Pro tips to arrange seating furniture in the living room
When it comes to interior designing of a home, the living room is the most important and integral part of it. And one of the most important elements in designing a living room is the arrangement of seating furniture in it. Your living room is the first and lasting impression of your home, and creating stunning yet comfortable living room spaces has a lot more to do than brands of the furniture you purchase. It is about how you lay it out. Here are some simple guidelines that you can follow to achieve a professional looking chic living room without needing to spend lots of money.
01. Purpose
Before getting into the aspect of designing, ask yourself the purpose of your living room. Is it going to be a room where the whole family watches television, or it will be a formal setting to entertain the guests? This is an important question as it will decide the layout and arrangement of furniture in the room. For instance, for a family of four who would like to watch TV while having dinner, the furniture will be arranged in a way to accommodate the purpose.
02. Highlight
An important aspect of designing rooms that you can learn from interior designers is the importance of the focal point. You see, every room should have a focal point, which is the highlight of that room. It could be a beautiful painting, an expressive wall or even the ceiling. Whatever is the focal point, it is important to highlight that area. It is also important to ensure that a room should not have more than one or two focal points as too many of them loses the purpose.
03. Biggest first
When positioning the furniture, a general rule of thumb is to arrange the biggest piece of furniture first and then arrange the rest of it accordingly. This ensures that you get even distribution of space and makes the proceeding steps easier. If you are installing a TV, the biggest piece of furniture should be facing that. Also, ensure that every piece of seating gets enough space to move around and an ample amount of legroom to stretch your legs and be comfortable. If your room has an ample amount of space, avoid leaning the furniture to walls.
04. Asymmetrical arrangements
An absolute symmetry of furniture is ideal for formal classrooms and offices, when designing your living room, it is suggested to go for modern looking casual living room arrangements. This implies opting for asymmetrical arrangements and arranging your furniture at an angle rather than directly facing each other.
05. Foot traffic
To avoid accidents like people bumping into things or tripping over, consider the amount of footfall you expect in the living room. Allow enough space of movement between each piece of furniture. It is also important to keep the path to doorway streamlined and clutter-free. If your living room is going to have a lot of footfall, arrange furniture to create an ample amount of space to move or if you have kids at home, invest in childproofing supplies to protect accidents.
06. Various sizes
When you buy furniture for your living room, do not buy everything of the same size. Pick various different sizes of sofas, side tables, chairs, and center tables to achieve better-looking element and design to the room. Avoid putting same sized furniture together as it creates a boxed look, not something that you would want in your living room.
07. Contrast shapes
Just like sizes, invest into as many shapes as you can. For instance, if you are buying a rectangular sofa team it up with a round coffee table. Alternatively, you can mix and match straight and curvy lines. It all depends on your preference and choices, go with what makes you comfortable.
08. Accessorize well
This is one mistake that a lot of people make while deciding the interiors of their living rooms. Accessories are important to up the game of your living room. Consider a small bookshelf, a reading lamp or some family portraits up on the wall. You can also add colors by putting flower arrangements between two sofas or at the center table. Another great idea is to hang indoor plants on walls. This will free up space, add greenery and also purify the air quality in your homes. These small details make a lot of difference in a long way, so do not forget them.
09. Dining area
The dining area is another important part of the living room and has an important function to fulfill. To ensure that dining experience in your home is comfortable, ensure that there is ample space between chairs and tables. The table should also be big enough to accommodate the same number of people as the number of chairs you have placed without feeling congested. One should be able to place both their elbows on the table comfortably without touching the other person. Also, try not to place the dining table or the chairs too close to the walls.
10. Plan before you start
Before you start the entire process of moving around the furniture or invest in new ones, it is suggested that you have a blueprint of where you will place what. This helps you save time and back breaking work while you are physically placing the objects. Also, do good research of styles of seating furniture available before you zero out the one you like. Lastly, do not hurry, stop and consider all the aspects well before you make a decision.