The arrangement of your furniture not only makes seating easier, but it also plays a role in the flow of conversation, affects the mood, and impacts the perceived size of the room.
To coordinate living room furniture, choose a focal point for your living room, whether it’s a television, fireplace, or coffee table. Keep furniture away from the walls to make your space appear larger. Create a clear path to each seating area and ensure that everyone has a nearby surface to place a drink or snack.
These are some basic tips when it comes to designing living rooms. However, there are so many interesting design elements that can influence how your home feels and serves you. Read on in addition to these tips to learn about the core elements of design and how to apply them to the design of your living room.
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Creativity & Design
We all have some natural concept of what design is, a vague notion of the creative eye it takes to bring something together. In general, design is the act of conceiving and pursuing the invention of something new.
Whether it’s a work of art, a company logo, a fashion line, or a building layout, it all starts with an idea which, in turn, becomes the creation of the thing.
In many areas of creativity, people have relied on proven design principles to support those who are not yet ready to invent something new.
Four Elements of Design
Many design elements can be studied for years, such as the history of a specific pattern and how its use in your project influences the viewer. We will narrow down this vast array of options to four key elements that you can use in your living room to create a consciously designed space.
Size
The size of something influences the effect it has on us. Think, for example, of a spider. A tiny spider no bigger than a pinhead is hardly a cause for fear, but when that same spider is enlarged to the size of a family dog, it suddenly becomes terrifying.
When it comes to size and your living room furniture, you need to consider each object in the room and how it relates to the size of the room itself. There must also be a balance between each piece. Two oversized sofas with a 6-foot-wide coffee table will quickly make the room feel cluttered and unbalanced.
Form
The shape of each piece of furniture has a major impact on your living room. If most items in your room are curved (a curved couch, an arched chaise lounge, a round coffee table), you can balance the curves with a rectangular rug and triangular side tables. This balance prevents your living room from feeling like a round playhouse.
Color
One of the most powerful and playful design elements is color. There are so many different ways to bring color into your living room, and not just because of your pigment choice.
You can choose to use a white room as a base with just a few color accents. You can stick with a monochromatic scheme that uses many different shades of the same color. You can liven up your living room with complementary colors that match and contrast at the same time.
Texture
It is extremely fun to play with texture in your home design. This element encompasses every part of the room, whether you realize it or not. The fabric on your couch will influence the texture, the material of your coffee table, even the finish of the paint on your walls will affect the texture of your room.
Different textures keep a room in balance, just like form, size, and color. If every item in your living room has a high-gloss or shiny surface, your room will have an ultra-modern feel that can be overwhelming. To soften this, you can incorporate matte surfaces on furnishings and a plush carpet to keep the room modern but cozy.
On the other end of the spectrum, a room full of soft textiles can feel old-fashioned and stuffy. Mix in some glass or glazed ceramics to lighten up the space. Swap out the wall tapestry for a large mirror and remove the rug altogether to brighten things up.
Pull Your Furniture Away from Your Walls
One of the biggest mistakes people make is pushing all their furniture against the walls. Many people think this makes the room appear larger, but it actually has the opposite effect. The shape of the furniture seems to blend in with the walls, which brings the walls closer together and makes the room appear smaller.
By pulling the furniture away from the walls, you highlight your design and show that the furniture has been intentionally placed, and you have enough space to not have to push your couch against the side of the room.
Have a Focal Point
Your living room should have a focal point, the main element around which all the furniture revolves. This point naturally creates synchrony as all the objects work together to divide the space.
Maintain a Clear Path to Each Seat
To make your daily life easier and create a seamless space for entertaining guests, ensure that each seating area has a clear path. While you may be used to maneuvering between the couch and coffee table, your guests certainly won’t be.
Hosting is already stressful enough; having a clear path to each seat means one less thing to worry about.
Every Seat Should Have a Table Nearby
With all seats now easily accessible, you can further enhance your layout by providing a nearby surface for drinks, snacks, or phones for each seating area. If you’re using the coffee table as a focal point, your work is probably already done. If your living room is wider, make sure each chair and bench has a side table nearby.
Tip: The height of a side table should match the armrest of the furniture it’s next to. At the very least, it should be slightly higher.
All Seats Should Touch the Rug
Placing the rug can be very puzzling: where exactly should it go? The key to a rug that ties the room together is a rug that’s large enough for all your main furniture to rest on. At a minimum, the front legs of the couch and all side chairs should extend two inches into the edge of the rug, with the coffee table in the center.
Low-pile rugs are better in living rooms as high-pile rugs quickly become worn down by the legs of the furniture.
What to Consider When Arranging Your Living Room Furniture
Now that we have understood four key elements of design and how they apply to your living room design, let’s look at the things to consider when designing.
Guest Capacity
The number of people you want to accommodate in a room will influence the layout; it also determines the size and quantity of furniture. If you choose to combine your living room with just a couch and a single armchair, you will only be able to comfortably accommodate three or four people in the space.
To create more seating in your living room, you’re not limited to buying a larger couch or more side chairs. You can find creative solutions to your seating problem that allow you to have a unique flow in your space. By purchasing easily movable pieces like poufs and benches, you can pull out the extra seats when you need them but keep them in different areas of the room on a daily basis.
You can also select pieces that allow for a more luxurious lounging experience when you don’t have guests but can provide additional seating when needed, such as a spacious L-shaped couch.
Storage
Think about the items that will be in your living room – and we don’t mean the furniture. Consider blankets, magazines, remote controls; all these things are likely to be in the room. Now, consider their placement. Would you prefer to always have all your throws out, or would you rather have a bench with storage to store them in?
Your magazines can live on your coffee table. However, you can also take the opportunity to make magazine storage a stylish choice, such as with the MyGift wooden and metal side table that has a faux leather sling for magazines under a wooden tabletop. This industrial-style piece is the perfect example of how you can incorporate storage into your living room design.
Flow
Also important for room design is flow. It may seem difficult to define, but think of it in two ways – the visual and physical flow of the room.
The visual flow of the room will be how your eye travels through the space. Is your gaze constantly drawn to the corner with the large dark bookshelf next to the black leather armchair? Does that part of the room seem to weigh down the entire space?
The key to creating a visual flow is balance throughout the room. Distribute dark pieces so they don’t create a “design dead point.” Also, spread room colors throughout the room; avoid throwing them all on one wall.
For physical flow, consider how you move within the space. Your living room should be easy to navigate, with a clear path to each seating area and a pathway behind furniture if necessary. Everything you need in the room should be easily accessible, such as light switches and fireplace controls. By carefully arranging your furniture and accessories, you enhance the livability of your home.
Main Activity
After deciding how much seating you need in your living room, you can start designing. First, determine what the primary activity of the living room is. Is it your daily gathering spot, where you watch the news every morning? Is it the living room that you reserve for special guests? Is it the second living room where parents go for a drink after dinner while the kids watch a movie in the other room?
Whatever your primary activity is, this should form the main focus of the room, with the secondary activity being the next influence.
Secondary Activities
The secondary activity of the room will be the next critical factor when arranging your furniture. If, for example, your room does not have a second activity and is solely used for watching movies, you would end up with a theater room with elevated seating rows to ensure everyone has an optimal view.
However,’This is not very conducive to the socializing that is a natural second activity for many people. So, when considering your secondary activity, you’ll need to arrange the furniture in a way that allows people to face each other while talking.
Let’s look at how different primary and secondary activities impact your room design.
Television
If the main purpose of your living room is to watch television or movies, then the TV will be the centerpiece of the room. As discussed, if this were the room’s sole purpose, all the furniture would simply face the television. By considering the secondary activity, we start to see how to arrange the furniture.
For example, if you host parties, you’ll want every seat in the room to have a view of the TV since television is the primary activity. The secondary activity is socializing, so you’ll also want your guests to have the opportunity to watch and discuss simultaneously.
In this case, your living room furniture will play with shapes, like a semicircle around the TV, allowing guests to watch and chat at the same time. You can also play with different levels by offering high seating on one side of the room and a few plush floor pillows. This creates different sightlines and adds small zones for people to converse and still see the show.
After-Dinner Discussions
What do you do once dinner is over at a dinner party? You move to the living room to enjoy a few more drinks and games. The primary activity here is conversation. You’ll want all the furniture to face each other rather than facing a television or fireplace. This way, guests can focus on each other and the topic at hand without being distracted by CNN.
For evening gatherings, you should also have a stable surface within reach of each seat. This minimizes the amount guests have to reach over each other and reduces the likelihood of spills. Plus, your guests will feel taken care of as you’ve thought of their needs.
The secondary activity of this situation could very well be games. Perhaps you want to leave space for charades or purchase a large coffee table for everyone to play a card game on. Really think about what you and your friends enjoy doing and design your furniture accordingly.
Business Meetings
If your living room is reserved for formal meetings and business discussions, your furniture layout should reflect that. Guests should have their own area, with the furniture spaced further apart than for an intimate gathering of friends.
A coffee table that’s easily accessible from each seating area is essential, serving as a table to rest a cup of tea or a surface to spread out papers. Keep the floor area around furniture clear so guests can place their briefcases or purses.
You can enhance your layout by setting up a bar cart or beverage stand where you can easily pour your guests an alcoholic drink or refill water without leaving the room. By incorporating these thoughtful accents into your decor, your life becomes easier, and your meetings become more efficient.
This room can also be used as a quiet reading area or a small home office. Once the meeting area of the room is sorted, you can easily set up bookshelves with a leather reading chair in a corner, helping to fill and make the space cozy.
Summary
As we have learned, there are many things to consider when designing your living room, but here are some key takeaways. Determine the main purpose of the room and then decide on its secondary purpose to guide you. Keep furniture away from the walls and create a clear space for each seating area.
Use the pieces you currently have as best you can and gradually acquire new pieces to make the space more livable. Pay attention above all to the four design elements throughout the room: size, form, color, and texture.