How to Plan Your Living Room

A home's living room area should be very inviting, even if the area is extremely formal. Any style of furniture will look friendly and inviting if plants, artwork and a few family photos are in the mix. Elegant sofas with more informal throw pillows work well, for example. Creating a living space that feels like real people spend lots of time there will impress visitors more than cold, formal furniture arrangements. By combining different styles and periods of furniture, a homeowner will create this effect more easily. Avoid the "furniture showroom" look that requires no imagination. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

1

Measure the living room space, including entryways and closet areas. Transfer these dimensions to graph paper by scaling six inches of real space to one square. Cut out paper shapes to represent furniture so that various placements of furniture will be easy to imagine.

2

Start with the sofa area. Place a sofa to face a view or area of interest. Plan to install it to look toward a window space with a nice view, for example. Position the sofa to face a wall designated for a T.V. or a grouping of family photos. Use two sofas facing each other, if the room will be set aside for conversation and visiting with friends. Build the living room around the position of the sofa, since this space should be the heart of the room.

3

Add chairs to the sofa space. Plan to purchase side chairs that flank the sofa, so the grouping all faces a coffee table, for example. Experiment with various placement of side chairs, so that every option is considered. Don't necessarily buy pricey or over-sized chairs, but do plan to purchase chairs that are extremely comfortable, durable and well-proportioned to the size of the sofa.

4

Mix styles and periods of furniture. Use a dark brown leather sofa with burgundy winged-back chairs, for example. Place a grandmother's antique table at the back of a white leather sofa, or use a walnut bookcase from the 1940s with a furniture grouping that looks high tech. Arrange a living room by adding just one piece at a time to an empty room.

5

Use lamps and artwork to create a finished look. Buy lamps and prints that are the right size for other furnishings. The proportions of accent pieces to sofas, chairs and tables will give the room the correct balance. Colors and accessories chosen are always a matter of personal taste. Buy what's visually appealing but appropriate for your family.