The living room is such an important room of the house. This is where you receive your guests. These are some of my ideas for decorating the living room. In fact, the trend these days is to have a large room where all the different common activities like dining, working, playing, studying, TV watching can be done altogether. The idea is to get premium use of space available. Ideally, these different functions can be separated by dividing the areas with cabinets, shelves or partition. Another trick is to change the floor covering too. The living room is a busy area so it is crucial to allow wide pathways for easy entry into and out of the living room. You want to be practical too. Get a carpet that is easy to clean and maintain. I recommend getting leather sofa sets as they are easy to maintain.

You want furniture to be flexible and multi functional too. Look for tables with storage space. Instead of leaving your keys, wallets and mobile phone on the table you can keep them in the drawers. It prevents cluttering. Look for sofas and couches which have drawers to keep your stuff. Choose storage chests that can used as tables, storage or seating. Save space by using storage units that come with sliding doors. Storage units with doors or drawers require space when you open the cabinet doors or drawers. Create the illusion of space by getting small furniture which makes the living room much bigger. Put decorative items such as books on open storage shelves, glass cabinets and tables. Make sure they are arranged in a neat and clean manner as they are visible. Non decorative and unsightly items should be stored in closed storage units like cupboard and chest with drawers. Find light and versatile furniture which is easy to move around.

For example, consider using steel and plastic chairs instead of wooden chairs. Look out for stools which are smaller and are stackable too. Are children playing and also studying in this area? Get them open storage boxes and baskets to keep their toys and books in them. What else can you do to make cleaning of the living room easier? Simple, throw away all your junk and rubbish. Throw away old and unwanted newspaper, toys and books.

Use light colors for painting of your walls. This makes the room look bigger too.You want proportion in your layout of furniture. You want to be able to entertain as many guests as possible. Create several seating areas by gathering a few chairs and a small table for each seating area. Small groups of people can gather for casual chit chat and small talk. If there is only one sofa suite then only one person is the focus of attention and less participation is possible among the guests. Make sure the coffee table is within easy reach of the armchairs and sofas. Do put end tables and side tables next to chairs as well. Guests can reach their food and drinks, reading material and perhaps TV remote controls. You don't have to incur huge expenditure to update your living room decor. One simple trick is to re-arrange your furniture and presto, it seems like a new living room. Painting fresh coat of paint is relatively cheap too.