A Simple Guide to Buying Furniture for your Living Room

So you’ve acquired a new house, and you’re probably very excited to start filling up the space with furniture, decor, and other personal items to make the house reflect you! It can be quite overwhelming to start this process, and so it’s always a good idea to start with sections of the home. Today, we’re going to talk about the living room. 

The living room is the first area you and your guests will lay your eyes on. For this very reason, it’s a bit crucial and can be a tricky area to design. It depends on how much space you have, the purpose you want it to serve, and the vibe you’re going for as well. We’ll be going through these three key factors and how this can help you spruce up your living room!

To start, here are the essential pieces of furniture typically found in a living room: 

Adding or forgoing some items from this list can depend on three key factors mentioned above: space, purpose, and style. Let’s go through all of them below.

How much space have you got? 

The number of items you can or have to buy for your living room greatly depends on how big or small your space is. Having wider walls means more room for hanging up wall decor and larger sofas that can accommodate more people. The layout of your house will also dictate which kind of pieces you’ll get. If it’s sort of boxy, you can opt to match it with rectangular sofas and soften it with rounded accent chairs. If the space is wide and long, you can go ahead and fill it up with more decor, chairs, and side tables. In some cases, living and dining areas are obviously separated by design, while in others, an open layout merges the two, creating an impact on your living room space. Measure it out and take it into consideration before buying larger pieces like the sofa, center table, and even the carpet.

What is the purpose of your living room? 

Do you plan on hosting a lot of get-togethers in your home, or is this something you haven’t really thought of? Whether it’s encouraging natural conversation or meant to entertain people, figuring out the function of your living room can set the mood of the space and how your furniture will be positioned. It’s common to add a television set to your living room too, which can add as some form of entertainment. If you have one main sectional sofa or loveseat, then it could create a vibe that it’s for watching some TV or receiving some guests before moving to another area of the house. Having chairs in a semi-circle creates the feeling of a gathering, and you’ll be able to talk better since you can see everyone. Also try to find out which fabrics or finishes best suit the tenants of the home, like if you’re living with kids and/or pets. There’s no right or wrong purpose for a living room—it ultimately depends on how you want to use the space!

What look are you going for? 

Cozy or formal? Colorful or monochromatic? You can create a theme that you can work with for your house too, whether it’s going for sleeker and neutral colors like black, white, and gray for a minimalist feel, or browns, pinks, and wooden finishes that paint something a little more homey and rustic. Having a mood board or simply saving photos of furniture pieces you’re attracted to on your phone is handy when you’re shopping at a furniture store. You can easily show them the look you’re going for, and in most cases, they will help you pair items that will match your theme. Enjoy this process, and don’t forget to be flexible, as it’s typically hard to find an exact match in a store to something you found online. Be creative, and have fun with it!

Designing the living room may seem like a lot of pressure since it sets the tone of the home—and you’d want nothing else than to feel like you’ve nailed it. At the end of the day, you’d want a living room that has just enough room for you to move around, fulfills the right purpose intended for it, and sports a look that ultimately reflects what you want it to be.