Whether you’re building a new home or considering home remodeling, the layout, functionality and user-friendliness of your living room is a big consideration for your home. As quality New Jersey homebuilders, we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about those things so that we can design the best possible floor plans for our customers.  Here’s our list of top tips for perfect living rooms.

Size Does Matter

You can change furniture. You can paint walls. You can switch out artwork and décor. Changing the size and shape of your living room, however, is a whole lot more difficult. Whether you are buying a new home, building a new home or renovating an existing one, the bigger and more open your living room can be, the better.

Arrange Seating for Conversation

When seating is arranged in a square or circular pattern, with individual seats relatively close together and within easy distance for conversation, reaching snacks on a coffee table or playing a board game, your living room looks more inviting. If you also use your living room for watching television, a U-shaped layout is a great compromise.

Designate One Wall and Make a Statement

When you restrict your art and pictures to one wall and leave the others clean and open, you create a focal point and reduce the visual clutter in the space.

Built-Ins and Bookcases Are Living Room Must-Haves

Show me a cluttered living room, and I’ll show you a space that has too little storage. When you’re designing a living room space, it’s always a good idea to include more storage options than you think you will need.  Since shelving and bookcases take up very little floor space, they’re the perfect choice. While free-standing shelves are a great option if you like to move things around frequently, built-ins are usually customizable and can be designed to suit your needs and your style.

Windows, Mirrors and Lighting Make a Big Impact

One of the biggest factors in how your living room will feel – whether or not you realize it – is the lighting in the room. Natural light streaming through large windows makes rooms feel light and airy, even in the middle of winter, and your lighting plan creates a warm and inviting space at night. Mirrors will help to reflect light around the room and are a major décor element. If you do use your living room to watch television too, don’t forget to add drapes or blinds that block the light. No one likes glare on their screen!

Invest in Great Floors

Hands down, hardwood floors are the way to go for the living room. It’s easy to clean, looks great and is available in a variety of finishes. Add beautiful rugs for a feeling of opulence and a design feature you can change as the mood strikes.

If you use these tips to design your living room space, you will have a great foundation that you can build upon with furniture and color when you feel like it, but that will also serve multiple purposes and fit your family as it grows and changes.