Advice from Amy
Living Room Interior Design: Approach, Challenges, and Keys to Success
Your living room is an essential space within your home. It serves as a space for relaxation after a long day, entertaining guests, or simply everyday living. Creating a living room that seamlessly blends functionality, style, and comfort can be both a rewarding and exciting challenge.
Below is how I approach living room or sitting room design for my clients. I explain some challenges you might face and the elements that make a living room genuinely successful.
My Approach: Where to Start with Living Room Interior Design
1. Define its purpose and style
Understand the room’s role: Think about how you, your family, and friends will use your living room or sitting room. Here are some questions to consider. Is your living room:
A cosy retreat for family film nights?
A sophisticated space for entertaining guests?
A multifunctional area that doubles as a home office or playroom?
Clearly defining the room’s purpose will help guide your design decisions.
Identify Your Style: With today's easy access to inspiration, such as through Instagram or Pinterest, whether it’s modern, traditional, bohemian, or a blend of styles, establishing a clear vision for the aesthetic sets the tone for the entire space. Put together a concept board to help guide your design.
2. Plan the Layout
Measure and Sketch: (You don’t have to be a great artist!) Start with accurate room measurements and any furniture you plan to keep. Sketch out different layout options, as many as possible, while remembering to keep traffic flow, focal points, and sight lines in mind. As I always say to my clients, if in doubt, draw it out!
Prioritise Functionality: Arrange furniture in a way that, for example:
Supports a relaxed environment to watch TV comfortably.
Supports conversation between guests and family members.
Considers comfort and ease of moving around a coffee table, for example.
Do you require zoning of the space, one area for watching TV and another for reading? If you celebrate Christmas, will there be power for the Christmas lights?
3. Layer Lighting
Mix up your lighting and consider your electrics: A successful living room design includes a combination of lighting:
Ambient (general background lighting)
Task (shines into areas used for daily tasks)
Accent (adds focus and direction to the eye)
Use a blend of ceiling, floor, and table lamps to create a warm, inviting atmosphere. If you do not have enough sockets or want to chase into walls for additional lighting, there are many non-wired lamps, and wall lights are now available online.
4. Add Texture, Pattern and Colour
Mix Materials: Combining different textures in your fabrics and furniture—such as soft fabrics, sleek metals, natural woods, and glass—can add depth and interest to the room.
Play with Patterns: Whether through cushions, rugs, or wallpaper, patterns can add character and break up the blocks of solid colours.
Add Pops of Colour: Introduce accent colours through soft furnishings, rugs, artwork, accessories or even statement furniture pieces to inject personality and vibrancy into the room.
Challenges in Designing a Living Room
1. Style vs Functionality
Comfort vs. Aesthetics: It’s easy to fall for a stunning piece of furniture that isn’t practical for everyday use. The key is to find pieces that are both pleasing to yourself and comfortable. For instance, you love a sofa design, but it's just uncomfortable to sit on or a little bit low. If you decide to purchase it, these issues will annoy you every day. This, in turn, means you may not enjoy using this space as much as you would have if you had selected another sofa.
Storage Solutions: Keeping the living room clutter-free can be challenging, especially in smaller spaces. Incorporate smart storage solutions like built-in shelving, multi-functional furniture (e.g. coffee tables with storage), or stylish baskets.
2. Working with Existing Constraints
Small Spaces: Designing a small living room requires careful planning to make the most of every square corner. Use furniture with a smaller footprint, consider wall-mounted options, or employ clever storage solutions to keep the space open and functional. I have been known to mark out a space outside in a garden or carpark to help clients understand the layout of their room. So don’t be afraid to think outside the box.
Tricky Layouts: Odd shapes, low ceilings, or limited natural light can be tricky. Embrace these challenges by choosing furniture that fits the space appropriately, using mirrors to reflect light, and selecting colours to enhance the space.
3. Achieving Cohesion in Open-Plan Living
Define Zones: As previously mentioned, consider zoning your space. For instance, you can use rugs or clever furniture placement to determine the living area from dining or kitchen spaces. This helps to visually separate the different functions of the room.
Maintain Visual Flow: Repeat colours, materials, and styles in each zone to ensure a cohesive design language throughout the open space. As I ask my clients: Does it all make sense?
Keys to Success: What Makes a Successful Living Room?
1. Comfort and Function
A successful living room is one where people feel at ease. As a designer it’s great to hear my clients say, ’I cannot wait to get home to my living room’. Prioritise comfortable seating, easy access to lighting, and a layout that encourages relaxation and conversation.
2. Personal Touches
Make the space yours. Add elements that reflect your personality or tell a story, such as family photos, finds from charity shops or antique fairs, heirlooms, or art that you love. These personal touches make a space feel like your home, not a showroom! And this is where I contradict myself as your objects don’t always have to make sense, you just have to love them— they become part of your home’s DNA!
3. Balance and Harmony
A well-designed living room achieves a sense of balance in colour, texture, and scale. Avoid overcrowding with furniture; instead, aim for a harmonious blend of pieces that suit the room’s size and function. See my Bath project as a perfect example of this:
4. Flexibility and Adaptability
As the needs of your household change, a successful living room can adapt. Choose versatile furniture that can be rearranged or repurposed. For example, pouffes can act as side tables and additional seating when needed.
5. Attention to Detail
Don’t overlook the small details that pull the room together, such as matching hardware, coordinating cushions, or the perfect coffee table display. These finishing touches elevate living room interior design from good to great!
As one of the most important spaces in your home, your living room deserves every effort to make it a place of comfort and enjoyment.