The Living Room - it's the heart of any family home and yet it doesn't serve any particular purpose. For some, the Living Room is a place for recreation and fun; television, video games, music and generally having a good time in the house. For others, it's a strict space of relaxation, a quiet place for reflection or settling into a good book or newspaper. For the self-employed, a Living Room can even act as their office!
Given the amount of potential uses for a Living Room, there's no strict rules or definitive guides to Designing the 'perfect' space - perfect is ultimately defined by what you personally want to get out of the room. This makes Designing a Living Room from scratch incredibly difficult, more so than a bedroom or a kitchen for example.
However, just because there isn't a definitive guide, that doesn't meant there aren't a few things to keep in mind when Designing any living space. Here are a few things all good Living Room designers should consider.
Seating
While the potential uses for a Living Room are innumerable, there are some common features that most will share. Seating is one of these features; typically, a sofa and a couple of chairs will be the seating solution of choice but the style of seating you choose for own room will largely be down to personal preference.
There are a few things to keep in mind however. Never pick seating or furniture that is 'too big' for your room; that is, taking up a sizeable portion of the room rather than not being able to fit it in the room at all! Oversized furniture can lead to your room looking significantly smaller than it is, so is best avoided. On the other hand, however, having a few chairs dotted around can make your room look disjointed and sparse, so make sure to strike a good compromise between the two!
Storage
Regardless of what you use your Living Room for, the chances are you'll need somewhere to store various items such as magazines, books and DVDs. Choosing the right storage for your room means striking a balance between aesthetics and making effective use of the space available to you.
For example, if you have a lot of books, the chances are you'll want a bookshelf to show them off on. However, a bulky bookshelf simply won't do in a tiny room. A much better solution would be to put up shelving or, if you have a really small space, make use of storage integrated into other furniture such as chairs and tables.
Surfaces
Most Living Rooms will need a lot of surfaces - a coffee table for placing mugs on, somewhere to put televisions and stereos on, a place to put your favourite vase. However, finding space for all these surfaces can be difficult if you only have a small Living Room, while not having enough can lead to a big room looking sparse.
The solution to this is to get an idea of the objects you're going to have in your Living Room and come up with how they're going to be supported. So a bulky television will likely have to be supported on a dedicated surface, but a flat screen can be wall mounted, saving significantly on floorspace. Look at areas you can cut back on without compromising the room too much; for example, you may not need a large coffee table if you live in a small two person apartment.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Important Aspects To Consider When Designing Your Ideal Living Room
The Living Room - it's the heart of any family home and yet it doesn't serve any particular purpose. For some, the Living Room is a place for recreation and fun; television, video games, music and generally having a good time in the house. For others, it's a strict space of relaxation, a quiet place for reflection or settling into a good book or newspaper. For the self-employed, a Living Room can even act as their office!
Given the amount of potential uses for a Living Room, there's no strict rules or definitive guides to Designing the 'perfect' space - perfect is ultimately defined by what you personally want to get out of the room. This makes Designing a Living Room from scratch incredibly difficult, more so than a bedroom or a kitchen for example.
However, just because there isn't a definitive guide, that doesn't meant there aren't a few things to keep in mind when Designing any living space. Here are a few things all good Living Room designers should consider.
Seating
While the potential uses for a Living Room are innumerable, there are some common features that most will share. Seating is one of these features; typically, a sofa and a couple of chairs will be the seating solution of choice but the style of seating you choose for own room will largely be down to personal preference.
There are a few things to keep in mind however. Never pick seating or furniture that is 'too big' for your room; that is, taking up a sizeable portion of the room rather than not being able to fit it in the room at all! Oversized furniture can lead to your room looking significantly smaller than it is, so is best avoided. On the other hand, however, having a few chairs dotted around can make your room look disjointed and sparse, so make sure to strike a good compromise between the two!
Storage
Regardless of what you use your Living Room for, the chances are you'll need somewhere to store various items such as magazines, books and DVDs. Choosing the right storage for your room means striking a balance between aesthetics and making effective use of the space available to you.
For example, if you have a lot of books, the chances are you'll want a bookshelf to show them off on. However, a bulky bookshelf simply won't do in a tiny room. A much better solution would be to put up shelving or, if you have a really small space, make use of storage integrated into other furniture such as chairs and tables.
Surfaces
Most Living Rooms will need a lot of surfaces - a coffee table for placing mugs on, somewhere to put televisions and stereos on, a place to put your favourite vase. However, finding space for all these surfaces can be difficult if you only have a small Living Room, while not having enough can lead to a big room looking sparse.
The solution to this is to get an idea of the objects you're going to have in your Living Room and come up with how they're going to be supported. So a bulky television will likely have to be supported on a dedicated surface, but a flat screen can be wall mounted, saving significantly on floorspace. Look at areas you can cut back on without compromising the room too much; for example, you may not need a large coffee table if you live in a small two person apartment.
