Designing a Living Room That Reflects Your Style
Posted by Paulo Teodoro on 24/10/2018
Furniture Ideas: How to Determine the Perfect Living Room Design?
When creating a perfect environment for you and your family, finding the right furniture can make a world of difference. No matter how talented you might be at interior design, this can often be a daunting task.
The main reason behind this is the huge number of choices. Even if you have a rough idea of the living room furniture sets you want, finding a set that complements your room’s design can get tricky. And since this can be a rather large investment, you’ll want to make sure to get it right the first time.
Luckily, you don’t have to do all kinds of dreadful research for this. Instead, you can focus on the fun part of living room design. This guide will offer everything you need to know about finding the perfect furniture for your home.
Living Lounge Furniture Styles
The theme is the first thing to consider when choosing between living room furniture sets.
These sets come in all kinds of styles, so you need to think about the ones that will create an environment that matches your style.
Of course, you don’t have to go with furniture sets. You can choose different furniture pieces that complement one another. This will ensure a well-designed living lounge.
If you need some ideas on what style to go with, here are some of the most popular ones.
Modern
This is a perfect theme for all lovers of contemporary style. You can recognise it by the furniture’s embodiment of minimalism, with its clean lines and sleek look. Modern living room furniture sets usually come in one or two colours, with white, grey, black, and beige being the most popular choices.
You can also go for furniture pieces that will break the otherwise monotonous colours. You can do this by choosing vivid colours for some furniture pieces and accessories and adding them to your modern living room.
Modern furniture pieces often feature dark wood and or metal constructions. Aside from the standard sofas and chairs, you can refresh your living room by adding more interesting pieces. You don’t see many homes with an ottoman or a modern chaise lounge in Australia. Luxo Living stocks all kinds of contemporary furniture pieces. You can look at and read about the collections online.
Luxurious
People often mistakenly believe that luxury costs a ton of money. This doesn’t have to be the case. It’s more about incorporating unique pieces into your way living. Luxury furniture can give your living room a sophisticated look, without breaking your budget.
Of course, if money isn’t a factor, there are many furniture sets and pieces that will give your living lounge that lavish look. When it comes to style, luxury furniture seems to encompass two completely different designs.
You can either find something completely minimalistic or ones that have many different patterns that add to the luxury. These days, less seems more, so the minimalistic look is something that you can’t really go wrong with.
And if you’re into expressing your style through many luxurious patterns, you won’t have any problem finding many furniture pieces that feature this design philosophy.
Casual
This style offers a great blend of design and functionality. If you’re not into sleek lines or a luxurious environment, but would rather want your living room to look cosy and warm, this can be the right style for you.
You can find all kinds of casual living room furniture in Australia. A great thing about casual furniture is that there is a wide selection of patterns and designs. You can choose to make your living room warm and homey, or liven it up with furniture of different vivid colours and patterns.
There’s also a variety of accessories that you can add to your furniture. Casual style is about not having so many limits. This means there are many different accessories that you can use to complete your casual living room.
Traditional
Traditional design never goes out of style. If you do it right, you can create a beautiful living room filled with rustic furniture. There are no shortage of living room furniture sets and pieces for you to choose from. This usually requires a bit more planning, though, since completing this style can be tricky.
If you don’t want to do a bunch of planning, going with traditional living room furniture sets, instead of pieces, is your safest bet. Still, if you’re up for the challenge you can go with separate pieces and create a rich-looking traditional living room.
You’ll often recognise traditional furniture pieces by their formal and elegant look. Round edges, pastel colours, and rustic wood finishes are some of the things that you’ll notice in these pieces as well.
If you manage to put them together well, you can definitely have a unique living room that radiates elegance and warmth.
Antique
If you want to go beyond just the traditional, you might want to explore the antique style. Inspired by centuries-old European styles, this design can create a very unique environment.
Earthy colours with many different patterns allow you to combine a variety of pieces, since there are pretty much no rules here. You can be as creative as you want, since antique pieces are often unique, so you don’t really have to match them.
The only thing to take into account is the colour scheme. Antique furniture doesn’t go well with the vivid colours that you can find in modern pieces. For this reason, sticking with more subtle, earthy tones is a good idea.
So the above are some of the most popular styles that people tend to go for. Since every living room should be unique, you can experiment and try out different ones, and maybe even come up with your own.
Living lounge furniture truly can dictate the atmosphere of your living room, so use these pointers to find the perfect pieces for your home.
Scandinavian
In recent years, the Scandinavian style of furniture has become increasingly popular.
Often taking a minimalist design direction, this type of furniture helps you to make better use of your space. It’s also ideal for those who wish to create a more modern aesthetic in the home.
Scandinavian designs aim to combine beauty, often using natural materials, with durability. Efficiency is key in all aspects of the design, from the way the furniture is made through to how it looks when in the home.
Furthermore, Scandinavian designs also tend to mesh well with other types of furniture. For example, it’s entirely possible to find Scandinavian furniture that replicates traditional aesthetics. In these cases, the modernity comes from the methods used to make the furniture.
Once you have the design in mind, it’s time to consider other important factors that should influence your decision.
Factor #1 - Comfort
Aside from the style, a deciding factor in buying new living lounge furniture is comfort. Since you and your family will be spending a big portion of your day in the living room, you need to ensure that the furniture is comfortable.
This is where it’s important to talk about the materials of your furniture. Furniture pieces come in a lot of different materials, so it’s important to understand some of their pros and cons.
Both the filling and the upholstery should ensure maximum comfort. To help you find the right ones for you, let’s dig a bit deeper into the possible materials.
Factor #2 - Filling
Everyone defines comfort differently. It’s very important that you choose the right filling according to your idea of comfort. After all, you’ll spend a lot of time with your living room furniture sets. Usually, you’ll have three types of filling to choose between:
Foam
Foam is a very common furniture filling, as it ensures optimal comfort. It’s very versatile, meaning that you can choose the one that fits your needs out of many different types.
The main thing to think about when it comes to foam is its density. If you like soft furniture pieces, you’ll be better off with a low-density foam. On the other hand, high-density foam ensures better support, while still providing great comfort.
A great thing about foam is that it requires very little maintenance. There’s no need to fluff it constantly to achieve your desired plumpness.
Feather
As you can probably imagine, feather is the softest furniture cushion filling. If you’re looking to really sink into your living lounge furniture pieces, feather is your safest bet.
The most common option is down, which is particularly popular in scatter cushions. They don’t really provide great support, but they’re really soft and comfortable. You also have to fluff the cushions frequently.
You can often see a combination of feather and foam. This gives you the best of both worlds, pairing great softness with optimal support and comfort.
A downside of feather cushions is that they’re they tend to absorb liquid more readily than other types of cushion. While it’s rare for an indoor furniture set to focus on waterproofing, feather is particular susceptible to errant liquids. However, you can easily overcome this issue by using protective covers that are waterproof.
Fibre
Fibre fillings often feature polyester, which gives that sink-in feeling that many people enjoy. You can choose between two different types of fibre:
Pocket fibre is great if you want your sofa to have that bouncy feeling. It’s a bit denser, so it combines great support and optimal softness.
However, if you want a really soft living lounge furniture, blown fibre might be for you. It’s super soft and will let you sink deep into your cushion. This makes it a great alternative to feather, especially if you have an allergy.
The only downside of fibre is that it requires maintenance in order to maintain its shape. This is why fibre is more common in arm and back fillings, rather than the cushions.
A majority of sofas and chairs feature a combination of these fillings. This ensures perfect comfort for everyone, if you choose the right combination.
Factor #3 - Upholstery
Upholstery will not only determine the comfort but also the durability of your furniture. Since manufacturers can create pretty much any fabric by weaving threads together, finding the right tightness of that weave can make a world of difference.
Here are some of the most common upholstery materials for living lounge furniture:
Linen
Linen is a type of fabric made out of flax plant fibres. More often than not, the weave is a bit looser than the other types, which offers great flexibility and gives furniture that soft look. Still, there are some where the weave is very tight, so you can choose the option that works best for you.
Keep in mind that loosely woven linen tends to wear out with time, so if you want to ensure durability, tight weaves are your best option.
Velvet
Velvet usually has a tighter weave since it also has threads that stand upright. This gives it a beautifully soft look and feel, so if you want to feel premium softness and comfort, going with velvet can be a great idea.
You can often find a blend of polyester and velvet, as polyester adds to the durability. It also makes furniture easier to clean, and you can expect a longer lifespan. This material is also very common in modern living room furniture sets.
Tweed
This fabric can either be rough or soft, depending on the type and the manufacturing process. You’ll probably want to go with the soft variant, since it’s more flexible and ensures better comfort. Of course, if you like rougher surfaces, it’s not hard to find furniture upholstery that will fit your needs.
The type of tweed can also influence the look of your living lounge furniture. There’s a high chance that you’ll be able to spot the visual difference between these types, so use that to pick the one that you believe will match your living room décor the best.
Leather
Even though it’s been around for decades, leather furniture never seems to go out of style. It can also be very durable, if the manufacturer uses high-quality leather. You’ll often see leather in modern living room furniture sets, since it looks luxurious and matches many modern styles.
Of course, it may not be as soft and comfortable as the other options, but you can easily fix this by adding a good slipcover. Leather furniture is often very comfortable, so you can enjoy the combination of style and cosiness.
Factor #4 - Functionality
This is another important criterion that you’ll want to take into account when buying furniture. You need to ensure that you can get the most out of your space, and that the entire setup makes sense.
For example, if you like to spend time with your family and friends indoors, living room furniture sets where the pieces are facing each other would make the most sense. And if watching TV is the main reason for spending time in your living room, you can go with separate pieces that you can turn towards the TV.
Another thing to keep in mind is that everyone should be able to walk towards the furniture freely from all entrances. Having small tables, ottomans, and other accessories in the way of your main furniture isn’t really logical, so make sure that you take into account the structure of your living room.
If you have a large living room, you don’t have to focus all your efforts on one central furniture set. You can get a couple of larger pieces, then use the rest of the space as best as you can. For example, you can place two larger armchairs or chaises with a small table in the corner.
All of this will primarily depend on the design of your living room and your own personal taste. Before you decide to buy new furniture, visualise everything to see if it will fit well.
Factor #5 - Price
There’s a variety of living room furniture sets and pieces available for you to choose from at any budget. On the other hand, if you believe that high-quality furniture is a good investment, you’re right. This is because it’s always better to spend a bit more initially, than to go with a cheaper option that might cost you more in the long run in terms of durability issues and repairs.
This isn’t to say that you need a lot of money to buy good furniture. There are some great living room furniture deals with excellent value for money that you can take advantage of.
Depending on your style and preferences, you’ll have to spend more or less money to get all the right furniture. This is why it’s important to plan ahead, so that you know how much you’re able or willing to spend.
The Final Word
If you take into account everything that you’ve seen in this article, you’ll be a lot closer to finding the perfect living lounge furniture. Keep in mind that looking for it might take a while, but it’s important that you choose your furniture carefully. If you plan everything right, there’s no doubt that you’ll be able to create the perfect living room design.
Think about the style, materials, and price of your desired living room furniture sets. Luxo Living will ensure that you find the best furniture for your home. If you want to take a look at some good living room furniture deals, make sure to visit our website.