How to design a living room

Join our newsletter Name: Your Email Address Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Thank you for signing up to Realhomes. Because, knowing where to start can be a challenge, whether you're working with an empty space – perhaps you're moving house – or with a very busy room. From furniture considerations, to paint colors, layouts and flooring – whatever the size, shape or orientation of your living room – we've gone into the detail you need to know, to help you make the right choices. Once you've read all the practical advice, be sure to check out our living room ideas for loads of lovely decorating inspiration.

Sure, have a sofa that is just for TV worshippers, but also create a defined reading space by putting an armchair next to a window or table lamp; assign a dedicated workspace to a corner with a console table, desk or home office hidden in a cupboard; or separate a children's play space from the rest of the room with open shelving. At the very least, you'll need enough seating, side and/or coffee tables, a TV unit, storage for everything from gaming equipment to toys to books.

Doing so will create a less constructed, more relaxed feel and, after all, it's the room you unwind in at night, so it should be a true expression of your taste. When you’ve nailed down your aesthetic, it's time to pick your living room paint color ideas. It may be interior design 101, but if you have been blessed with a small living room and want to make it look bigger and brighter, you will need to opt for lighter colors; or, perhaps, since you only use your living room in the evening, you'd rather it felt cozy and intimate with darker colors?

Bear in mind, too, that the natural light your living room receives should affect your color choice.

North- and east-facing living room color schemes suit rooms that get cooler light, so warmer shades of all colors, including anything from white to blue to grey, will make them feel more welcoming; equally, south- and west-facing rooms will get lots of sunlight, so you may want to choose cooler colors to keep them feeling restful. This gives you the opportunity to add warmth to a neutral scheme, cool down a bright scheme, link together two ends of a long or open-plan space, and perhaps even to tie your living room colors with those of your hallway for whole-house cohesion.

Whether you choose a wallpaper or paint colors for your living room is largely down to taste, but here's what you need to know: Only consider them if one wall is taken up by a large window or French doors to provide relief; otherwise, go for a subtle design.

Paint can be used for color blocking to create interest and is a cheaper, easier-to-update option for living room walls. Alternatively, go for hard-wearing wood or laminate flooring – you can always add coziness and comfort with a rug. And for you apartment dwellers, if you don’t live on the ground floor consider adding a really thick underlay beneath your living room flooring; that way you can minimize the chance of a neighbor banging on your door when you are in the middle of a Zumba DVD. This is probably going to be the most pricey aspect of your living room design, so really think about what you do and don’t need (which may mean giving up on using your coffee table as anything other than a footrest and replacing it with an ottoman that can be used as extra seating instead).

Start with the basics and assess what furniture your living room really can’t do without – and how you might make it more versatile, with hidden storage, for example. Also, think about how durable each piece needs to be and what’s worth investing in – soft furnishings get the most wear, so get the highest quality you can within your budget or opt for removable covers that can be machine washed.

Bright or boldly patterned sofas make fabulous focal points but be sure you'll love them for the long-term. If your square footage is limited, it’s also worth considering if you even need such a huge piece of furniture taking up lots of valuable space.

We know it’s hard to imagine your life without a three seater, reclining sofa, but dream with us here. To save space and to cut down on unnecessary extra furniture, choose pieces that offer as much versatility as possible: coffee tables with plenty of storage shelves; TV cabinets with added drawers; and even sofas with hidden storage.

Opt for living room cabinets that have both open and closed storage so you can hide stuff away, and still keep your most prized knick knacks on display. Lighting your space well is a key part of designing a living room, because we spend so much time there in the evenings.

If you want to add a touch of luxury to the living room, shutters or Roman blinds layered over with lined drapes are a good choice.

In a contemporary living room, shutters only are an easy to coordinate option that offers plenty of curb appeal, too. We all love a clean aesthetic, but to stop your room looking like it’s been picked straight from a catalog, inject plenty of personal touches is a must-do. You can easily accessorize your soft furnishing with rugs, cushions and throws and add color with well-displayed artwork and photos or a gallery wall.

Oh and let’s not forget indoor plants; they are a really easy way to add a splash of color and liven up a room.