The living room needs to be ready for a wide range of occasions. Family time, friendly gatherings, and formal entertaining all end up happening in this room so its design must be beautiful and comfortable at the same time. Our top interior designers have rounded up 10 essential tips to nail a living room interior design, so be ready to take notes!
Living Room Interior Design Quick Tips
As the most used room in the house, a living room must have a practical and pleasing interior design. Fortunately, with a few basics, you can pull it off too! So, here’s how to design a living room:
- Determine the aim of the living room. Think of how you’d want to spend your time in the setting – would it be to socialize or unwind quietly? What about entertainment – do you want to kick your feet up and watch a movie or host friends for cocktail hour? The function will greatly dictate your layout and living room furniture ideas.
- Pinpoint your favorite look. Do some research to find your preferred living room decor styles if you’re unsure what you prefer. Save rooms, furniture, and colors you love in a folder or Pinterest board to find your overarching theme.
- Create a mood board. In this way, you’ll keep track of the exact feel of the room as well as the type of furniture and décor you’d need to purchase. Also, keep your wall space in mind for art and light fixtures.
Tip: Picking your living room interior design style before starting is the best way. Still trying to figure out yours? Then take our interior design style quiz to find your living room décor style!
- Measure your room. One of the critical factors self-decorators often need to remember is making sure new furniture fits. So, grab the tape measure and measure your floor space. Next, ensure any pieces you consider have fitting dimensions.
- Plan different living room layouts. Sketch your room – a simple drawing will do, but you can use free room sketch apps too – and add in your furniture. In this way, you’ll see whether your ideas will work.
- Be prepared for shopping. It’s easy to get swept up by beautiful pieces, which is why you must be mindful of what you need for your living room interior design. So, set a budget, make a list, and tick off the biggest items, like a sofa and rug, first. Also, visit vintage shops and rethink what you own to keep costs lower.
- Put it all together! How to decorate a living room because so simple when you’re prepared. Now all you have to do is arrange your pieces. Remember, opting for bigger rugs and positioning sofas a few inches from the walls is best.
Essentials for a Living Room Interior Design
Now that you have the basics, it’s time to dive into the nitty gritty that’ll make your dreamy casual or luxury living room design ideas come to life!
1. Create a Cohesive Living Room Interior Design
The number one tip for every successful interior is harmony. Indeed, if your living room is full of disconnected pieces collected or received as gifts over time, it will hardly make sense as a whole. When starting a living room interior design, the first essential is having a clear objective. Pinterest is a great source to find plenty of inspiring living room design ideas and form a clear picture of what you want your space to look like.
2. Choose Comfort
Once you’ve rounded up a style and aesthetic, also think about comfort! After all, the main objective of a living room is to be inviting, so all furniture, with seating in particular, will need to be comfortable and perfect for snuggling!
3. Use Flexible Living Room Furniture Ideas
Poufs, stools, and floor cushions are all great living room furniture ideas for additional seating when needed. And on a day-by-day basis, they are the perfect pieces to add coziness and pull your color palette together.
4. Go Big with Seating
One of the most common mistakes in small living rooms is choosing too small furniture. That said, it is important to remember proportions. However, a giant sectional may not be ideal in a teeny tiny living room, but you also don’t have to go too small. Even if it may seem counterintuitive at first, one big piece of furniture will ground the space and visually enlarge the room instead of many smaller pieces.
5. Choose a Texture-Rich Living Room Interior Design
To make the space cozy, textiles are definitely your allies – think soft rugs, puffy cushions, and warm blankets. All these elements will give your living room interior design a unique personality and make it more inviting.
6. Add Greenery to Living Room Decor Styles
This is an easy one and really applies to all rooms. Plants add life to a space and are helpful in decorating, allowing to fill forgotten corners and complete vignettes. Moreover, some plants also help to clean the air from indoor pollution!
7. Let Sunlight Highlight Your Living Room Design Ideas
Natural sunlight is always good for energizing a room. So leave your curtains open during the daytime and enjoy the most flattering light enhancing your luxury living room ideas!
8. Use Various Artificial Lighting at Night
Plan your lighting strategy in advance and account for several options. General ambient lighting, a spot with more intense lighting for reading, and diffused soft lighting are all good to have in a living room! Dimmable bulbs are a great tool here, allowing you to adjust the lighting to every situation.
9. Layer Your Living Room Design Ideas
If your living room interior design is feeling bland, one easy yet very effective strategy is layering textiles! Whether you add cushions on the sofa, accessories on various surfaces, or rugs on the floor, these superposed textures will make the design feel interesting and alive!
10. Repurpose Your Living Room Furniture with New Ideas
With so many tips on what you should change in your living room design, you’ll probably be tempted to ditch much of what you have and start all over. Don’t do that! Instead, start by listing what you want to achieve and then look at what you already have. A coat of paint, reupholstering, and moving things around can give new life to what you already own. You’ll be surprised to find a good portion of your new living room design ideas may already be around you!
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