Some Common Living Room Design Mistakes to Avoid

The living room is one of the most important rooms in your home. It's a gathering place for your family and friends, and a room that everyone who comes inside probably sees. It gets a lot of use—by the people who live there and your guests—and it should foster conversation and connection. Plus it should be a comfy place to hang out and read or watch TV or whatever. But common living room design mistakes can detract from the impression it makes and from its comfort and functionality. So, to ensure you've put together a living room you'll love, look over these common living room design mistakes. If you've made any, remedy them!

Living Room Design and Décor Mistakes

• Avoid leaving chasms of empty space that interfere with easy conversation and make the living room feel incomplete. Often, this can be fixed simply by not pushing all the furniture against the walls.

• It creates an unbalanced feel if furniture is disproportionately distributed to one side of the living room.

• And speaking of proportions, most of the furniture should be proportional to the room. Don't put lots of small pieces in a large living room, or multiple large pieces in a small living room.

• Area rugs that are the wrong size or shape, the wrong color or pattern, or that aren't placed well make the room feel off. Here are some tips for choosing the right area rugs.

• Watch out for layout mistakes that hinder navigation. Leave clear, logical paths and leave enough space for people to easily get in and out of all the seats.

• Don't forget that every living room should be arranged around a focal point.

• A bare coffee table is a boring coffee table! Here are some ideas and pointers for decorating your coffee table.

• Also, the wrong size coffee table doesn't work. Make sure it's proportional to the furniture around it and that it readily serves its purposes for those sitting around it.

• An excess of furniture that's all exactly the same style and color makes the living room look more like a showroom.

• Creating a museum feel where people are afraid to touch anything just makes everyone uncomfortable. Don't make it too precious to live in and enjoy.

• Blocking out natural light is sad. Make your living room bright and cheerful!

• It's a mistake not to have multiple light sources and the ability to have varying levels of lighting to cater to all the different functions and activities in a living room.

• Living rooms should have some life! Don't be too monochromatic or dull. Here are some tasteful ways to add pops of color if you need to liven things up.

• However, few things assault the eyes like using too many patterns or mixing patterns that don't work together. Take a look at these tips for successfully combining different patterns.

• Along similar lines, don't be reckless about combining different types of wood. Here's some advice for mixing different types of wood or wood finishes.

• Clutter or too many décor items diminishes the comfort level of a living room.