How to choose furniture for your living room?
The living room has always been reserved for receiving guests, family gatherings, dinner parties. It is here that it is customary to watch a movie with friends or set the table for a family celebration. For this reason, choosing the right furniture for the living room is one of the most important requirements for the furnishing of the apartment as a whole.
Peculiarities
In order for the central room in the house to be comfortable and meet all the requirements of the owners, first of all, it is necessary to choose the right furniture for it. In addition, you should also pay special attention to the placement of furnishings in the available space.
When choosing, it is worth remembering that furniture for this type of room should not only be beautiful and harmoniously fit into the environment, but also quite practical, since it is in the living room that the highest traffic in the apartment is usually, because all family members gather here, and guests are also received.
Both modular and upholstered furniture should harmoniously fit into the general interior of the hall, it should correspond to the color scheme of the room. It is inappropriate to use furniture that will look like a thorn in the overall interior design of the living room.
And in order to create a practical interior in which the room will be used in full, it is necessary to choose pieces of furniture of the most suitable size.
Modern furniture for the living room is designed to meet all consumer requirements. Its features include:
- Mobility. Most often modern cabinet furniture can be transformed. The possibility of purchasing in modules provides convenience not only in operation, but also in transportation, while the furniture can always be moved and assembled in a new way. This property will help if you want change - you can easily change the design of the room without spending money on new furniture. In addition, such a solution is very convenient for small rooms, you do not have to buy a whole wall, you can limit yourself to several modules and create a harmonious and practical interior for the hall.
- Today it is easy to get custom-made furniture for different rooms. Therefore, it will not be difficult to choose interior items, even for the most non-standard premises. The cost of such options is certainly high, but the payback of such exclusive items is usually quick enough.
- In addition to size and shape, there is one more feature of modern furniture. Today in stores you can find pieces of furniture for almost any style solution. Modern, country, Provence, classic - for each option you can find something of your own that will harmoniously fit into any interior.
- The variety of materials used in production also opens up a wide range of choices. You can opt for wooden cabinet furniture or choose facades with MDF, even plastic is used in production. For upholstered furniture, manufacturers offer a huge assortment of different upholstery of different textures. One of the most popular options today is eco-leather, it is most convenient for the living room, since it is easy to clean and has a high degree of wear resistance.
- Another feature is the versatility of furniture, it can serve as an excellent option not only in the living room, but also in rooms that perform the functions of several rooms at once. So, the living room can be in the same room as the dining room, be combined with the kitchen or bedroom.
Views
To simplify the selection of furniture for the living room, you must first remember the types into which all furnishings are divided.
So, it stands out:
- Hull;
- Modular;
- Soft furniture.
When choosing any of these subspecies, it must be remembered that the main selection criterion is, of course, quality, because, as mentioned above, the living room is the most visited room, therefore, for a longer service life, it is necessary to choose the correct and high-quality furniture.
The most extensive assortment has modular furniture, you can also call it "type-setting". It is a collection of different pieces of furniture that can be moved as needed. As a rule, such sets are made in the same style, which greatly simplifies the selection of the necessary furnishing elements. This includes not only headsets and walls, which today are represented by various modules, but also other important elements of the living room.
Most often, modular kits include the following items:
- Mirrors;
- Various wardrobes. They can be both for wardrobe and for other purposes, they can have a direct arrangement, or they can be angular;
- Chests of drawers;
- Bedside tables;
- Coffee and dining tables;
- Shelves;
- Shelves;
- Even sconces or floor lamps can be included in a modular furniture set.
If a person chooses modular furniture, he usually receives either a catalog with a full range of modules, or reads them directly at the exhibition in the store. Further, there is an independent selection of the necessary parts of the kit.
A distinctive feature of this option is its mobility. A composition of modules quickly turns into a transformer and can easily change the configuration, location and arrangement of selected elements.
To make the right choice, you need to know the dimensions of the room, which will help you choose the right modules and not overload the space. Among the materials from which modular furniture is made, there are wood, chipboard, MDF and other elements that imitate wood. In addition, additional materials for decoration are often used - glass, plastic; the design is sometimes crowned with metal fittings.
Cabinet furniture is, as a rule, stationary elements of interior design. This includes various cabinets, shelves and walls that have a common rigid base and cannot be easily separated as modular options. Built-in furniture can also be classified as cabinet furniture.
The most popular elements of cabinet models are various types of cabinets. Most often they are located in large living rooms, they can store clothes or any other items. Most often, cabinet cabinets are made to the height of the room and abut against the ceiling. In addition, in this case, an example of such a phenomenon as an embedded design can be cited. Such cabinets usually have rather large dimensions, but at the same time benefit from their spaciousness.
An element such as a hanging shelf or shelving is also common. As a rule, they contain various decorative elements, books, lamps, and if the rack is large enough, you can place an audio system or a TV there. The hinged structure is convenient for both small spaces and large rooms.
There are also body walls. In such a subject, several necessary elements are combined at once. A wardrobe, shelves, and a rack can be present here - all this is a single structure.
The last type of furnishings that is used in any living room is upholstered furniture. This includes various sofas, armchairs, poufs.And if cabinet and modular furniture is designed to create the most practical interior that will accommodate a large number of storage places, then the soft component serves precisely to ensure comfort.
A soft and comfortable sofa, which will be harmoniously matched to the interior, will give maximum comfort to the residents of the apartment and its guests. The main rule for choosing upholstered furniture is the quality of the upholstery material, because it must be durable and easy to clean.
Fashion trends
Fashion changes regularly, and these changes tend to affect all walks of life, be it musical styles, clothing, events, concerts, food, tourism or interior design. So in the design of the living room - from season to season new fashion trends appear, which are strictly followed by many modern designers and connoisseurs of beautiful furnishings.
Changes in design trends are usually associated with the following factors:
- Every day more and more new materials for repair appear on the construction market.
- New color schemes are coming into fashion.
- New interesting interior items appear that dictate changes in the overall design of the room.
- In addition, the overall economic situation in the country may become a determining factor. The crisis could bring cheaper furnishings into vogue, and stability could boost pricing in interior design trends.
However, changes in interior design trends are still not changing as quickly as in the world of clothing design. Usually, due to the durability of repairs, trends remain for several years, transforming only through accessories and accents.
So, you can highlight the presence of light in the room as trends in the design of the living room today. Today, the most popular are bright, spacious rooms with a large, ideally panoramic window. A lot of daylight sources and minimal clutter are needed.
It is for this reason that designers advise owners of small rooms to redevelop and combine several spaces in order to create a more functional and bright room.
Due to the previous trend one of the most popular styles this season is minimalism. It is he who allows you to create the most open space where a lot of light and air will be present. In no case should there be a lot of furniture and other elements, in addition, they should have a straight and laconic look.
Some mixing of different styles is also encouraged. However, in this case, it is necessary not to get carried away too much, so as not to turn the room into a confrontation between different directions.
Each item in the room must have its own functional purpose, otherwise its presence is impractical and runs counter to modern design trends.
It is not the first season that a fairly popular phenomenon is the use of used materials for the manufacture of furniture. For example, pallet furniture is very popular; ordinary corrugated cardboard or cardboard boxes are also often used to create furniture.
The next trend depends on the general commitment to environmental protection. So, interior designers advise using only environmentally friendly and hypoallergenic materials that do not harm human health and the environment.
One more tendency follows from the listed tendencies. This is definitely a choice of colors for the living room. Pastel colors and natural shades are popular. Beige, brown, green, peach and other suitable colors create a good color scheme for almost every taste.
A trendy interior is the most comfortable interior, the cost of which is quite affordable for an ordinary person.
Coating
All interior coatings for cabinet and modular furniture can be divided into glossy and matte surfaces.The general appearance of the room will depend on the choice of a particular surface, in addition, a properly selected coating can provide a link to a particular style solution.
The glossy surface is suitable for small spaces as it perfectly reflects light and thus visually enlarges the space. However, only high-quality gloss has this ability. The cost of such coverage is high, but for the sake of the provided effect of expanding the space, you can spend money. In addition, high-quality gloss is very practical - even if scratches are formed on the surface and dust accumulates, due to light reflection, it will be able to hide defects.
To create a glossy surface, materials of various properties and different costs are used. So, for example, one of the most common options is glossy PVC film. It is applied to MDF facades using vacuum technology. The film is easy to clean, it can have different patterns, milling is often present on the facades with the film. However, such a coating has its own tangible disadvantage - with sudden changes in temperature, the film may peel off from the base.
Furniture items made of acrylic plastic also have a glossy surface. The gloss of this coating is slightly higher than that of PVC film, the color of the coating fades, and scratches are not visible, if necessary, you can restore the surface by polishing. However, moisture can damage facades, as the already visible joint between the inner material and the outer surface will delaminate even more. To solve this problem, some manufacturers use a metal frame to frame facades and hide joints.
In addition, varnished painted facades can promise an almost perfect glossy surface. The surface is primed, the main color is applied, and then covered with glossy varnish in several layers. After complete drying, the surface is sanded and polished to a high gloss. For more gloss, manufacturers cover the facades with wax.
The complex manufacturing process of such facades affects the cost of the final product, however, the advantages of the coating fully pay off the costs. So, the advantages include a good gloss, facades can be made in almost any color, in addition, many manufacturers offer an individual choice of color. In addition, the facades are environmentally friendly and are not afraid of changes in temperature and moisture. However, there is also a minus - painted facades retain handprints when touched.
The matte surface of the facade is also popular. Choosing the right color will help harmoniously blend matte furniture into both small and large spaces. Matt surfaces are most often made of plastic or MDF.
Furniture made of matte plastic is not afraid of moisture and retains its original color for a long time, and is also very resistant to various mechanical damage. However, it also has a tangible disadvantage - such furniture gets dirty quickly enough, and cleaning occurs only with the help of special cleaning agents.
Furnishings made of matte MDF are also not afraid of moisture, environmentally friendly and safe.
However, MDF is afraid of mechanical damage, therefore, during operation, it is necessary to protect the facades from impacts and scratches.
Materials (edit)
However, first of all, the practicality and service life of furniture in the living room will depend not on the coating, but on the material from which it is made.
There is a list of basic requirements for materials:
- They must be environmentally friendly. Regardless of the style and interior solution, natural wood or MDF would be an excellent option, but you should also not forget about plastic. Contrary to popular belief, it can be safe, but it is necessary to require special certificates from the seller confirming its safety.
- Furniture should last a long enough time, since repairs are rarely done for a year or two, so you need to choose strong and durable materials that will last at least ten years.
- The right furniture must have a high degree of durability. Mechanical damage, dirt, scratches should either be easily removed or not visible.
- Ideal materials should be easy to clean even without the use of special cleaning agents.
These requirements apply to any furniture suitable for furnishing premises for any purpose. Speaking specifically about furniture in the living room, it can be noted that it does not have such serious requirements as, for example, furnishings for a nursery or a kitchen. Glass, wood and plastic furniture is appropriate here. Metal is often used. Veneer furniture is also popular. The choice of the right material will directly depend on personal preferences, as well as the style of the room.
In most of the styles used in modern design, solid wood is a versatile material. You can find wardrobes, chairs, shelves and other items made of oak, alder, pine.
Plastic is most commonly used in styles high techand metal is in style loft... In addition, tempered glass is often used in these styles.
It is important to choose high-quality and practical material for the upholstery of sofas and armchairs, as well as for chairs. Well suited for upholstery linen, tapestry, chenille.
Color solutions
The color scheme plays a key role in creating a harmonious and comfortable living room interior. You can create a refined aristocratic interior, light and airy, relaxing or austere.
The choice will be influenced primarily by personal preferences. In addition, the following nuances should be considered:
- The determining factor will be the style of the future living room. Each of the modern styles has its own rather limited color spectrum. For example, the classics tend to pastel colors, brown and green will look good in it. Baroque and Art Nouveau will highlight burgundy, emerald and blue. In the loft style - white, brick and black, in minimalism and high-tech, black, white, as well as various bright shades such as yellow, orange, red can be used.
- The size of the room is also important when choosing a color scheme. So, for example, for very small rooms, the use of too dark colors is excluded, which will further narrow the space, but light, delicate shades and a large amount of light, on the contrary, will be an excellent option for small living rooms.
- Dark furniture and too bright colors should only be used in rooms with neutral wall coverings. If there is rich decor on the walls, it is better to refuse to use decorative sofas and cabinets. It is necessary to maintain a balance of color schemes. Black furniture will fit well with minimalism with white or cream wallpaper.
- Designers consider the simplest room for color matching to be living rooms with large windows facing the sunny side. It is under this condition that you can choose almost any color of the furnishings.
The basic colors for the living room are considered to be black and white. With only these two colors, you can create a unique interior, in addition, it is these colors that are easiest to complement with bright accents.
White is an excellent basis for creating an original living room interior; you just need to supplement it with bright accents and decorations that match the overall style of the room. In addition, white is one of the best shades for visually expanding space. As for black, not only ordinary people, but also eminent designers are afraid to use it in the interior.
However, you should not be afraid of this color, with the correct placement of accents and the selection of companion colors, you can get a truly chic interior that will delight its owner and all his guests for many years.
If there is a fear of overdoing it or creating a boring white room, a light neutral color palette will always come to the rescue. Beige and gray tones are most attractive in creating a simple, relaxing interior. It is these solutions that are able to provide the most comfortable and harmonious environment.
However, when creating such an interior, you should not be limited to only one color, otherwise you can get a boring and gloomy interior. For example, beige will look harmonious with chocolate, and gray will be very well diluted with pink or peach.
In addition, you can use brighter colors for furnishing. Both warm and cold colors can be a good option for the living room.
Among the warm shades, the most popular are brown, red, yellow and orange. These shades create a positive and harmonious interior.
As for compatibility with shades of furniture, wenge-colored furniture will perfectly fit into a yellow living room, and bleached oak would be an ideal solution for a brown interior.
Cold shades - green, blue, blue - are no less popular. These colors are conducive to rest and relaxation, so they are perfect for people with the most active life schedule.
Styles
Modern living rooms are made in the most common styles. These include:
- High tech;
- Art Deco;
- Modern;
- Minimalism;
- Provence;
- Country;
- Classic.
It is worth dwelling separately on the most popular destinations.
Classic style over the years, it does not lose its relevance, many people have equipped their living rooms in this style before and continue to do so to this day. A distinctive feature of this style is the rich natural wood furniture. For example, mahogany or oak is most commonly used. In addition, fireplaces or their imitation are installed.
Bronze decorations, ornate shelves, heavy cornices with curtains and paintings in massive baguettes decorate and complement the classic style.
For styles hi-tech and minimalism, unlike the classics, lightness and a minimum of furniture and decor are relevant. Unusual models of plastic furniture with metal decor are the right choice for a room made in these styles.
Style looks harmonious in a large living room baroque... The maximum use of natural materials: wood, silk, velvet, as well as the abundance of gold in the design distinguishes this style from other ceremonial styles. Only expensive, ornate furniture, marble columns, large mirrors, frescoes and stucco moldings are allowed here.
Living room in style modern abounds in natural ornaments. Soft pastel colors prevail here, and there is also a large panoramic window and a fireplace, on which various interesting figurines and other decorations are usually installed, corresponding to the style solution.
Styles are often used in modern design country and modern... Rustic styles can also be found. Most often they are used in living rooms that have a combined layout with a dining room or kitchen. It is dominated by light colors, natural fabrics, aged elements and floral prints.
How to place it correctly?
The hall, as a rule, has a standard set of items that need to be placed. This set includes a table, wardrobe, sofa and TV. This set may vary depending on the purpose of the hall. So, for example, if it is combined with a bedroom, then you need to add a bed, if with a dining room, then a high-quality dining table and chairs, if you need to equip a place for work,then there is a writing or computer desk and additional shelves or shelves for books.
In order to correctly arrange all the necessary items in a small room, first of all, it is necessary to draw up a detailed plan with a complete marking of all entrances, exits, windows and sockets. This will help you arrange the furniture correctly, without blocking the sockets, without blocking the natural light and without cluttering the room with an excessive amount of furniture.
The arrangement, both on the plan and in real space, must be planned, starting from the central piece of furniture. Most often, such an object is a sofa, it is he who centers the room and is the main element of the living room.
After that, it is worth determining how much the furniture increases during use - how far the sofa group extends, how much the cabinet opens. It is necessary to calculate the space for the free movement and functioning of the furniture.
In addition, the composition must be monitored.
You should not force a small room with a large number of objects, just as you should not put one single table in a large room.
If earlier the most often used mirror arrangement of objects, today the main trick is asymmetry. It is with the help of this technique that you can get the most harmonious interior even in a small room.
A popular technique for small apartments is to create additional air space by using low furnishings, even today they are trying to make cabinets not to the ceiling, which leaves additional space. Even if sufficiently large sliding-door wardrobes are used, their placement usually takes place in one of the darkest corners, where the wardrobe will not be very conspicuous and distract.
Today, it is quite appropriate to leave one of the walls free or fill only some of it - this way the space will be further expanded, more light and air will appear.
For information on how to correctly arrange furniture in the living room, see the next video.
Living-dining room
Modern apartments usually do not have large dimensions that allow you to create separate interior units, so sometimes the living room is combined with other rooms that are important for life. A bedroom, an office, a kitchen can be located here, but most often there is a hall-dining room combination.
The main rule of any combination of zones of different functional purpose is, of course, that both areas must be in the same style... So, for example, if one zone is executed in the classic style, and the second in the loft style, the general view will be very ridiculous.
Division into zones can be carried out due to the color scheme, but here it is also worth remembering the harmony and compatibility of color solutions. In addition, you can select pieces of furniture to separate. For example, a sofa can become a dividing element between two zones, and various dressers and low shelves can also be used for this purpose.
You can also zon the territory due to the asymmetric ceiling, for example, above the dining group, or you can make a slightly lower ceiling with built-in spotlights above the working area, and mark the dining room with higher ceilings and a large chandelier.
The location of the functional elements of both zones of the room must be verified, there must be an empty space, and all family members must be easily accommodated on the existing furnishings.
Even if the dining room and living room are small, you can resort to some design tricks that will help to properly furnish the room and get a harmonious and comfortable interior for everyone:
- It is better to use light colors - this will help to visually expand the space.
- Wallpaper with vertical stripes or vertical patterns can raise low ceilings, they can be combined with plain models, as well as with suitable printed surfaces.
- Glossy surfaces reflect light well, so the use of ceilings and furniture with such facades is another option for expanding the space.
- In addition, the uncluttered space a priori looks larger, so you need to limit yourself only to the most necessary furniture.
- In addition, the use of mirrors will help solve the problem of small space.
Bedroom-living room
The second most popular combination is the connection between the bedroom and the living room. It would seem difficult to connect these two zones, but this task is one of the simplest in modern interior design.
To create the right combination of the above two zones, you just need a comfortable place to sleep. To do this, you can use a pull-out sofa bed, which will be used as a soft seat during the day and can be transformed into a comfortable sleeping place at night.
Also an excellent option would be a transforming bed, which, if necessary, stows away into a niche in the wall and simulates a wardrobe.
In addition, you can use an ordinary standard bed, only divide the room into zones, separating the bed with a screen or an artificial partition. You can also use various dressers or shelves for separation.
You can also place the bed on a special podium - this is the elevation of the floor, which, in fact, acts as a shelf for the bed and divides the room into zones.
When combining zones, it is worth remembering that the room should not be too cluttered, otherwise an unpleasant impression will be created. The arrangement of furniture in such a room should be thought out as much as possible. In addition, it is better to keep the furniture in the same style so as not to create decay of the composition and dissonance in the room. If you do not want to select matching pieces of furniture, you can immediately pick up a set. In this case, the selection will already be carried out by qualified designers, and the user will only have to correctly arrange the furniture in the room.
Color solutions in this case can also be different, but for the bedroom area it is better not to use too bright colors. The connection with the bright area of the living room can be carried out using bright colored pillows or a suitable blanket.
To expand the space, it is also appropriate to use light colors that reflect light well, glossy surfaces and mirrors.
The use of asymmetry is a possible option not only for the floor in the case of the podium, but also for the ceiling. Different levels will help you adjust the light intensity and visually change the size of the room.
We create a design project
To create the perfect interior, you need to create a design project for the room. In fact, it is a set of plans and drawings indicating all sizes, openings of windows and doors, which will help in the implementation of the chosen interior design.
Naturally, the design of large rooms will differ from the design of small ones. 20 sq. m, of course, is able to accommodate more items than 18 meters. When a plan of an empty room is drawn up, it is necessary to fill in the location of furniture with reference to sockets, switches and other functional elements.
After a rough sketch has been drawn up, it is necessary to draw a diagram where all the elements of the future room will be placed in various scales and from different sides.
This plan will become an indispensable tool in the renovation process. If it is not possible to draw it up on your own, you can contact a studio that provides interior design services, they, according to sketches and the necessary dimensions, taking into account all the comments and wishes, will create a design project for any room, which in the future can be used for repairs.
Manufacturers
Today, there are many Russian and foreign manufacturers of living room furniture on the market for every taste and budget, suitable for any style and various dimensions.
Among the most popular are:
- Furniture factory "Lapis lazuli". Production is located in Kaliningrad, and high-quality design products are sold in almost every corner of Russia. The range of furniture here is quite large, you can pick up cabinet, modular and upholstered furniture, in addition, competent sellers can draw up a design project that will help not only visually present the future interior, but also correctly arrange the elements in the room.
- Belarusian furniture "Pinskdrev" also sells in Russia. All types of furniture are presented here at reasonable prices and of very good quality.
- Furniture made in Poland is also quite popular. For example, a Polish company "Mikolajczyk" ready to provide the buyer not only with individual living room models, but also with complete sets of necessary furniture to create the perfect design.
- German quality has always been famous for its exclusivity in all aspects. An example of excellent quality is the company Gwinner. You can buy all types of furniture separately from this manufacturer, as well as complex options.
Beautiful examples in the interior
It is not easy to create a beautiful interior in an ordinary apartment, but when it works out, admiring glances are guaranteed.
Stylish elite living room in the Baroque style will delight for a very long time, the design will never lose its relevance.
Original solutions in modern styles - minimalism, hi-tech and loft, also deserve attention.
A classic-style living room with a fireplace, where sofas will be correctly placed, will be an excellent solution for a large and cozy living room.
You can listen to some advice, but the article is somehow ambiguous, I would like to read a few details about the mistakes in choosing specific furniture, for example, about the ratio of colors and shades, about the size and quality of wood.
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