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Living Room Layout and Design Tips for Every Style

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Whether you use your living room for relaxing or entertaining, it should function as an inviting and adaptable space that accommodates your everyday needs. The way you layout your living room will greatly affect how is it used. For example, using your TV as the focal point is perfect if that’s what you use your living room for most, but creating a space that centers around the coffee table sets up a conversation zone — ideal for entertainers.

To create a living room that’s right for you, here are six important design decisions to consider.

One-Plan Living Rooms

In an open-plan living and dining room, choose furniture and a floor plan that allow the zones to connect functionally as well as aesthetically. In this room, the dining chairs can easily swing around when extra guests come over. And because the material palette is cohesive, all the pieces work together.

open plan living room htl

(Photo Credit: Homes to Love)

Cozy Living Room

To transform your living room into a cozy den, go for a dark, yet warm color palette. It’s particularly good in TV rooms where you want to limit light. A bonus design trick? If you’re trying to disguise your TV, hang it on a dark chocolate, charcoal, black, or navy wall and watch it blend in.

cozy living room htl

(Photo Credit: Homes to Love)

The Entertainer

Be honest about your living room requirements. Do you watch TV every day? (Yeah, us too.) Make your TV a part of your design. Here it’s been disguised in a blackened-out wall. Some more good design elements are the modular sofa that is positioned for optimal viewing, and the side chair that adds a conversational dimension to the set-up.

Upon Reflection

Hanging a mirror in the living room is more than just a decorative flourish, it works as a design element, too. The reflection will visually double the space of the room and it will bounce natural light around to make the room feel brighter. It will also echo any artwork or decorative feature facing it. How’s that for multi-tasking?

upon reflection htl

(Photo Credit: Homes to Love)

Living Room Feature Wall

A contemporary take on traditional wall paneling — a popular feature in classic living rooms — is the half-and-half paint job. It’s easy to do and totally cost effective: All you need is paint, a paintbrush, a roll of masking tape, and a steady hand!

feature wall htl

(Photo Credit: Homes to Love)

Long and Narrow Living Rooms

Many inner-city homes have a long, narrow living spaces. The key to working with them is to incorporate streamlined furniture to accommodate your equipment, provide storage, and display surfaces. Keep the rest of the furniture in proportion to the space by anchoring it all on a large area rug about eight inches from the edges of the room.

long narrow rooms htl

(Photo Credit: Homes to Love)

This post was written by the editors at Homes to Love. For more, check out our sister site Homes to Love.

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