Written By: Lavanya Chopra
The undisputed heart of one’s home, living rooms are intimate and shared spaces that bind one’s abode together! While there is no hard and fast rule to design the ideal living room, there are some guidelines one can adopt to achieve a space that is both pleasing and functional.
We dive into an insightful exchange with our design experts to shortlist their trusted tips to craft the most harmonious and pragmatic living room. Read on to get your hands on this essential checklist!
1. Avoid the Ill-Planned Layout
The most common error (and eyesore) while planning a living room’s layout is to push all large pieces of furniture against the walls. While most believe that this leads to the space feeling more ‘spacious,’ what ends up happening is that the room feels imbalanced with a large, purposeless space in the centre.
Instead, consider creating a conversation-inducing layout with furniture pieces facing each other or centred around a focal point. Ensure you make room for plenty of seating in additional pieces like armchairs, ottomans, stools, daybeds, and chaises.
2. The Rug Code
Poorly-sized rugs are one of the biggest pet peeves of designing one’s living room. While large rugs are not inexpensive investments, they can truly elevate the look of your space by a seismic degree!
The general rule of thumb is to scout for a large enough rug to accommodate all prominent pieces of furniture upon it. All the legs of the furniture should rest on the surface of the carpet you select. In cases where space is tight, ensure that at least the front legs of your sofa, armchairs, or more significant seating rest upon the rug.
3. Installing Art Right
Art is essential to a living room’s persona and design identity. Wrongly installed art can, however, become more of a distraction rather than a focal point. Understanding proportion and scale is critical while installing art in any room.
Generally, it is advisable to install the centre of the artwork at a height of 57” from the ground (considered the average human eye level to ensure comfortable viewing). In the case of mounting art above a piece of furniture, ensure that a gap of 6”-8” is maintained between the top of the furniture and the bottom of the artwork. The width of pieces of art or sculpture on a wall should be roughly ½ or ⅔ the width of the furniture under it (sofa, console, or credenza).
4. The Dreaded ‘Showroom Look’
While we understand that most homeowners find it practical to shop from retail stores and pick ‘sets’ of living room furniture, we must highlight that this makes spaces look character-starved and generic!
Similar-looking and often identically designed pieces, when paired together, can make your space look like it belongs in a storefront. We recommend mixing modern and vintage pieces (sourced from different places and inspired by various styles). This endows spaces with a more lived-in and eclectic feel.
Furthermore, layer up with lighting, textiles, and accessories to make the living spaces one that resonates with your design vision!
5. Lighting to Create the Perfect Mood
Switching up and adding lighting to one’s living room is a transformative and inexpensive way of enhancing the design experience! It is all about decoding functions and ensuring a lighting source(s) to address each need.
While keeping your space elegant is a priority, take your time with daily functions. The perfect lighting scheme should include overhead, mood, and task lighting. These can be curated using floor lamps, table lamps, and wall sconces. Consider adding dimmers to really play with and control the ambience!
Living Room Design Decoded
Both engaging and inviting, a well-designed living room is a blend of these features. It is often the tiny dos and don’ts that one needs to observe to achieve a space that best embodies the design vision!
Inspired yet too overwhelmed to get designing on your own? Touch base with our team of design experts at Hipcouch and start by booking a free consultation service today!
Contact us to inhabit the space of your dreams!