How to Decorate a Sitting Room
Sitting rooms, or formal living rooms, are spaces that are often the first area in a home where family and guests are entertained and greeted. These formal spaces are decorated in a way that exudes elegance, and they are often designed with formality in mind. There are many great ways to decorate a sitting room, from adding an area rug to define a conversational area to incorporating formal silk draperies as window treatments. Sitting rooms are beautiful spaces for you to enjoy your family and guests, and creating one of these rooms takes learning just a few decor tips and techniques for a welcoming space for years to come. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Interior paint in formal deep red, dark green, gold or brown
- Furniture, such as couch, love seat, chairs, end tables and coffee table
- Table lamps
- Area rug
- Armoire
- Formal draperies
Instructions
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Choose a color scheme. Taking into account the big-ticket items in your room such as couches, chairs and love seats and flooring, select an appropriate color for the walls. Sitting rooms are primarily formal rooms, so formal colors such as deep red, hunter green, gold and brown further accent the formal decor of your room.
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Think symmetry. Sitting room decor is usually more formal than a family room space, so enhance your design by incorporating symmetry where both sides of a space look identical if you turn them. To create symmetry, flank a couch with matching end tables with identical lamps or arrange topiaries on each side of a fireplace for a formal look and feel to your space.
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Select a focal point. Every room needs a focal point as a visual anchor to the space. Focal points range from a fireplace to an entertainment system to a large armoire. Furniture arranged around a focal point is more visually appealing and creates a space that is harmonious.
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Arrange furniture in conversational areas. When determining a pleasing furniture arrangement, group furniture pieces in conversational groupings. A couch flanked by two chairs with a coffee table in front provide a space where friends and family feel comfortable and conversation is optimized by the arrangement of pieces.
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Incorporate an area rug. Large area rugs help define a space, so use a rug under your main conversational area, such as under a couch, love seat, chairs and coffee table, to enhance your decor and to ground your room and furniture arrangement.
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Eliminate or hide electronics. Formal sitting room decor is hallmarked by clean lines and formal style, so avoid large exposed televisions and stereo equipment in this space. If a television is desired, hide the piece in a large armoire or cabinet with doors to maintain a room with clean lines and a formal design.
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Add formal draperies. Sitting room design is further accented with the use of window treatments that incorporate the color and style of the space but also have a more refined, formal look. Choose fabrics such as silk, and select draperies that hang to the floor for a final touch to a beautiful sitting room to enjoy with family and friends.
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Tips & Warnings
Sitting rooms are great spaces to display a musical instrument, such as a grand piano or harp. Inclusion of such a piece adds much to the formal design.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit living room setting with couch and coffee table image by David Smith from Fotolia.com
