Located in Salt Lake City, Guild Hall Furniture & Interior Design, we believe that your living room is your home’s central hub for gathering and entertaining guests. It should be a welcoming space, and one that you don’t hesitate to show off to others. To make the most of your living room, here are the dos and don’ts of arranging furniture for your living room.
Do: Choose a Focal Point
Start with choosing a focal point in the room. A focal point is where your eye naturally rests when you enter a room. Many living rooms already have an obvious focal point, such as a mantelpiece, fireplace, or picture window. You can also create a focal point with a television. Finding the focal point is a fundamental part of interior design because you will be arranging everything else in the room around it.
Do: Start with the Largest Piece of Furniture
After selecting a focal point, identify your largest piece of furniture. For a living room, this is most likely the couch, which should be oriented around the room’s focal point. Once the couch is in position, you can start adding the next largest pieces of furniture, such as a coffee table, an ottoman, end tables, love seats, and chairs. As you’re doing this, think about creating a setup that allows for conversation, as the living room is somewhere where you’re likely to congregate and socialize.
Do: Think About Balance
If we lost you after “identify your largest piece of furniture,” a quick and easy way to arrange the rest of the furniture is using symmetry. Seating arranged to face one another on either side of a coffee table usually looks good. Even if all of your seating doesn’t match, that’s ok. As long as both sides of the table are balanced and proportional, it will look right. To create balance, avoid grouping all your large furniture in one part of the room while grouping your small furniture in another.
Don’t: Place the Furniture Along the Walls
It may seem counterintuitive, but to open the space as much as possible, you’re going to need to resist the urge to push the furniture against the walls. Having some space, even just a few inches, between the furniture and the walls gives a little bit of breathing room and makes the space feel more open. Plus, for smaller living rooms, it prevents having an awkward amount of space in the center of the room.
Don’t: Forget about Traffic Patterns
As much as interior design is about aesthetics, it is most important that your living room is functional. That means ensuring the people can easily get around the room and aren’t trapped in their seats. Make sure there is enough space between seating and the coffee table or ottoman for people to come and go, and leave space for a pathway from one doorway to another.
Do: Visit Your Furniture Store in Salt Lake City
Sometimes, no amount of rearranging an old set of furniture will create feng shui in your home. If it’s time for you to swap out your living room furniture in Salt Lake City, Guild Hall Home Furnishings is your one-stop destination for all of your furniture needs. Our beautiful showroom is packed with inspiration for your new living room. And, if reading this article brought you absolutely no closer to knowing what to do with your living space, Guild Hall Home Furnishings offers interior design consultations with professional designers.
