Designing Your Living Room
This article written by Rob Stone, our guest blogger of this month.
The living room in your home is the place where you spend time with the family, entertain guests and it is the first room that others see when they come into your home. The interior design of the room must be comfortable for the family while at the same time look attractive for guests and visitors. A well designed living room meets both of these goals and provides a focal point for your home. The elements that you choose for this room depend on its use and your personal taste.
A living room that functions as the entertainment hub of your home must take items such as the television and stereo system into consideration in its design. Some homes dedicate a room to television and movie viewing and others use the living room for this purpose.
If you plan to use your living room as the place where your family and friends gather to watch movies or enjoy music, the television and stereo become the focal point of the room. If you use another room in your home for this purpose then you can create a different look in the living room and create a conversation area in the living room. The arrangement of your furniture depends on how your room is used.
Choose a colour palette for the room that will coordinate with the furnishings and can be incorporated in the walls, carpet and flooring, drapes and upholstery. Some home owners start with the furnishings and use the colours in the upholstery as a jumping off point for selecting the rest of the colour in the room. If you are starting from scratch, you can start with another element in the room such as a painting or the colour of the drapes that you wish to use. Take your time and find a selection of colours that work well in the room.
Choose lighter colours to create a feeling of space and size in a smaller living room. If you are working with a limited amount of space, dark colours can make the room appear smaller. You can also select one wall in the room for a contrasting colour to create a dramatic element in the room. An accent wall is a great way to use multiple colours on the walls. Texture is another way to use the walls as a design element. Use various painting techniques such as sponges and fabric to create a unique decorative element in your living room.
A fireplace is a wonderful focal point for a living room and it doesn’t even have to be a working fireplace to provide a great decorative element.
Take your time with the placement of light and lamps. Experiment with different locations to determine how the light affects the mood and atmosphere in the room. It is not always best to place your lamps right by the sofa. Move the lamps around the room to determine how well it works before you settle on their location. It might take you longer to decorate your living room, but the effect will be well worth the extra effort.
Rob Stone writes many articles on Interior Design as well as furniture such as Pine Bedroom Wardrobes available online.
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