Living Room Rules

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Important things to know before you choose your mood and function.

By Judi Culbertson

Before you choose your mood and function, there are some important things to know.

Whether you live by yourself or with other people, everyone needs a comfort zone that is his or hers alone. It may be a chair or loveseat, a window seat or one end of a sofa. Bit it has to be comfortable, have good lighting, and pull you in. My friend Penny stipulates that her chair has to have her things permanently around it—the magazines and books she wants to read, her knitting, and a pad on which to jot ideas. “If it’s in a closet two rooms away, I don’t bother to get it,” she points out.

When I was at a spa last year, the hot topic among the women was about buying the perfect chair –for themselves. The styles they chose varied from Stickley to French Country, but there seemed to be a preference for matching ottomans, which would create s recliner effect. Women who seemed otherwise frugal had no difficulty paying a premium for a chair that would satisfy their needs.

In the interest of serenity, certain offenders should be banned from the living room. These can include mail, coats, briefcases, school bags and sporting goods, sloppy snacks, toys left out (especially if you have a den or family room), or anything else that creates instant clutter. Make sure, however, that you have provided a viable alternative for those things somewhere else in your home.

Have at least one thing in the room that excites you. This can be anything from artwork to an heirloom rug, a favorite chair, a lamp, a vacation souvenir, a displayed collection, a special photograph, a baby grand piano, or an orange tree. Its primary purpose isn’t for the admiration of other people but for you to feel happy to have it near you. Ideally, you will have many things you feel this way about, but you should have at least one of them in every room.

Decide what your focal point is. Simply put, this is what your eyes notices first when you come into a room. In many homes it’s the fireplace or the painting over the couch or a wonderful window view. You will have other places of interest in the room that will be noticed more gradually, but your primary focal point is the one you want to play up. If you’re having a problem figuring out what it is, go outside and come back in as if you’d never seen your living room before. What do you seen first? Your fireplace, by default? The large-screen TV with a stack of tottering catalogs on top? Decide what you want to have noticed first in the room, and then situate everything else with that in mind.

Not everyone can be the star. If you have dramatic artwork and accessories, they’ll do better with furniture that is upholstered in neutrals. The same goes for lamps that aren’t meant to be your focal point. It’s a temptation to buy only items that are eye-catching and unique, but unless you know how to create that beautifully chaotic look, it just gets confusing. In the same way, your eye needs some blank spaces to rest on. You don’t need artwork hanging on all four walls.

The most active image of a living room is people sitting around comfortably, having a conversation. If you have two couches, or a couch and a loveseat, or a couch and two chairs, they should face each other close enough for people to have a conversation without yelling. Some decorators advocate doing away with all couches since usually only two people will sit on one, but I find a loveseat too short for a good nap.

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