With all its numerous uses, a living room must be adorned with all the finery you can get your hands on. It is meant to be a place to relax, watch, read, and chat with your guests, and everything about it has to work towards that.
When you’re faced with an empty room, filling it in a way that is both practical and aesthetically pleasing can seem like an overwhelming task. You need to be innovative enough to create the atmosphere you desire regardless of your available space.
Furniture arrangements can significantly affect a living room, whether you are redecorating your living room or designing your first space. However, arranging furniture in a living room doesn’t have to be so scary after all.
Over the years, interior designers have recognized a nearly endless list of simple, easy-to-apply options that work perfectly. Here are some specific rules that will help you understand how various pieces can alter your living room.
Select a Focal Point
Every room benefits from a center of attention or focal point. This can be any object or area that attracts the eye and gives you something to orient your other furniture around.
Failing to choose something to draw attention to can make the overall design look messy and unplanned. Your plan may also be left with awkward spaces that make guests uncomfortable. So how do you get the perfect focal point?
A potent focal point should be up against one living room wall. It can be anything, from a television or a fireplace to a set of large windows. The main objective is to be the first thing you see when you enter the room, so it has to be interesting to look at, colorful, and texturally appealing. After identifying the perfect focal point, place the furniture along the other three sides of the room and angle them slightly toward the focal point.
Find the Perfect Balance
Balance is always essential in bedecking, and even more so when arranging furniture and other items in your living room.
Select a few significant elements and then throw in small segments to ensure the perfect balance. Consider both size and placement of the pieces, making sure not to group all the large or small parts in one area or to one side of the room, making the space feel lopsided and a little unsettling.
A few large pieces of furniture should make up most of the furniture by volume. More miniature furniture like end tables, ottomans, and similar small items should complement these and provide footrests and drink stands. Place them strategically so that they don’t obstruct passage through the room or turn a pleasing arrangement into a busy mess.
An ideal small piece of furniture should serve valuable functions and provide more visual interest without taking attention away from the larger pieces.
Leave Space Between Walls and the Furniture
If all your furniture is pushed back against a wall, the room can seem cold and unwelcoming, almost like they’re running away from the room.
Pull the furniture inward on at least two or three sides to create a more intimate area at the center. The room measurements always dictate how far you can pull your furniture away from the walls, but even in the smallest of spaces, you’ll want to give pieces a little breathing room by allowing a few inches between the backs of furniture pieces and the walls. For smaller spaces, pull the furniture inward and create just enough space to position a lamp behind it. The light suggests additional space.
If you have ample space, you can leave enough spaces where people can even walk. Having energetic kids or household members who require extra space calls for larger spaces too.
Incorporate Symmetry
Symmetrical arrangements feel orderly and calm. They are also great for resting the mind or low-key activities.
Imagine drawing a line across the floor to divide it into two equal parts to create a room with bilateral symmetry. The furnishings on one side should be the mirror image of the other.
The most common symmetrical arrangement in a room includes a focal point in the center of one wall, a couch directly facing it on the other side, and two chairs or smaller couches on either side of the sofa, facing inward. A coffee table or end table can be used to complete the space.
However, it is not necessary to have identical furnishings to pull this off. For instance, you can balance an L-shaped couch by placing a low-end table on the opposite side. The overall shape is more important than the exactly matching elements.
Make Use of Versatile Pieces
If you don’t have the living room space to fit all the furniture you’d like, you can use multipurpose furniture so you can quickly alter the room when entertaining guests or whenever you’d like a change.
One standard piece of versatile furniture is the sectional Cabo. It is a multi-part sofa divided into two pieces or extended to create a footrest. You can also consolidate by having one object serve two purposes. For instance, try moving the seating slightly to create a corner where one end table can do two sofas instead of having one end table for each.
Choose Are Rugs Wisely
Area rugs belong under the furniture. You can use it on all tables if you can manage it. Choosing the right size of the carpet is crucial.
It’s okay to expose some flooring around the edges of the room. However, if you decide to use an area rug, make sure it’s big enough that all the furniture in a seating arrangement can rest on it. At the very least, you want the front legs of large pieces to sit on the rug, and the backs can be on the floor. This arrangement makes your living room look neat and organized.
