To Sit On And To Lie On

4 Tips For Choosing The Right Living Room Furniture

by Dawn Hopkins

The living room is an important room in your home since it's where you'll probably entertain guests and spend a lot of time. Choosing living room furniture can be challenging since there are so many options when it comes to styles and colors. Here are some tips to keep in mind when choosing living room furniture that goes beyond simply choosing your favorite styles.

1. Choose The Ideal Size For Your Sofa And Chairs

Living rooms come in all sizes, so you'll need to match the furniture to the size of the room. An easy way to visualize size is to look up standard sizes for sofas and loveseats and mark the dimensions off in your living room. This allows you to see exactly how much space a sofa or other piece of furniture will take so you don't end up making your living room look crowded and cluttered.

2. Remember To Measure Doorways

Remember, your furniture has to fit through doorways and fit around corners to get to your living room. If you buy living room furniture from a furniture store, it may be delivered already assembled, and that could make it more difficult to maneuver. If you have tight spaces in your home, be sure to measure them and let the furniture dealer know the dimensions so they can verify if the furniture can fit.

3. Match The Furniture To Your Lifestyle

Decide how you'll use your furniture so you choose styles and fabrics that go with your lifestyle. If you have small children and you'll use the living room for watching TV and playing, then you'll want soft furniture with upholstery that's easy to clean.

If the living room will mainly be used for guests, then you may want more upscale or trendy furniture pieces. If you need the living room to act as a spare bedroom when you have company, you may want to buy a sleeper sofa.

Knowing how you'll use the room also helps you choose all the furniture you'll need. If the room will be for entertaining guests, you may want more chairs and fewer tables and bookcases. If the living room doubles as a family room, you may want an entertainment center, portable fireplace, and oversize couch where your entire family can snuggle and watch TV.

4. Choose Your Main Piece First

When it comes to living room furniture, the central piece will probably be the sofa. Once you've chosen your sofa, you can add other pieces to complement it. You might want matching furniture, but mixing colors and styles are also a possibility. Once you've chosen your sofa, you'll know how much room is left over for the other pieces of living room furniture you'll need such as chairs, coffee tables, and a TV stand.

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