While most people complain about not having enough space, there are plenty challenges that come with having too much space. Large living rooms can be difficult to decorate, with many oversized rooms left feeling cold and empty due to either a lack of furniture, an awkward layout, or confusion about size and scale (or all of the above).
Whether you use your living room for relaxing or entertaining (or both), the aim is to create a space where you feel truly comfortable. To achieve this, you’ll need to pay attention to proportion. This means considering the size and scale of not only the furniture, but of the designs of wallpaper and fabrics.
FURNITURE FOR LARGE LIVING ROOMS
Furniture that is too small for a space will make the room feel empty and out of proportion. If you’ve upsized your home, it’s likely that you’ll need to upsize your furniture too.
It may mean choosing a four-seater sofa instead of a three-seater, and designating two conversation groupings in your living space, which may require the use of several easy chairs as well. Streamlined built-ins tend to make a room appear more expansive; in your case, try shelving to minimise the impact of a long wall.
Don’t be afraid to fill the room and create multiple seating areas, if you have the space.
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TIPS FOR DECORATING A LARGE LIVING ROOM
When decorating a large home or living room, you will need bigger pieces and more of them.
Displaying artwork at random will draw attention to vacant spaces, so go for larger canvases to fill walls with bold colour and pattern, or cluster artworks in different sizes in groups around the room.
This is an opportunity to have a big, beautiful ‘look at me’ rug; importantly, its intention should be to anchor the furniture.
Bespoke joinery is a great way to define zones in large open plan spaces.
This shelving unit helps to zone this long, open plan space, creating a ‘wall’ where there isn’t one. Photo: Alicia Taylor / bauersyndictaion.com.au
