If your domestic lives were a book, the living room would be its prologue. Given that there is so much at stake here, you might feel some amount of pressure to make it picture-perfect. So, you take to the internet and magazines and go through tons of resources to put together your dream living room. And while your mind is bustling with ideas that you wish to try out, there are a few things that you must avoid at all costs.

Here’s a quick roundup of such living room design mistakes:

1. Failing to Start With the Layout

Every design activity starts with a plan. So, before you get started with purchasing and placing furniture, stop and wait to strategize.

Do you have any themes in mind? Are you creating sectionals in the living room? Which area is the designated conversation group? What is the focal point in the living room? How will you regulate traffic flow? Ask yourself such questions. Then, try out various layouts and zero down on the ones that make optimal use of space and resources.

This minor yet critical consideration will save you from years of repositioning your living room furniture!

2. Choosing Ill-Fitting Furniture

Needless to say, the furniture plays a vital role in governing the look and feel of your living room. But design and texture aside, your most important consideration should be its size. After all, furniture that is too small will highlight negative space and make your living room appear vacant; and furniture that is too large will make the living room seem cramped.

Not just the furniture, even the size of your rug or curtains could significantly alter how one perceives the size of the room. As such, measure the room and your furniture for striking the perfect balance.

3. Pushing Furniture Against Walls

We’ve talked about planning layouts, creating sectionals, and finding furniture that is a good fit. However, the placement of your furniture is what brings it all together. Of course, it may seem easy to make your TV the focal point, push the sofa on the wall against it, and call it a day.

However, it will only make your room appear small (and unoriginal, if you care). Avoid this trope by creating an illusion of space using “floating” furniture – an off-wall placement that makes the room appear larger.

4. Overthinking the Sofa

We hate to break it to you, but if you plan on revamping your living room, your old sofa might have to go. After all, the sofa (and the TV, but more on that later) is the heart of your living room. As such, the transformation will have to start from this elemental piece of furniture! And once you are ready to splurge on a new sofa, you may be tempted to go big and go home with a fancy sofa.

However, here’s the catch – it would be wiser to buy a simple sofa because it offers the immense raw potential to style it the way you like.

5. Misplacing the Television

Now, let’s talk about television. The size, type, and location of your TV primarily depend on your living room and its layout – which deserves an entire article on its own. Regardless of these variables, we need to talk about a universal factor – placement. Ideally, the TV should be installed at an eye-level spot from where the viewers are seated.

Placing it too high will only cause discomfort to the neck and even present viewing-angle issues in certain models of TVs. So, prioritize practical placement over anything else.

6. Having a Single Source of Light

Ideally, your living room should be bathing in natural light. But what happens when you’re not as lucky or when the night falls? Does a single bright light wash out your entire living room to create a pool effect? See, that’s one of the cardinal living room design mistakes.

Undo it by setting up multiple lights for a uniform yet layered look. Incorporate overhead, floor, and table lamps, spotlights, pendant lights, etc. to put together a dramatic visual treat!

7. Getting Everything Matchy-Matchy

If the staging looks that great in the showroom, it will definitely look as visually stunning in your living room, right? Sure, but you will also be transforming your living room into a showroom in the process! Break free from the bland, visually consistent, coordinated look and try to spice things up with a few deliberate mismatches.

In fact, you can even pair diametrically opposite designs or place a statement piece to make things pop out.

8. Investing in Impractical Furniture

Yes, platforms like Pinterest and Instagram have set a high standard for what living rooms should look like. But that does not mean that you get so invested in the aesthetics that you forget utility. Invest in furniture that you will legitimately use; otherwise, you would only end up wasting usable space.

Also, don’t forget about having enough flat surfaces and seating space to accommodate things and guests.

9. Not Hanging Art

Not hanging artwork in your living room is not one of the fatal living room design mistakes in the strictest sense. However, you will notice that doing so makes a world of difference. Artwork can breathe life into your flat, plain, and boring walls.

Make sure that the piece goes well with the overall theme and is installed at eye level so that the viewers can truly appreciate it. You can also opt for a series of photos to tie in the room together.

living room interior design

10. Ignoring Your Intuition

There is no magic formula that can instantly make your living room functional, Insta-worthy, and livable – all at the same time. So, step out from the cookie-cutter moulds and experiment with styles and designs rather than following a guide to the T. Follow your instinct and your living room will be rewarded with a truly unique look.

So, before signing off, here’s a pertinent question for you. Are these common living room design mistakes leaving you dazed and confused? Don’t let it dissuade you! Designing your living room is a constant process, and quite a long-drawn and tedious one too. HomeLane is here if you are looking for ideas, designs, and inspiration to get you started!

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