The living room should be your happy place. Somewhere to curl up and chill out; a cosy spot to snuggle on the sofa, spend time with family, chat with friends and binge on the latest box set. Whether you like the idea of a scheme that’s cool, calm and collected or want to embrace bold colour and playful design touches, our extensive sofa and solid hardwood furniture collections give you the scope to style your sitting room to suit you.
From contemporary, Scandi and mid-century styles to more traditional, country-cottage-inspired rooms, whatever you’re drawn to, check out these looks and tips to help you create a characterful room that reflects your taste and works beautifully for the way you like to live.
1. Seating to suit your space
Brighton sofa | @lockdown_lifestyle
The centrepiece of any sitting room, getting the seating right is the key to finding your comfort zone. It’s likely to be the big-ticket item in your scheme so it pays to factor in the practicalities first and before you get carried away with colour (even though we know that’s the fun part!), you need to think about the proportions of your room and the functionality of other pieces of furniture as this might influence the scale of the sofa or chairs you choose.
2. Fall for a loveseat
Brighton loveseat | @barn_owls_and_butterflies
Only got room for one sofa but want to team it with something bigger than a single armchair? Meet the loveseat. It’s often a match made in heaven for smaller sitting rooms.
3. Modular and corner sofas
A favourite with families who are after flex-appeal, modular sofas make it easy to change your furniture’s configuration. Each section is fully finished so however they are positioned they always look great. This sofa style is great for making the most of awkward corners.
4. Find the right fabric for you
Brighton corner sofa | Brighton footstool
As well as choosing the right sofa and shape, factor in the right fabric too. It might sound obvious but if you’ve got a young family and pets and you don’t want to be precious about people putting their feet up, then you need to pick upholstery that’s going to be able to take what life throws at it… literally in some cases!
5. Accent chairs
Montgomery chairs | @rachel_ducker
When matchy-matchy is a bit much but all-out eclectic feels too chaotic, mix things up with an accent chair. Available in a range of styles and plain and printed fabrics, it’s a way to pair your sofa with a co-ordinating piece of furniture without it being identical.
6. Embracing pattern and print
Morgan sofa | Romsey coffee table | Romsey bookcase | Romsey sideboard | Romsey tallboy
Some homes make a riot of pattern look effortless, boldly going for it on the walls, floors and sofas but lots of us lack the confidence for this level of commitment. If you’re still on the fence when it comes to making a statement with your scheme, a more risk-averse approach is to introduce a pop of print with your soft furnishings and accessories. A cushion here or a vase there is relatively easy (and affordable) to update if all of a sudden you lose your love of leopard or your passion for polka dots fades.
7. A sitting room that reflects the seasons
Soft furnishings aren’t just a cost-effective way to experiment and get your fix of colour and pattern, you can also use rugs, throws and scatters to sync your sitting room with the seasons. When autumn arrives, get cosy and layer on the chunky blankets, tactile velvets and cosy knits in warm, comforting hues and then, when things get lighter and brighter outside, reflect that inside by refreshing the character of the room with breezier linens, cotton and cooler colours that celebrate spring.
8. Zoning open plan areas
While more and more of us are leaning towards open plan living, kitchen-diner-sitting rooms can still benefit from a bit of zoning. A multi-tasking piece of furniture helps to link the various functions of the adjoining spaces and gives the area a more cohesive feel.
9. Storage footstools
Gainsborough sofa | Gainsborough footstool
The best storage pieces are the multi-taskers. That’s probably why our clever footstools are always such a hit. Not just somewhere to put your feet or an extra seat for when you’re entertaining, this Gainsborough Storage Footstool conceals a roomy compartment that’s ideal for magazines, box sets or a blanket. Topped with a decorative tray it also makes an excellent coffee table.
10. Creating continuity
Aston coffee table | Aston side table | Aston TV unit | Hepburn sofa
When you’re thinking about the style of your sitting room consider whether there are any themes in your scheme you can emphasise, in terms of common colours or shapes. Here the Scandi silhouettes and mid-century design details in Aston range pairs perfectly with the Hepburn sofa collection.
11. Using wood to warm up neutrals
Parquet chest of drawers | @709_design
Combine different textures to create a modern and aesthetically pleasing living room. Our Parquet chest of drawers adds warmth and personality to this space and pairs perfectly with the neutral tones and natural accents.
12. Dramatic hues
Saturated shades and deep-sea blues are having a moment and we’re all for diving in. If you fancy dialling up the contrast in your sitting room, the cabinetry in our Highgate collection combines inky painted bases with rustic oak tops for a dramatic, refined look.
13. Coffee tables
Burleigh coffee table | Burleigh console table | Bramble sofa
You might use it for everything but coffee, but a low slung table in your sitting room is an essential, not just for the sake of convenience and having somewhere handy to pop a glass of your favourite tipple but for the intimate feel it creates. There are lots of options out there but we’re fans of designs that incorporate two levels – a generous top that you can dress with a chunky coffee table book, a candle and a couple of artfully placed ornaments while the lower shelf or drawers can be for the more mundane essentials like remote controls or newspapers.
14. Table nests
Another functional furniture item to consider is a nest of tables. This design here matches the coffee table and sideboard which are also from our Parquet collection. They make a substantial addition to the scheme and their statement geometric carpentry becomes a distinctive feature in the room. Great at the end of a sofa as a lamp table or for a plant, they are invaluable if you’ve got guests over as they are sturdy enough if someone needs another place to perch. Depending on the style of the design, they tuck handily underneath each other so they’re out of the way when you don’t need them – definitely worth considering if you’re living room is tight on space.
15. House your tech
We might spend hours staring at them, but TVs and the tech that goes with them aren’t the prettiest things. Stow your DVD, digital boxes, DVDs and hide unsightly cables with a specially designed TV unit. Available in a range of different styles, this one from our Brooklyn collection has a sturdy metal frame and lovely oak panels that suit the fuss-free backdrop of salvaged timber cladding and exposed brickwork. We’ve featured it with the coffee table from the same range and our Fraser sofa, which provides a pop of colour in an otherwise restrained palette.
16. A nook for your favourite books
Shay bookcase | @athome_withwinston
A bookcase is a must-have for you living room. Use it to create a stylish backdrop for personalised vignettes of your favourite things that sit alongside your books.
17. Look at your lighting
Lighting is a brilliant way to introduce atmospheric touches to your living room. You might have downlights in your ceiling but overhead glare can kill the mood if you’re after a cosy feel. Table and floor lamps soften and layer the light so strategically place them in your room to highlight certain features, like we’ve done here with our Durban lamp which echos the same chalky white as the cabinetry on our Hove collection.
18. Nurture nature
Styling tips wouldn’t be complete without referencing greenery of some description. Now a staple in any stylish interiors scheme, leaves have the power to breathe life into even the most sterile spaces. Moving beyond a simple pot, there are so many ways to welcome a bit of botany into your home, from giant monstera to soil-free air plants that forgive even the most neglectful owners, picking the right foliage will enhance your sitting room and reconnect you with nature.
How do you style your living room? For more ideas and inspiration explore our living room furniture online now.
