons, it’s not always the most efficient – and certainly not always the most attractive – way to arrange your furniture.
If you have the space, and particularly in through living rooms, arrange furniture to create purposeful zones. Sure, have a sofa that is just for TV worshippers, but also create a defined reading space by putting an armchair next to a window or table lamp; assign a dedicated work space to a corner with a console table, desk or home office hidden in a cupboard; or separate a children’s play space from the rest of the room with open shelving.
Consider, too, what you really need in your living room design, and what you can live without. At the very least, you’ll need enough seating, side and/or coffee tables, a TV unit, storage for everything from gaming equipment to toys to books. If this is starting to over-load the room, what could go elsewhere?
Top tip:If you really don’t know where to start with your living room layout, use a tape measure to size up the room. From that you can sketch out a floorplan and draw out a few different ways your furniture could fit into the room. Find out much more about where to place the living room furniture in our guide to creating the best living room layout.
CONSIDER PERSONAL STYLE WITH YOUR LIVING ROOM DESIGN
Once you’ve planned your living room furniture design placement you can move on to the fun stuff – choosing the style of your living room. It’s where you will spend much of your time: in the evenings if you don’t have kids, and from the afternoon onwards if you do.
So, while the style of your living room design will be largely dictated by the age of your property, its inherent architectural feature and the style of the rest of your rooms or existing living room furniture, it’s got to suit your lifestyle, too. In other words, if your house if full of kids, choosing a living room filled with ornate antiques probably isn’t practical and a modern living room style might be more your scene. Check out our gallery of modern living room ideas for inspiration.
