12 Common Living Room Layout Mistakes
This posts shows you 12 common living room layout mistakes.
It sets the tone for the entire house and is the area that guests will spend the majority of their time, the first space they will see, and can affect mood, sense of space, and feelings of comfort.
When selecting the living room layout there are several key factors to consider that can easily be addressed with well placed furniture, cozy accessories, and statement pieces that show your personality to all those who enter.
12 Common Living Room Layout Mistakes
1.Furniture Placement
One of the biggest mistakes that is seen is to push the furniture around the room against the wall. To create the feeling of more space in the middle of the room and the idea that the room is larger than it is. This is a common way to position furniture, but it can actually make your space look smaller than it is.
2.Furniture Size
Selecting furniture that is the right size for your space, it often comes down to your own personal preferences and style. If you like big cozy furniture that you sink into then you may want to design your space to be full, cozy, and close the space off with furniture facing each other for easy conversation. Perhaps you prefer sleek minimal furniture that has a small footprint and
3.Area Rug Style and Size
The size of your area rug is a much bigger consideration than most would imagine. With an area rug that is too small it may appear to be floating in the room without any real purpose or point, and it can make the furniture seem the wrong size and misplaced. Select a rug that fits your needs, with either the furniture completely on the rug, the furniture off the rug but with the rug right up to the edge of the legs, or the front legs on the rug and the back legs off. It is key to ensure that you do not have three legs of a chair on the carpet and one off, as this will create a wobble in the chair, and it will be both uncomfortable and distracting.
4.Avoid Overfilling a Room
Create space within the room by not overcrowding many large pieces into one room. Decide how you want the room to feel and adjust to that for the perfect fit. There should be room for seating, storage, surfaces to set things down on, and space to walk around. If you find that your room is overfilled or close too, simply put away a few things or swap out larger items for smaller, until you find the right balance of comfortable and charming. Making many big changes at once might create a whole new room, and remove the parts of the room that you liked, but if you do them slowly, one or two items at a time, you will find the vision that you were looking for.
5.Balance the Room
It can be easy to place all of the similar items on one side of the room, such as all of the seating on one side of the room and a TV or bookcase on the other. This can cause the room to be unbalanced, and feel uneven. Try adding a large piece to each side, leave space to walk around, offer a surface to put things down by every seat, and balance the small items throughout the space. This may be as simple as a small stack of books on each end of the coffee table or it may be more difficult such as two couches facing with a focal point between them.
6.Define the Space
Use furniture to separate the living space from the rest of the house. This can be done with a couch, with a consol table or low bookshelf, or others. Use the layout to show the intended purpose of the space. If it is for watching television face furniture to the television and move other activities and pieces to the side or to the other side of the furniture. Separate the living area from the eating area, or the kitchen, to define it’s use.
7.Divide the Space
There are often several activities that go on in a living room. This includes conversation, watching movies or television, space for games if you play board or card games, and space for a reading nook if you enjoy reading. By dividing the space, you give each area a purpose and provide guidance on how to interact with the room and what to expect.
8.Maintain Flow
Don’t place furniture in a way that needs to be walked around in a difficult way. Create clear paths that lead to each area of the living room and each seating space. This will encourage people to walk around the room, to find a seat that is comfortable, and will not restrict movement around the house for the family and those who are living there. This can be accomplished by leaving space around the outside of the room, leaving a clear path and space around the coffee table, and providing guidance to other areas of the room through the placement of furniture.
9.Add Lighting
Overhead lighting is not always the best light for every space, and you can personalize your living room by adding lamps or wall sconces. This will both add appropriate lighting, add to the appearance of the room, and allow you to have better control over the light in each area of the room. Ideally a reading lamp or lighting around the gaming area will allow you to enjoy the room year round at any time of day.
10.Include Storage
People gather things as they move through life, and we are always looking for ways to organize and store those things. It can create clutter and make a room feel small and even stifling to have it full of items that have no organization, or it leads to many things being left in spaces they do not belong. By adding a bookcase, you can store books, decorations, add colour, include flowers or other items you wish to display, and keep the room clear for use at the same time.
11.Try New Arrangements
You don’t have to settle for your first arrangement. It may take a few tries to get the layout of your living room just right. Set up the furniture in the way you think will work best, then use it for a week or two to discover what is working and what isn’t, then adjust it to fit.
12.Use Patterns Carefully
When adding patterns, choose some that will go well together, or use the same pattern in different colours. It can be difficult to match many patterns without it becoming overwhelming to the eye, but keeping them separated from each other may offer balance to that possibility.
Recap
The most important factor in your living room layout is that it fit your needs and the needs of your family, while allowing you to display a little of your personality.
Sources: https://www.vogue.com.au/vogue-living/design/living-room-layout-mistakes/image-gallery/fc3413884d194ed4fa7737460640b266
https://www.womanandhome.com/homes/living-room-design-mistakes/
https://www.fromhousetohome.com/living-room-layout-mistakes/
