7 Living Room Essentials You Need in Your Space

Your living room is a space where you spend so much of your time. Your after-work downtime, your relaxing time on the weekends, time with family, friends and other guests – it’s certainly an important part of your living space. Naturally, this makes it important for that space to feel comfortable and inviting to you. It needs to be a place that you feel at ease and happy with your environment, and there are a few key essentials that should form part of a complete and cohesive living room in terms of design, style and comfort. 

A Great Sofa

This is pretty obvious and pretty self-explanatory, but there is a lot more to a sofa than simply a place to sit. Your sofa is the centrepiece of your living room and basically the most important feature. Opting for something that offers you both comfort and long-term style is important, so try to avoid fashionable quirky pieces that might not last the next three years in terms of style or quality. Your sofa might also need to function as a sleeping spot for your guests, so opting for high quality and stylish sofa bed or futon is a great idea. If you’re wondering, “What is a futon?” you might want to do some research on your sleeper options and decide if it’s a good choice for you.

Area Rug

A rug in your living room is an essential for so many different reasons. Not only will it bring physical warmth to your space (nobody likes bare feet on tiles), but it can bring an atmospheric warmth too and make the room feel cosier and more comfortable. Rugs are also an important stylistic element in a living room – especially if you’ve opted for more neutral tones and a minimalist design, a big rug with some colour or texture can do a lot in terms of adding interesting features to the room.

Lighting

Ambience is everything, especially when it comes to cosy reading corners or family movie nights. This is where lighting plays a major role. Not only does good lighting set the mood in a room, but your choice of lighting can also function as décor to fit a particular theme in your room. You could go grand and classy with a chandelier or minimalist with simple floor lamps. There are so many different types and styles to choose from, and it really is a pretty important choice. 

Curtains

Yet another element that contributes to your lighting is curtains, a feature that can add drama and height to a room. Opting for high hanging curtains will draw the eyes upwards and make your room look bigger, and your choice of colour can add massively to your overall design. Blackout curtains are also a great idea if you’re into movie nights and want to block out any potential glare on your TV screen from the outside world. 

Décor

The decorative parts of your living room are where you can really get creative and have fun – as well as change things up! If you opt for a neutral palette for your big pieces (like your sofa, coffee table, etc), you can add splashes and pops of colour in items like scatter cushions, throws, vases and other trinkets that can completely change up the theme and mood in the room. This is perfect for keeping things interesting between different seasons or even over holidays. 

Side Tables

If you have a larger living room, these are important. Side tables can be used to fill dead spaces, hold decorative pieces or indoor plants, and most importantly they are functional. Side tables next to your sofa and chairs are a place for you and your guests to put mugs or glasses where they’re easily reachable and you won’t be likely to accidentally knock them over and cause a mess. 

Wall Décor and Art

A bare wall is nothing more than a waste of space and potential. Hanging some art on your walls is a great way to add something interesting and personal to a room. Whether you choose artworks that really appeal to you, a gallery wall, or photographs of your family and friends, the addition will add something interesting to look at and something personal to you and your household. If you’d like to add some functionality to your bare walls, adding floating shelves is another great way to add decorative pieces whilst also functioning as some extra storage space in your living room.