How to Make Your Living Room Feel Appealing to Your Family

Of all the rooms in your home, the living room affords the opportunity to express your style and provide a space to relax, spend quality time with your family, and entertain guests, as well as give children an area to play in. Living rooms can be as functional as they are aesthetic. From luxury living room furniture to storage, to luxury living room decorating ideas that are one-of-a-kind, there are many ways to make it appealing to the entire family.

Making Your Living Room Appeal to the Family

Designing the perfect living room can take some soul searching. There often isn’t a eureka moment in which everything makes sense at once. It takes a lot of thought to perfect a living space, and there can be many reasons the current configuration isn’t working out, such as:

• Being too rigid: A decorating scheme based on only two colors, such as with a rug or a wall painting, limits your creativity and potential. Using three or more colors gives you more flexibility to soften the contrast and add some variation.
• Matching everything: It's not in style and can be quite boring. If items mismatch slightly, it can create a unique look and allow you to be more creative.
• Using one color: A monochromatic room, although a product of some modern decorating ideas, doesn't have much appeal. Try mixing and matching colors like barn red, Charleston green, Williamsburg blue, or Antebellum white to accent your luxury room décor.
• All the old stuff is gone: If everything is completely new, your home will look like a showroom. Don’t replace everything when you renovate; shop for some vintage/antique items with a unique, quirky flair to add personality.
• Buying from the same catalog: You can be efficient by buying everything from the same catalog or store, but it pays in terms of style to find great pieces from different stores or websites.

It really pays to think things through. First, look at the furniture and décor that you have. Is anything damaged or too big or small? Does it look outdated or damaged? Here’s where you can look at what to get rid of. Many times, you can find other rooms for furnishings or even family heirlooms. This way, you can pick what you’ll keep and where to focus your redecorating efforts.

Picking a color palette is another important step. You can choose calming shades of blue or green, or energizing colors such as reds, oranges, or yellows. White, gray, and tan have a neutral effect but allow you to add bold accents and brighten the room.

Without an idea of your style, it’s hard to accomplish your goals. If you are uncertain, find magazines, blogs, and social media resources to fill your mind with ideas. From country décor to ultra-modern, there’s no shortage of ideas to help you choose furniture, rugs, storage units, entertainment products, and more.

Thus, here are some important steps to redefining the appeal of your space and maximizing your luxury living room decorating ideas:

• Save websites, files, and magazine clippings to fire up your imagination.
• Create a layout that considers a focal point (a fireplace, TV, or artwork) and conversation areas.
• Remove all the clutter to add elegance and a sense of space.
• Move the furniture away from the wall.
• Avoid creating a maze and provide sufficient walking space.
• Include seating space for at least six people.
• Use columns, floor elevations, room dividers, and other details to define the room.
• Place furniture diagonally to add vitality.
• Choose extra seating, such as ottomans, that can fit under desks or tables.
• Add variable lighting for watching TV, reading, or hosting parties.

Furniture and Décor Tips for Your Living Room

• Fabric: Integrating velvet, fur, and other high-quality fabrics with rich, lush textures can be as simple as adding pillows and sofa throws to the existing décor.
• Historic elements: Modernizing a room is possible without demolishing relics of period architecture. A blend of traditional paneling and contemporary furnishings can provide comfort while accenting the house’s history.
• Large seating areas: Sectional sofas are cozy and casual while injecting a sense of sophistication. They're perfect for families and for accommodating guests. Douglas Furniture stocks an extensive range of Thomasville, Bernhardt, Tommy Bahama, and other sectionals in various configurations, styles, materials, and colors.

• Oversized ottomans: Coffee tables have been a staple of modern living rooms. However, a large upholstered ottoman can serve as a centerpiece and focal point for your design. It provides an opportunity to choose a fabric that complements the color of the walls and textiles, or any artwork in the room.
• Floor lamps: These are versatile and can easily be moved around, adding soft, warm light to accent the visual space better than a table lamp can.
• Bookshelves: There are so many designs and types of bookcases, but you can create layers to add depth and use a variety of textures and materials. They also let you add books and items with meaning, so your family can truly personalize the living room.
• Rugs: Rugs can go far in defining space; layering them is a technique for creating zones, which not only highlights certain areas but adds function, for example, when designating play areas.

Additional design elements can boost the appeal of the living room, such as:

• Natural wood accents
• Fireplaces
• Rustic accents
• Large photos

The luxury living room set you choose can provide the versatility every room should have. There’s no reason it can’t serve equally well as a place to watch TV or lounge on the couch, as one for the kids to play. Adding play space can quickly equate to clutter. However, that doesn’t have to be the case. Separate a play zone with a colorful rug, or set aside a corner for a storage bench or cabinet. A small play nook can keep things out of the way altogether, so the room accommodates everyone.

Adding vibrant colors, sofas, and pillows can spruce up a play corner and add depth to the overall room. Even add a play area behind a sofa to divide the space and make it easier to watch over your kids. Have a large living room? Consider converting one side with kid-sized furniture, a mini kitchen, or a pretend fort.

Remodeling your living room has endless possibilities. You can add high-quality designer living room furniture. However, it may not be necessary to invest anything at all. Sometimes rearranging furniture to allow more walking space, creating diagonals, or grouping items together can make all the difference. A nice painting from another room might be a perfect fit. Some other practical strategies include textured/patterned wallpaper, window treatments, or organizing seating into circular arrangements.

Importance of the Living Room and Why We Love It

The concept of the living room has changed since the early 1900s. Back then, it was typically more formal, and primarily for entertaining guests. People used references such as parlor, receiving room, or drawing room. A parlor would be to start a dinner party with drinks, and then everyone would move to the dining room.

Early in the century, ladies of the house would await visitors while sitting in the receiving room. Children were typically not allowed, while most of the family would gather in other rooms. While influenza took many lives after World War I, the deceased would be accommodated in the parlor, where families would mourn, and bodies were kept before they could be buried.

The parlor took on its more modern appeal after the influenza outbreak. Ladies Home Journal, a prominent magazine at the time and still maintaining an online presence, suggested people liven up the death room following the outbreak. People then began using the term living room.

While many people still use the space as a formal area for entertaining, the living room is generally a casual area for the family to gather, and a place it’s not uncommon to find designer living room furniture. People often consider it to be the most important room of the house. The reasons being, it is a place for:

• Congregating family members and friends
• Creating memories of happiness and pleasure
• Watching TV, playing games, or engaging in other relaxing activities
• Entertaining guests and hosting parties
• Creating welcoming décor with color, paintings, flowers, etc.
• Enhancing our social status by impressing friends

The living room is for everyone—adults, kids, family, friends, or any guest invited into your home. On the other hand, bedrooms serve only their occupants, and bathrooms and kitchens generally serve a single purpose. Large furniture, electronics, toys, books, and family heirlooms can be combined into one room to create a unique atmosphere. We can watch television, read books, play board games, or host parties and gatherings.

Maximize Your Living Room with Luxury Room Décor from Douglas Furniture

The living room is an important and meaningful place for the family. It must, therefore, appeal to everyone, regardless of status, expectations, and age. Include group seating such as sofas, loveseats, and sectionals from Douglas Furniture; individual seating with chairs, recliners, and benches; and storage cabinets, chests, and bookshelves to make the space homely, functional, and efficient.

Our living room accents, from tables and ottomans to stylish lamps, enhance the space as well. We provide high-end luxury living room furniture to make your space suitable for the whole family, not to mention visitors. Shop our showroom for vintage to contemporary furniture, a formal luxury living room set, and luxury living room decorating ideas that can be unique to you and your family.

Learn more about our wide selection of American-made furniture, pricing, history, and other products for the luxury home by browsing our website. Call us at 661-255-8421 for information and guidance in choosing and purchasing top-quality designer living room furniture.

Sources:

1. https://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/decorating/classic-paint-colors#classic-paint-colors
2. https://www.facebook.com/lhjmagazine/