The living room typically serves as the centre piece of the home, the place where partners, family members and housemates gather to share meaningful time together. Buying living room furniture may seem straightforward, but there are a lot of different factors to consider. We’re here to help you cut out a lot of the hard work buying the perfect furniture for your living room in this detailed guide.
The Perfect Furniture For Your Living Room
What Are You Using The Room For?
This may seem like an easy question to answer, but different people use their living rooms for different things. Do you want to just relax and watch TV? Add in a sound system for film watching? Play video games? Use it just to chat and talk with each? Or just make it a quiet space away from the rest of the home?
Not everyone wants a TV in their living room, or a large one that constantly diverts everyone’s attention towards it. If that sounds like you, consider purchasing a modern TV unit that allows you to cover it up when not in use. That will immediately open up the rest of the room and not just make it all about the screen sitting opposite you.
Understanding what you want to get from spending time in your living room will make it easier to determine the furniture you need to source. The size of the room will also be a strong deciding factor (which we go into below) as some people are able to split their living rooms into an area for social and relaxing, with a separate area for work/study or dining.
Making The Most Of The Living Room Size
Everyone’s living room is a different size, which means there are a number of ways to make the most of the space available to you. As much as you want it to be stylish and comfortable, perhaps most importantly, it has to be first of all be practical.
You need to have a clear measurement of the width and length of the room, so you can determine the size of the furniture you need to purchase. Also think about how often the space will be in use and by how many people. Living room furniture sets come in all shapes and sizes, so once you have your measurements together, then you can plan how to fill it.
Aside from deciding on whether you want fabric, leather or velvet sofas – which are likely to take up the most space – you can also look at the size of the TV stand you want to use. Perhaps you’ll want to add in a nest of tables to rest refreshments, papers and other small items onto while you are sitting down. You might also want to include bookcases or bookshelves if you are a bit of a bookworm. Remember, all of these things occupy space and also need additional space allowed within their circumference so they can be put to use without blocking walkways and the ambience of the room.
Important Things To Consider
The bigger picture matters, of course, but paying attention to the smaller details are just as important too:
- Use mirrors and glass to help create the illusion of more space in small living rooms
- The more furniture you have, the less space is available to move around and relax in
- Smaller living rooms work best with co-ordinated and uniform styles of furniture
- Add storage wherever you can as clutter can make any size room feel much smaller
- Choose whether you need coffee or a nest of tables for entertaining or decoration
- Make use of natural daylight to make the room feel spacious and open
Finding The Right Style
The aesthetics of any living room have to be pleasing to the eye as you are likely to spend quite a few hours there every day. That means finding the right style that blends in with the décor, without sacrificing on comfort. Of course, you can always choose to do it the other round and redecorate once you have chosen from the living room furniture sets available to you.
The colour of the furniture will help set the ambience of the room, building on the tone you already have in place. Everyone feels comfortable in different surroundings but a good general rule of thumb is to blend together colours and tones to make the palette in the room feel seamless.
For example, if you have dark coloured walls or floors, opting for a cream TV unit or something equally as light stops the space from feeling too small. Neutral colours on small features in the room also play their part, such as putting grey radiator covers in place to help balance out some of the larger, bolder colour choices in the room.
Selecting The Materials
You may have the right colour and style of furniture, but what about the material? Are you a fan of velvet or fabric sofas? Do you have wooden floors with rugs or is it carpeted? Just as importantly, will there be any children or pets running around that could potentially damage softer materials?
Whether you go for a round coffee table (a modern coffee table avoids the traditional rectangle shape) made from wood or glass will also have an impact. You need to strike the right balance between the material being aesthetically pleasing and while also being able to stand up to ongoing wear and tear, so it doesn’t deteriorate and need replacing in a short pace of time.
Living room furniture sets area available in an array of different materials and the one you choose will also create a mood for the room. For example, upholstered leather sofas will look classy, while softer textures have a softer warmth to them.
It’s Time To Go Shopping
Our living room furniture is designed to suit any type of home and any type of budget. We’ve been helping customers right across the UK to transform their living spaces with our range of fantastic furnishing and are waiting to see what we can do for you. Why not take a look at our products in our online store and you’ll find everything you need all in one easy to find place.
