How to Design Your Own Living Room

Designing the layout of your house is something you can do whether or not you actually build your own place. If you are one of those fortunate souls who are buying a new home, it is not too hard to fine a builder who will work with you and let you have some input into the interior design. One place where personal tastes can greatly affect the final result is the living room.

Instructions

1. Devise the size and shape of your living room. This is not an absolute, but must be done to fit within the existing frame of your house. For example, you may want a large living room and a large kitchen, but due to the overall dimensions of the building, you will have to settle for one large living room and a smaller kitchen, or vice-versa. These are the kind of choices designers constantly face.

   Most likely, your living room will be a rectangular or square entity, although other possibilities do exist. The room will be measured in square feet.

2. Determine the height of the ceiling. The most common scenario is that the ceiling will be the same height in the living room as in the rest of your home, but creative adjustments are quite possible here. You may want to extend the ceiling to the roofline and create a cathedral ceiling. Other possibilities include raising the ceiling height or lowering the floor 1 foot or so to create a partially sunken room. These variations require changes in the framing structure, and they may affect other living spaces within the building.

3. Plan all the openings for your doorways. This includes both interior or exterior doors and doorways. A main entrance that goes directly into the living room is seldom included, but sliding glass doors that open onto a deck or patio are commonplace items in many living rooms. The time to decide if you want any of these items in your living room is before you begin the construction process, so determine how many doorways you may want and where you would like to place them.

   When you plan the interior entranceways (interior doors to a living room are rare), look carefully at the flow of foot traffic. Then carefully plan the location and size of each opening. You may have to decide between one very large, wide opening or two or more smaller doorways.

4. Place the window openings. The most important role of a window is to let light into the living space. Windows come in many sizes and shapes, but the placement of large picture windows is often reserved for the living room. Be mindful of other factors like heating; if you do have a large picture window, you may want to place it on the south side of the building, where wintertime heat loss will be at a minimum.

5. Fine-tune the room design with miscellaneous items. These might include a fireplace or mantelpiece--two architectural entities that are found in many homes. This list of finishing touches can also include moldings, paint and/or wallpaper. You can also modify some of the existing interior walls to include post-and-beam and/or half walls. This will create even more open space in your house, if you so desire.

Tips & Warnings

• Hiring expert advice--even if it is just for the design stage--is an excellent idea. It today's declining housing market, builders may be more willing than ever to work directly with the prospective home owner.

• Don't take room design lightly; a poorly designed home can create unneeded strife for its residents.