For your living room, consider the following:
- How much space do you have? Tip: Don't opt for huge furniture if you have a tiny weeny area for the room.
- Besides the living room essentials, what other activities/things, if any, will the room serve? e.g. study corner, prayer wall, space for your collectibles... Tip: For small spaces, integrate secondary tasks with main tasks. E.g. a floor lamp can serve as study lamp on one side of the living room sofa.
- What is the shape of the room? What are the limitations or flaws that need to be dealt with? Examples of this are: ceiling too high; irregularly shaped room; long and narrow rectangular room. In one of my succeeding blogs, I will write about the appropriate design treatments to visually diminish spatial limitations. Tip: Vertical lines create the illusion of height while horizontal lines create the illusion of width.
- What over-all look and feel do you want to achieve? Formal, prim and proper? Relaxed? Soft and warm? Feminine? Masculine? These can well be a hundred options. Tip: Choose what is closest to your heart that will translate to the theme you have in mind.
Take a look at some pictures below that will inspire the designer in you.
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| Looking at the picture, it appears that the grays step back a bit to give way to the focal point of the room - the sofa and the center table in varying shade of brown. With the neatly stacked bookshelf behind, you get the message that this is a no-nonsense room and the only way to sit up is to be prim and proper. For more design ideas, click here to go to my Pinterest board. |
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| Think soft and warm and relaxing and you have it right in this living room! It's a neat, small space that really works and bonds the spaces together. Notice the choice of center table which will not only hold coffee but it will also let you do your homework right there! Its one genius trick to opt for light and uniform hue as it creates an airy feeling without defining spatial limits. For more design ideas, click here to go to my Pinterest board. |
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| Both minimalist and masculine; this living room is down to the the most basic furniture and no frills. The only accents are the choice of lighting fixtures in varying sizes and shapes and mounted on the right spots. If anything, the black kitchen almost frame-like cupboards make a nice background for the whole set-up. For more design ideas, click here to go to my Pinterest board. |
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| Here is a small chartreuse green room, nicely packed to the brim where every corner is put to good use. The printed rug and the photo wall successfully transforms the cramp stair space into an interesting transition area. On the main living area, a miniature 2-piece coffee table, all the space could fit, takes the place of a center table. A matching green chair is pushed to the wall leaving just enough space to walk by. For more design ideas, click here to go to my Pinterest board. |
