There are two rooms in your home in which you spend more time than others: the bedroom and the living room. The latter is a communal room that while suiting your tastes, also needs to appeal to others in the household. If you’re looking to redesign your living room – or perhaps you have moved to a new home and want to make your mark on it – there are some things to consider before you set about purchasing your furnishings.
We want to help you design the perfect living room, and the first step is to decide what style you want your room to reflect. Let’s get started.
What Style Do You Want?
There are some interior design styles that come and go, and others that endure. Some are timeless and some very much of the time. We have moved on from clutter and busy décor to a time in which simplicity and modern is the preferred option. You may have your own ideas as to what modern is, but we mean clean, simple, straight lines that hark back to the Bauhaus movement of the early 20th century.
The advantage of modern is that mixing and matching is easy. With simplicity of design and form comes practicality in adorning a room, and there are plenty of options for you. If you want modern, uncluttered, and elegant we recommend you check out this site – https://www.eq3.com/us/en/category/living – for inspiration.
Choose Your Colors Carefully
Modern design trends are a good reference point when planning your new living room design Check out magazines, blogs, and stores for ideas that are hot at the moment, and carefully consider the colors you want to use. You may, for example, have a dream of a bright red living room that is funky and fun.
That’s great, but we guarantee you will very quickly find it overbearing. Think about using pale colours for most of the room and have one red wall that fits your dream. This will make more impact than an entirely red room. Choose colours that are warm but not too hot, and that you can easily match furnishings to.
Make Use of Available Light
Many people overlook the light that comes in through windows when planning a living room. This can have a great effect on the overall look and feel of the room. Double aspect windows are a great tool to work with as they bring in light from different directions. Always fit blinds or drapes as when the sun is high it will likely pour into the room.
Using available light is about finding where the daylight enters the room, and how it will highlight your décor. This will change during the day, and those blinds will become more important once you get used to the changing light of the day.
A Plain Canvas to Work With
If you are redesigning an existing room, we suggest taking everything out of it when you have some time to spend. This gives you a blank canvas to work with and it is far more effective than attempting to imagine what the room would be like when empty. An empty room is one that you can fill with your ideal imaginary furnishings and ensure that everything fits in the right place.
Of course, if you have bought a new home, you will likely already have that empty space to work with and can start designing your perfect living room right away. There is plenty of inspiration to be found at online blogs and we also suggest you visit the big stores to see how they display their furnishings for some useful ideas.
Don’t Forget Pets!
When it comes to pets and interior design it is surprisingly easy to make mistakes! Pets will use the room as you determine, but if your beloved dog or cat is to be a regular in the living room you need to make sure it is pet friendly. Don’t envisage putting valuable vases on that beautiful period mantlepiece: the cat will get up there and push things off. Look at pet websites for ideas about including the needs of your animals in the overall design, and you’ll get some great inspiration.
Comfort and Practicality to the Fore
Finally, remember that this is room in which you settle back to relax after a long, hard day at work. That means comfort and practicality are your main aims. Try that sofa before you buy it, and never buy furniture on looks alone. Furthermore, make sure that the furniture you choose doesn’t overwhelm the room. Take careful measurements of the space you have and use them accurately when checking out furniture, as you don’t want to make a mistake. We hope we’ve given you some ideas and inspiration, so start planning your dream living room right now.