The family living room is a place where we go to feel safe, entertained, and together with the people we love the most. We want them to be as cozy and comfortable as possible.
In the following article, we’re going to talk about how you can achieve this for your living room. But first, let’s look at some of the qualities that can derail our efforts before they even get started.
What Is Holding Up Your Living Room?
If you’re feeling dissatisfied and stressed when you sit in your living room, then something’s got to give. The best way to determine what that something is?
Figure out the obstacles. It’s likely one or more of the following factors are “off.” Isolate them and fix them!
Poor Use of Space
Before settling in on one arrangement, you may want to test out several to get a feel for the perfect use of space. That means rearranging furnishings and fixtures to see how well you’re putting the square footage to use.
Clutter
The effort to design a cozy and comfortable living room space can hit roadblocks with what you choose to bring into it. You may want easy access to your books and DVDs, for example. But if they’re shrinking the size of the room and not fulfilling an immediate need, you can start to feel like the walls are closing in on you.
Furnishings That Are Not Made for Everyday Use
Got children or grandchildren? Or maybe you’re just a little clumsy when walking barefoot through the house? Furnishings with sharp edges and unpredictable angles can present dangers you may not have realized.
Now that we know what’s likely holding back the comfort and coziness of your living room, it’s time to do something about it. Here are several suggestions.
- Go Low Maintenance on Furniture
For a truly comfortable living room, you want furniture you won’t have to worry about. We’re talking about sofas, easy-chairs, and loveseats that allow you to flop, eat, and spill.
Choose natural colors, artistic patterns, or materials like leather that are either great at concealing or easy to clean. Brighter, patternless materials that hold in stains will make you feel less comfortable and more stressed-out about your room.
- Use Rugs
Having a good living room for a family means being able to live in it without worrying about things like stained carpets or allergies. That’s why many homeowners are going to hard floors and employing the use of area rugs for looks and comfort.
Do you struggle with allergies or frequently entertain others? The use of an area rug eliminates some of the pressure.
- Eliminate Hazards
The best family living room is safe for small children. That’s why you’ll want to choose end tables and couches with smooth edges. Child- or pet-proof as needed.
- Maximize Storage Space
Another quality that results in a great living room for families is storage capacity. But any storage your living room has must be discrete.
You don’t want magazines and books strewn everywhere. Instead, try to make or purchase functional furniture that carefully conceals any articles or media you want to keep handy.
- Break Free from the Coffee Table
Most family room furniture will have a coffee table included somewhere in the mix. Big mistake. Coffee tables take up space and end up serving as a receptacle for keys, magazines, and other items that have no business being out in the open.
The result of having a coffee table is clutter, clutter, and more clutter. So don’t even give yourself the option. Removing it from the mix will lead to better decisions with where you choose to store these items.
- Organize Your Entertainment Options
Most furniture stores make a point of selling televisions and entertainment centers. Of course, most of you are going to want a large, nice television that’s compatible with the size of your room.
But the entertainment center could be a toss-up. Some like the stripped-down look of the TV hanging on the wall and any entertainment media in another location. Others prefer to have entertainment centers in the room for design and storage purposes.
Whatever you choose is fine. Just make sure it doesn’t derail your organizational strategy for Blu-ray players, streaming boxes, or any portable media you want to keep within reach.
- Bring in Natural Light
Try to keep the blinds open most of the time to bring in as much natural light as possible. It truly helps in dealing with depression or seasonal affective disorder.
- Use Alternative Lighting Sources for the Colder Months
The summer months make it easy to get plenty of natural light. But as the clocks roll back and the days get shorter, you may not be able to access any at all. That’s especially true if you work all day and it’s dark by the time you get home.
For those instances, choose lamps or other lighting forms that emit plenty of white light. This is the next best thing to natural light and will help lift your spirits.
- Keep a Blanket Handy
This recommendation is a good one if you have members of the Polar Bear Club living in your house. Rather than make the temperature too high for them to be comfortable, keep a blanket handy to deal with the chills. You might even consider devoting some of your living room storage space to blankets.
- Make It Temperature Friendly
This varies depending on what your family prefers. Studies recommend sleeping temperatures from 60 to 67 degrees, so you might consider a slightly higher temperature than that until it’s bedtime. The bottom line: choose something all of you can live with for the shared family time.
Your Family Living Room Should Have Something for Everyone
The family living room is a space for all the members of your home. Therefore, it should have a little something for everyone in it. It’s your job to know yourself and the people who live with you well enough to customize the space for mutual benefit.
Good luck as you set about doing that. And for more interior design tips and recommendations, check out some of our other posts!
