Style your Space – Lazing in the Living Room

Style your Space – Lazing in the Living Room

Have a little think about your living room for a second. How does it make you feel? Is everything working well and suit the space? These are easy questions, but let’s face it, a lot of us don’t take time to think about it, and perhaps if we do, and we don’t like the answers to them, we don’t know what to do about it.

Your living room is one of the most used spaces in your home, so it’s important to create a cohesive environment that everyone can enjoy. But in reality, it is a place often filled with pieces of furniture that have come with you from your last home and bits and pieces collected over time, gifts you felt obligated to hang on the wall etc. Believe me, I have seen it all. And if this is you then you should know that you are the majority, and its ok.

If you fancy getting out of that rut that you are in and making your home into a place that you really love to hang out, then we have a few ideas to help.

First thing is balance. Most unstyled living rooms lack this. They have lots of things down low, like sofas, coffee table, but nothing to balance that out. This is where floor lamps, tall plants and artwork are so important. So look around, and if you need some height, think about how you can do it.

Second is proportion. Are your sofas too big for the space? Often the answer is yes to this one. As they are a tricky thing to fix, you may want to see if one or two of them can be moved elsewhere in the house, or one of them replaced with two feature chairs instead? If this isn’t going to work, you may want to start saving to replace them. Not a cheap fix, but worth the investment when you consider how much time you spend on them.

Thirdly, consider a good rug. And yes, even if you have carpet, this is a great idea. The reason is that most sofas and chairs look like they are floating in a space until they have something to connect them together and round out a room into a cohesive zone. This does sound a bit designer la la speak I know but when you give it a try you will see what I mean. This is especially important for tiles, wooden or concrete flooring. Importantly your rug should be big enough or it won’t achieve this goal. Ideally all pieces of furniture should have their legs on the rug.

It’s also just as important that the room promotes good traffic flow, allows you to move around freely and unobstructed but also serves the purpose of being able to comfortably live in it. And this is something that I would recommend experimenting with. Try to get away from all furniture needing to be pushed up against a wall. Sometimes this will work best for your space, but often it won’t, so try to be open minded. Bringing sofas and chairs closer together in a large space can make a space feel much more cosy (not to mention easier to hold a conversation). Also be wary of creating a furniture wall where people will enter or exit a space.

Whilst it’s important in most households to be able to watch TV comfortably from the sofa, this should not be your room’s focal point (a big black screen is isn’t very attractive). Instead try to draw the eye to a piece or artwork or an architectural feature like beautiful window or view. Ideally try to make your tv NOT what you see when you first enter the room. Perhaps you could have it on the wall that the door is on, so that it has a lesser impact. Building it in to built in shelving can look great, mounting it on a wall and surrounding it with a collage of artwork can also look funky. They are making tvs now that when turned off look like mirrors, which is a cool idea, and Samsung has a Frame tv that looks like an artwork of your choice when not in use. These are not cheap options though, but if you have not making the tv your focus, when setting up your space, this will be a great start.

When arranging your living room, the orientation of your furniture will depend on the focal point. Have your main sofa facing towards the focal point with your armchairs facing in a conversational manner towards the sofa over a shared coffee table.
Important tip: When looking for furniture to purchase keep in mind size and style. What may look great on the huge showroom floor may not look so good in your more modest living room space. Make sure you measure up super carefully, get the dimensions of the furniture and mark it out on the floor using masking tape. Take particular care with the depth of furniture as this can chew up significant space in your living room very quickly.
A coffee table and side table are not only functional for drinks but they create an elegant balance in the room too and can be used to add additional accent colours or items from a collection that assist bring the whole room together. A stack of nice hard cover books or greenery in the form of a plant adds extra life.
We always love the feeling of a floor lamp in the corner too as it adds an element of height to the room, but also adds mood lighting in the evenings. If there is no room for a floor lamp, a table lamp on a console table or side table works just as well.
Don’t forget that sometimes less can be more in the living room so don’t overload it with unnecessary furniture items or accessories.
From here, look at your cushion placement and start styling the space to match your personality. If you would like Interior styling help, feel free to fill out a form on our website, or call Heidi on 0405 838 707.