How To Decorate A Living Room

Decorating can be an awful lot of fun but if you don’t take the time to sit down and have a proper think about how you want your house to look, what kind of style you want it to be and what home decor items, from designer hand paintings to contemporary furniture, you’d like to invest in, then you could find that it lacks a certain sense of cohesion.

When it comes to the living room, one of the biggest problems that people often encounter is how to position furniture appropriately. No doubt you’ve seen this countless times in the homes of friends and family - a luxury sofa pushed up against a wall and a couple of chairs, pushed up against an opposing wall… and not much else has been done in the space.

But with a little bit of planning and forethought, you can make your living room vastly more interesting than that, creating focal points and taking into account how people will move through the space.

How to create a focal point

First of all, you need to know what a focal point is otherwise you’ll never succeed in creating one at home. It’s essentially what your eye is first drawn to upon entering a space, be it beautiful wallpaper design, a stunning piece of luxury wall art, a big window or a fireplace.

As a general rule of thumb, your focal point should face the main entrance to the room in question. Creating this first of all is wise because it will likely inform where you want to put your home furnishings. Remember that as nice as it might be to sit and stare at your focal point each and every day, you don’t need to set up your seating so that it faces it. And you also don’t need to have just one focal point - you could have several if you so desire.

How to arrange your living room furniture

Think about what you use this part of the house for, as this will dictate how you set out your furniture and other belongings.

They’re now saying that the living room is in fact becoming the heart of the home, overtaking the kitchen which traditionally served as the place where all the action happened, so it’s certainly worth taking the time to make this part of the house as welcoming as you can, designing it so that it can accommodate all kinds of family activities.

You might like to set up your furniture so that it encourages the flow of conversation so make sure that everyone will be able to talk comfortably with one another without having to yell or twist their necks in an uncomfortable fashion. Perhaps also put the furniture close together so you can create a more intimate environment.

As important as tables, chairs and sofas are, never forget the impact that a beautiful area rug can have in this room. Make sure it’s not too small - all your furniture should be able to sit on top of it in order to achieve the look you’re going for.

Coffee tables are also a good investment for the living room but remember that you should buy one that’s ever so slightly lower than the seat height of your chosen sofa and chairs.

Side tables can also look lovely in this part of the house and you should buy as many as you need in relation to the number of chairs you have. A table on each side of the sofa is a practical choice and try to keep them the same height as the arm of the sofa or chair.

How to decorate your living room walls

Gallery walls are hugely fashionable at the moment and they can be an awful lot of fun to put together - as long as you don’t rush the process. You might want to get the project done and dusted as soon as you can but doing so may mean you fall out of love with the pieces you’ve purchased sooner rather than later.

Taking your time to collect various works of art and really dedicating yourself to the curation of your gallery wall is the best way to ensure that it stands the test of time and brings you joy each time you look at it.

Check out ApartmentTherapy for tips on how to create a well-balanced room.