Just where do you start when it comes to living room design ideas? With so many activities to cater for and so many people to keep happy, this room will be successful only if planned meticulously. A good living room design is one that on a practical level happily accommodates the various activities you wish to undertake in the space while at the same time using living room decoration that is aesthetically pleasing in its role as a reception area.
The living room is, by its very nature, indelibly associated with the idea of comfort – it is the pleasurable part of the house where the family comes to relax and sit at ease, and your living room design ideas should take this into account.
Living Room Design Ideas For Comfort
An uncomfortable living room would be more than a contradiction in terms; it would also be a very unpleasant place indeed in which to spend time. The problem though is that, for some, the concept of comfort does not seem to be compatible with the idea of a well-decorated room. For these doubters who are suspicious of the very idea of ‘decoration’, a comfortable room is one where, vaguely, anything goes, where dogs lie sprawled on blanket covered sofas (undeniably, that is comfortable, should you happen to be a dog), where dented cushions rest against the legs of chairs, where newspapers are spread over every surface and coffee mugs jostle for places on the floor and tables. In contrast, to these skeptics, a ‘decorated’ living room means a room of pristine regularity, of a particular fastidiousness; all plumped white cushions and feet-off chairs. So to write about living room design ideas for the comfortable living room can all too easily seem like a contradiction in terms.
But, in fact, the two are not mutually exclusive; there is no reason why comfort may not be brought into the living room design ideas equation. Who has not inwardly groaned on entering yet another cold, impersonal room, a room concerned solely with its visual impact and designed to be looked at rather than lived in. Good living room design ideas are not shallow but personal, and is all to do with comfort; it is, however, the comfort of others, rather than one’s own, that is the key to success – the art of making others feel at home.
Your starting point when it comes to living room decoration is, as always, to determine exactly what you want from your living room as this will dictate how you will arrange the space. You want to write down all your living room design ideas to help you decide on its ultimate functionality. Is it to be:
- a leisure room for quiet reading, listening to music, letter writing, watching television?
- a dining room for family meals, smart parties, television suppers?
- an entertainment room for family parties, video viewing, card games?
- a hobbies room for dressmaking, model making, arranging a stamp collection and so on?
- a work room for study, word processing, homework, research?
- a mix of all or any of the above?
Living Room Design Ideas For Lighting
These various activities all require specialized lighting, ample storage facilities and suitable modern living room furniture. By listing them on your living room design ideas plan you will help to focus your mind on what is needed.
When it comes to planning a modern living room furniture arrangement, it is important to establish a focal point in your living room – a point of interest that can be highlighted and around which furnishings can be gathered. In a truly workable living room design the most obvious focal point is a fireplace, but if one does not exist another point of interest will need to be selected: perhaps the room has a handsome window with an attractive view beyond, an important piece of furniture, a collection of paintings or even an antique rug.
Classic and Traditional Living Room Design Ideas
In a very large or ‘double’ living room you can have several subsidiary focal points around which you will arrange ‘conversation’ groupings. These days the television set will also have a vast effect on how the room is arranged and how you structure your new living room design ideas.
Living Room Design Pictures
Selecting a style for your living room designs should be an easy matter if you live in a period property as the theme may well be suggested by the style of architecture. In a more anonymous modem space you have the choice of imposing a traditional style by the addition of architectural details and furnishings of your selected period or of interpreting a contemporary and perhaps foreign idiom. Your luxurious living room design ideas may be inspired by an existing possession – the design of an oriental rug, the style of a distinguished piece of modern living room furniture or even the colors in a favorite large painting.
Some novel classic living room design ideas, popular in Victorian times and which you might think of reviving, are to change the look of your room with the seasons. Come spring, chair slip-covers, cushions, curtains and upholstery drapes can all be replaced with lighter fabrics to suggest sunnier times. A floral theme can be introduced by painting or stamping designs on to cheap plain canvas using fabric dyes. This material can then be used for a table cloth, chair slip-covers or even curtains. You might also think of adjusting the seating arrangement in your traditional living room design ideas so that a garden rather than a fireplace becomes the focal point in summer months.