Image courtesy of @sam_does_design

Does your sitting room need a revamp? Whether you call it the sitting room, living room, or family room, it’s a room that you like to spend time in to relax, entertain friends and loved ones, eat, play games and kick back. There are so many ways to refresh this space, from new furniture, to accessories, to painting the walls or adding art, it’s possible to make big improvements without breaking the bank.

1.

For the cost-conscious decorator, rethink the layout of your furniture, get some fresh curtains or add accessories such as cushions, mirrors, candles or objets d’art. Here are some tips on living room furniture layouts that work for your space, whether the main activity is entertaining, spending time with family or flatmates or it’s a multi-purpose space.

For entertaining, create conversation spaces that allow you and your guests to focus on each other. The layout below makes conversation easy with the two sofas facing each other and additional seating is provided by the armchairs.

For spending time with your family or flatmates, ensure that your sofa is large enough to accommodate all TV viewers, but also add the flexibility to create a conversation area. The armchairs in this layout complement the sofa and also create the opportunity for discourse around the room, not just watching TV:

For multi purpose rooms, it’s important to differentiate the dining space from the TV or lounge space. In the layout below, two sofas enclose the TV and lounge area and create a nice separation from the dining table.

Our Head of Creative, Kelly Collins, shares some tips on sitting room design:

• Personalise the space. You can do this with photos, artwork items you have collected on your travels.

• Plants are not only a great way to accessorise they are also good for your mental health.

• When re-arranging your existing furniture consider what is the primary use of your living room.

• What is your focal point? What area or items do you want to see first as you walk through the door. This would usually be the main seating area.

• Consider the placement, make us of natural light and accessories you can use to bring the space too life.

• Warning. Try not to place all of your furniture against the walls. This is a very common mistake. The layouts above will help you with alternative placements and how to bring your furniture into the room.

2.

If you’ve got a little bit of budget to play with, you can try painting the walls, upgrading your lighting or incorporating new accessories. If you’re wondering how to punch up the colour quotient when you have a grey sofa, check out our blog post that goes into more detail on how to create a colour scheme here.

Our Head of Creative, Kelly Collins, shares some tips on updating your room with colours and lighting:

• Colours can evoke different emotions. Think about how you use the space and how you want people to feel in the space. For more information please refer to our colour blog

• Lighting is an important part of creating the right atmosphere. Table lamps on in the evenings will create a relaxed, cosy atmosphere. You can also create distinctive zones in your room based on the lighting. Think about placements of lights and test them out in the evening to determine whether each zone is covered. Use a variety of lamp styles including table lamps, ceiling fixtures, floor lamps etc.

• For smaller living rooms, accessory items can enlarge the space. For example, a mirror will not only create the illusion that the room is bigger, it will also reflect light around the space. Meanwhile, a large rug will tie the furniture together and make the room feel a lot softer if you have wood floors.

3.

Image courtesy of @sam_does_design

For the investment pieces that will last for years, think of updating that tired sofa or armchair. You will want something that’s kid and pet friendly and that you don’t have to worry about you’re your friends come over for wine and cheese. Swyft sofas come in linen or velvet fabrics in a variety of colours to suit your style and colour scheme. They’ve been wear tested to be sturdy enough to support an elephant and with a 15 year frame guarantee and 2 year fabric guarantee, you can feel secure in making this purchase. Here are some tips on how to choose the right sofa for your space.

ACCESS! This is almost always over looked. Can you actually get the sofa in your home? It may fit perfect in the room but will it get up the stairs or in the front door?

DESIGN. Most people will keep their sofas for a good number of years. Get a design that is timeless. As humans we like to change our minds and styles. Get something that can interchange with ever evolving styles

DURABILITY AND COMFORT. We spend a lot of our time snuggled up on the sofa watching TV, eating, socialising etc. Look into the sofa's durability and how it's made. Look not only at the fabrics used but how the frames are made and put together. Most good manufactures will offer up this information on their websites. Take at look at how we produce ours here.