7 Living Room Arrangement Mistakes to Avoid

By Alyssa Laffitte on October 11, 2018

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Decorating a living room is so exciting! You get to design the space where your family and friends will share many special moments and make great memories. Still, you must be careful to not make these seven mistakes when decorating and arranging your living room. Here are seven living room arrangement mistakes to avoid.

Image via Isorepublic.com

Overcrowding the room with furniture

One of the easiest decorating mistakes to make is overcrowding the room with furniture, especially if you have more furniture than space! You don’t want your living room to be so crowded that it’s hard for you and your guests to move around. Instead, only keep the necessities in your living room, like an entertainment set, a coffee table, a couch, and a couple of chairs. If you have too much furniture, consider donating or selling it. Less is more when it comes to decorating your living room! It will be much more comfortable that way.

Blocking entryways

Continuing off the previous point, blocking entryways is another big decorating mistake you should not make. This tends to happen when people have too much furniture, so abiding by point #1 should make this one easy. Make sure your entryways are clear and easy to get through. Your living room will be much more welcoming if you do not have a couch or a TV blocking the entryway. Blocking entryways is definitely a decorating no-no.

Ignoring the “3 feet” rule

Generally, you should try to keep at least 3 feet of clear walking space around the room. This will make sure your living room is easy to walk around without bumping into anything. The 3 feet rule also applies to drawers and cabinets that open; make sure there is at least 3 feet of space between an open drawer/cabinet and the next piece of furniture. If you keep the 3 feet rule, your living room will be easy to walk through.

Pushing all the furniture against the wall

Another easy decorating mistake to make is pushing all the furniture against the wall. If you put all your furniture against the wall, there will be an awkward empty space in the middle of the room. You would be wasting that valuable space! Rather than waste the middle of the room by pushing everything against the wall, you should allow a few pieces of furniture to “float”. For example, a coffee table doesn’t have to be against the wall. It could “float” a couple of feet in front of the couch. If you allow some pieces of furniture to “float”, your living room will have a much better flow to it.

Forgetting about the rugs

If you have rugs in the room, take them into account when you put tables or chairs on top of them. Make sure all furniture legs are either on or off the rug, as this will avoid awkward wobbling and rocking. It will be very uncomfortable for the person sitting on the chair. Also, make sure the edges of the rugs are not on walkways, as this might cause you to trip! If you have rugs in your living room, be mindful of their position. Putting rugs in a good spot will help you avoid uncomfortable furniture and tripping guests.

Not being careful with lighting

Lighting can be tricky, especially if it’s not overhead lighting. You need to be careful with lighting fixtures like lamps, because they need to be strategically placed. They should be placed close to an outlet, since they will need to be plugged in, and also away from the main walkways of the room so that people don’t trip on the cables or on the lampshade. Keep your lighting fixtures in a strategic place to avoid tripping on cables or toppling the lighting fixture, it will make your living room much more family friendly.

Having all matching furniture

Matching is a good way to keep an aesthetic, but only to a certain extent. You don’t want your living room to be entirely one color, because that would be very bland. Instead, pick one main color and a couple of accent colors. Paint the walls with the main color, and use the accent colors for things like throw pillows and a coffee table. This way, you can have a theme and an aesthetic to your room without it being all blandly one color. Rather than having everything in your living room be the same color, try to mix it up a little bit by including accent colors.

Decorating your living room is a fun job. However, you should be careful to not make the mistakes I mentioned in the article. If you do not make those mistakes, you should have a beautiful, safe, and happy living room for you to make fun memories with your friends and family. Happy decorating!

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