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Arrange your living room furniture is the centrepiece of your home. It’s where you relax, entertain friends, and often feel the most connected to your family. Arguably more than any other room in the house, it can set the tone for the entire space. So how do you ensure that your living room has what it takes to succeed? The answer is simple: arranging your furniture in a way that creates openness, flow, and visual depth. After all, these are traits that are key to a successful living room design from the get-go. Read on for our guide on arranging your living room furniture so that it succeeds from day one.
Create Openness and Flow
The biggest mistake many make when arranging their living room furniture is making the room feel closed and restrictive. While you want to think about making your living room feel more spacious, you also want to ensure that it doesn’t feel too open. That is because you don’t want the room to feel “out of control” or “chaotic.” A space that feels too open can often feel like it’s “uncontrolled,”—which isn’t great for the overall mood or feel of the area. It’s crucial then to ensure that your living room doesn’t feel too restricted or contained.
Use Color To Your Advantage
The living room is a great place to experiment with bold colour tones. That is because it’s usually one of the few rooms in your house that gets direct sunlight through large windows. That means it’s also one of the few rooms with a natural solid light source. So, if you want to play around with bold colour tones, now is the time. Make sure you place furniture that complements the colour tones in the room. For example, a bold blue sofa complemented by yellow chairs would look great. But a purple sofa paired with green chairs would likely create a jarring, discordant look. So, use the colours in your living room to your advantage.
Place accent furniture where it works best
Accent pieces are a great way to add a unique, eye-catching touch to your living room. That is because some areas in a room are naturally “anchored,” while others are “floating.” For example, large pieces of furniture (such as side tables, coffee tables, end tables, etc.) are often “anchored” to the ground, while smaller pieces (such as side chairs, ottomans, lamps, etc.) are constantly “floating.” That means you can often use accent pieces to “anchor” or “float” other furniture pieces in some room regions. For example, an accent wall bench may work well to anchor a sofa in a living room with low ceilings. However, a bar on the side wall may work better if the room has a high ceiling. That can help to create visual depth and balance.
Add Textural Contrast
While bold colour tones can add a unique pop of personality to your living room, often, you want to go a step further. The key here is to add a contrasting texture to your living room. That can create a much-needed “texture contrast” in your living room. For example, in a living room with a dark, wood-toned wall, you might want to place a rug with a bold, contrasting pattern against it. That can help create much-needed visual contrast while adding a certain amount of texture to the room.
Don’t Forget the Basics.
While it’s essential to think about how you want to arrange your living room furniture, it’s also necessary to keep an eye out for how to put the smaller pieces of furniture in the room. For example, if your living room has a large dark wood or stone wall, you may want to place a lighter piece of furniture against it. You might do this with a sofa that complements a more lightweight wood wall or a portion of a table that complements a more golden stone wall. Similarly, it’s worth keeping an eye out for how to arrange the smaller pieces of furniture throughout your living room. For example, it’s worth thinking about how to put your coffee table, side tables, or decorative elements throughout the room. You may want to arrange your living room furniture in a certain way but need to rearrange your decorative pieces to make it work.
Keep an eye out for scale and proportion.
The living room is a great place to experiment with scale, but it’s worth keeping an eye out for proportion. For example, you might want to place a 3-inch-tall sculpture in the living room, but you might also find that it looks a little out of proportion if you do so. Similarly, it’s worth keeping an eye out for the scale at play in your living room. A living room with low furniture and large windows may need a specific type of table to create the right visual balance. You might need a large table in these rooms that make the correct visual scale and proportion. A living room with high furniture and large windows may get away with a smaller table that creates the right visual balance. That can help keep the room’s overall feel balanced and open.
Wrapping Up
Your living room is the centrepiece of your home. It’s where you relax, entertain friends, and often feel the most connected to your family. That can mean that it’s also where you need to make the most of the space. By arranging your living room furniture in a way that creates openness, flow, and visual depth, you can help to create a space that feels lively and fun. The key is ensuring your living room doesn’t feel too closed or restricted. Use bold colour tones to your advantage, and keep an eye out for how to arrange the smaller pieces of furniture in your living room.
