It’s a place to relax, work, watch TV and entertain friends. The living room is THE living room par excellence, enough to make you want to furnish it like a pro, whatever its size and constraints… Apartment, studio, house, micro-living room or XXL living room? Let’s take stock of the essential rules for a successful living room layout!
1. Start with the sofa
If you had to pick a centerpiece in the living room, it would be him, without hesitation. To arrange your living room well is to start by determining the position of the sofa and what it faces: TV, fireplace, window? Contrary to popular belief, the sofa is not necessarily glued to a wall. On the contrary, even it can be used to structure space, to separate rooms and to delimit areas between living room, dining room, corridor or even night space in a studio. In any case, to organize a living room well, the sofa is always preferred, even if it means limiting the number of pieces of furniture around it.
2. Adapt the layout to its use
In a living room, there is usually a sofa and coffee table. For the rest, everything else is possible! Some hinge everything around the TV, others around the fireplace, others still need a work space or a play corner for the children. In other words, to properly furnish a living room, you define the spaces to be provided according to your lifestyle. The question to ask is: what are we doing in the living room? Those who like to entertain will need extra seating and a sofa bed, or even a bar or china cabinet within easy reach. Those who work there will need a small desk near an electrical outlet with a light source and a chair. If children are playing in the living room, a toy storage area is ideal… and with toddlers, a well-fixed carpet and clear space is mandatory!
3. Boost the brightness
If there is one room in which brightness is essential, it is the living room, which should take advantage of daylight as long as possible and compensate for its disappearance in the evening. There is nothing sadder than a poorly lit living room! With few exceptions, the sofa is therefore placed near a well oriented window to take advantage of its luminosity. A good decorative ceiling light or a designer floor lamp is provided to light up the evening, complemented by accent lamps to warm up the atmosphere, and warm rather than white light bulbs. The room lacks light? We choose light colours on the walls, space the furniture and think about mirrors! They enlarge the space and reflect the light, giving a good boost to a living room that is too dark.
4. Choosing the right floor
Since by definition, the living room is a place to live, it is best to avoid white carpeting or fragile floors for an optimized layout. Tiling is generally preferred in warm regions, parquet flooring for the cocooning atmosphere. It should be noted that PVC floors today offer beautiful imitations at low prices, with different thermal or acoustic qualities as a bonus. In all cases, a washable option is chosen that is resistant to heavy traffic… avoiding excessively light shades that get dirty more quickly, especially with children, and overly marked trends that can age poorly. In use, it is easier to change carpets than a complete floor!
5. Don’t neglect the atmosphere
A well-equipped living room is also a living room in which it’s good to live… In short, a cozy atmosphere that resembles its inhabitants, and that goes through all the little accessories rather than the big furniture. Great readers swear by the books in the living room, cocooning lovers by the plaids and cushions, vintage fans by the antique furniture, etc… Can we sum you up? Adapt the layout and decoration to your tastes to design a living space that suits you, by playing with colours, paintings, cushions, curtains or lamps, for example. A few travel souvenirs, potted plants, a couple of photos and the living room comes to life!
