It's a good idea to give some thought to your living room design before you begin thinking about decorating.
- Do you actually use it every day? Some families find the kitchen/dining area is used more than anywhere else.
- If you have teenage children you may notice they disappear into their bedrooms more often than not. How much use would they make of the living room? Would you like them to spend more time there with other family members, and if so, how would you encourage them with your living room design?
- When you do use it, what is it used for? Watching TV? Playing music? Or just a room for everyone to relax in?
- Would you like to make it a quiet room - no TV or music - just a room where people can come and read or chat, or where visitors and neighbors come and sit?
Perhaps it's all of these things. No problem. But your living room design will be easier if you know what you have to plan for.
See your ideas take shape
Whenever you're doing any designs for your home, take a look at a product called Plan3D. You can use it to visualize new layouts and designs, and see how your home will look before you go ahead with your plans. It's a
Seating
Seating is one of the most important parts of living room design, so first work out how many people on average you need to provide seating for. (This decision will of course be heavily influenced by the size of the room. Don't try to include more seating than the room will comfortably take.)
Then make a note of how many items you already have - sofas, chairs etc, and how many you need to buy to provide all the seating you want.
If you need a new sofa or chairs, you'll find a great selection here. Save on Living Room Furniture at Furniture.com (the link opens in a new window).
The focal point
At the same time as you estimate your seating, establish the focal point of the room. The focal point is the dominant feature. It could be the fireplace, a large window with a magnificent view, a beautiful rug, an oil painting, or even the media center or TV.
The fireplace is the focal point of this living room. All the furniture is arranged around it.
A focal point need not have any particular function, such as a fire (often they're not used) or a TV. It can be a rug, or just an architectural feature of the room.
An easy way to help you plan your room is to use a great resource from furniture.com. You can select different items of furniture and move them around on a plan of your room. Design your room online with the Furniture.com Room Planner (the link opens in a new window).
You may think that you have two focal points in your room. If so, then get rid of one, or draw attention to one at the expense of the other. The idea of a focal point is to provide a central focus for your room, a reference point, a position of balance. So by definition, if you have more than one focal point you will upset the balance of the living room design.
A focal point draws the eye to it, and from there to other items in the room. Once you know your focal point, it's easier to plan the room around it.
You can get some more great ideas for your living room at Stylish Living Room Ideas. This website is dedicated to living rooms, so you'll find lots of inspiration here.
