Arranging Your Living Room Furniture

Arranging furniture in a living room should have some purpose. It should be easy to distinguish activity areas in your room and each of such area should be reflected or easy to make out. You have to bear in mind a few factors before you start out to buy new furniture or arrange the existing furniture. Some of these factors are :

1. Measure the area of the room. This plays an important part in your arranging the furniture business. Smaller rooms need a single sofa, a chair, and a couple of end tables. If your living room is large then it requires a large sofa, coffee tables, and a couple of extra chairs ;

2. You have to make a list of those things that may affect the process of arrangement ;

3. Another simple idea is making a scale drawing of your new living room on a piece of paper ; this helps in experimenting with new ideas and new looks and also you can have an imaginary view of your living room before moving in the furniture ;

4. Next step lies in creating a point of focus; any of these namely a bookcase, or a show case, or a piece of modern art hung over a piece of your furniture, or a fireplace can act as the point of focus. You have to highlight this focal point by arranging the furniture and lighting as complimenting the focal point ;

5. Please bear in mind not to group out all the focal points together ;

6. You have to create depth. How do you do this ? Simple….by arranging the furniture in specific angles and laying carpets on one another to get that effect ;

7. There should be some gap left between the sofa and the coffee table to place your legs comfortably ;

8. The furniture should be so arranged that there should be place for conversation ; you can arrange a love seat and couple of chairs for the purpose of setting up a romantic area; neither place the sofas and chairs too close to each other as it may become difficult to move about or sit nor place it too far away so that it may become difficult to converse with each other;

9. Ensure walking space between one end of the room to another end ;

10. Area rugs define the seating areas well in a room ; do use them;

11. One of the important tips in arranging a complimentary room decor is to chose neutral or lighter shades for walls because basically furniture of any style, scheme or color can be selected by this type of wall decor ;

12. While you are placing the furniture always arrange the larger pieces first and the complimentary pieces or the pieces that relate to the main piece is to be arranged next. For other activities you can add always the accent pieces. Now, all you have to do is arrange the furniture in that place, where you think it will look best.

With the many styles, materials, themes and types of living room furniture available, you have a wide range of options in decorating to choose from. Below are a few decorating tips when buying and arranging your living room furniture.

Group things in odd numbers. One sofa, loveseat and chair or one sofa and three chairs. Three candlesticks or one vase with flowers on the mantle. Three or five pillows on the couch.

Beware of using more than two pairs of anything in a room. Try two matching chairs and one end table between them instead of two matching chairs and two matching end tables.

Don’t try to use too many styles in one room. It’s okay to be eclectic with a funky art deco table or chair in a country French setting, but don’t also combine a modern living room table or a country leather couch. One or two pieces of a different style works in a mostly consolidated look.

One piece won’t “make” a room. Make sure you have complementary items that work well with your showpiece.

Too many chair and table legs in a room aren’t grounded. Include a skirted chair, sofa or base table.

Use your space well – consider wall space, open window space, fireplace, and flooring. Plan where you want your pieces to go if you’re buying new living room furniture. You don’t want to crowd a room or block windows with furniture.

Don’t put your back of the couch facing the front door. You want to invite people in, and if people see a sofa back first, that places a barrier to your living space. Have an open area that invites a visitor in, especially when they come in through the front door.

Accessorize with pillows, candles, vases and lamps. If you have a monotone sofa, loveseat, chairs and tables, brighten them up with pillows, afghans, candles, vases and “coffee table art.” You can even change out the look on a seasonal basis with light and bright colors in the spring and summer, and warm, darker colors in the fall and winter.

Have furniture custom made. Many furniture stores allow you to choose from a huge selection of fabrics and leathers for seat cushions, pillows and dust cloths. You can even choose the wood finish on bedroom furniture and living room tables and dining room tables and chairs.

Make it comfortable. Your living room furniture should be welcoming to sit on, put down a drink, or put your feet on if it’s an ottoman or footstool. Too rigid of a decor does not make your guests feel at home.

Keep throws and afghans under control. If you’re going to have small blankets on your couches, tuck and fold them around the pillows and cushions so they’re a part of the furniture and not just an accent.

Take a good look at your home on a regular basis to see what needs updating or improvement. Be sure to shop at several stores when you are purchasing furniture so that you can see what the new looks are and compare prices. Sometimes you can get ideas to rearrange your furniture and just buy one new piece to give your living room a whole new look.