How to furnish
large and long Living Rooms
Irregular sized or shaped living rooms can present a problem when it comes to decorating and furnishing, and that’s certainly true of long, large living rooms. If your living room is shaped like an extended rectangle and has ample space, furniture can start to feel out of place or lost in the sheer size of the room. That means you have to be extra careful when deciding on your furniture and how it is placed, so that you maximise the feel of the room whilst ensuring your sofa, armchair, coffee table and other furniture don’t feel like an afterthought.
When you’re confronted by a large and empty room, it’s easy to feel a little overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task in hand, even if having a large space is a nice dilemma to have! Here are just a few things you should consider if you’re furnishing a large, long living room, to see you get the most from your space and your furniture still takes star billing.
Consider breaking up the room
One way you can make your large, long living room feel cosier is by portioning off separate spaces, so you might have one smaller area for watching television, another for reading and another for games or other leisure activities. This helps break the space up so it feels more manageable, providing you keep the living room decor and furnishings in harmony so as to maintain the flow of the space.
By breaking the space up with furniture, you effectively create ‘mini living rooms’ within the larger room, and make the whole thing feel far more snug and homely than it would be as a whole. Think about how you might like to use the space before you begin planning where your sofa, coffee table, television and other furniture might go, then use a scale plan to play with various layouts before you start moving things in.
Think about the ceiling height
Next, think about the height of your ceilings and how that might impact the way your furniture looks in the space. If your room has low ceilings, then larger items of furniture might make the room feel cramped, no matter how big it is in terms of floor space. For rooms with lower ceilings, choose sofas and armchairs with lower backs, such as our Colosseum or Knightsbridge bespoke sofa, or even think about having a chaise longue in your reading area.
Colosseum Bespoke Sofa with Chaise End
If, on the other hand, your room has high ceilings, lower-backed items of furniture might start to look a little dwarfed by the ceiling height. For rooms with higher ceilings, think about high-backed sofas, such as our Harvey or Malone bespoke sofa, floor to ceiling bookcases and taller standing lamps which will fill the space far more effectively.
Malone Bespoke Sofa
Question your focal point
Every room has a focal point, whether that’s the large flat-screen TV, the stunning fireplace or the magnificent bay window with beautiful views. Think about how you are going to use your living room and what the star attraction will be before you position your furniture. Your furniture will want to be largely directed towards that focal point so you make the most of it.
If your focal point is the television and you’re dividing the room up into smaller areas, you might want to consider a spacious corner sofa so that everyone has a good view of the TV. This can also help break the space up into more cosy sections without interrupting the overall flow. If your main focal point is the fireplace, think about framing it such as with the popular shard mirror, and adding in comfy love seat style sofas or two-seaters and armchairs, to create a space that feels more homely and draws people in.
Know your sofa styles
Your sofa is perhaps the most important piece of furniture in the room, since this is where you’ll spend most of your time. Is your living room traditional or contemporary, high- or low-ceilinged? The type of living room you have might dictate what sort of furniture you choose. For older period properties with a large living room, you might want to consider more traditional-looking sofas – they could have higher backs, skirted seating, more rounded edges and more cushioning, all of which can add a certain layer of warmth to your space.
Alternatively, if your living room is very modern in appearance then a chic, modern corner sofa, or expansive three- or four-seaters might be more in keeping. Choosing something with clean lines rather than rounded edges is probably preferable in this context, as they have the more contemporary vibe you’re looking for. It’s largely down to personal preference and what you feel is in keeping with the style of your home.
The Knightsbridge Sofa
Colour is key
We all know that colour is a critical factor when it comes to your living room, particularly if the room is large. You need to consider whether you want to capitalise on the size of the room and emphasise that extra space, or whether you’d like to make it feel a little less expansive and a little cosier. Light colours will make the space feel larger, while darker tones will pull the room in and make it feel smaller and more contained.
Colour is, again, down to personal preference. It can be nice to use a lighter shade on the walls and choose lighter flooring, then offset these by choosing a sofa and soft furnishings which add a pop of colour. Whether you opt for sofas with patterned materials or plain but in a bold hue, your seating can provide the burst of brightness you need. So too can the cushions you choose or your lampshades. It’s all about how much you want to emphasise the size of your large living room and how you want to add interest to the space.
Ultimately, large living rooms can be completely transformed when you think about how you wish to use the space, how it is furnished and what sort of colour scheme you opt for. The key is to live with things as they are for a little while, to see how you feel about it before you make any big decisions such as purchasing the right suite of sofas or repainting the walls.
