When looking at living rooms, we’ll assume a living room that’s separate from a dining room or kitchen. (We’ll discuss open-plan and multi-purpose living areas later.)
Starting with colour Link to Colour and lighting Link to Lighting, depending on the size of your room, you may feel you need light colours or white walls in order to create an airy, larger looking space.
However, with the myriad of paint colours available, there are plenty that have just a hint of colour, which can be very effective and bring in a hue other than a white or magnolia. It’s a good idea to obtain samples that can be bought in small pots and to collect paint swatches.
Try to use the samples in areas next to furniture and in an area opposite a window, as well as in the shaded areas. This will allow you to see the effects of light and shade on the colour, as well as how well the colour will go with your existing furniture or even built-in features, such as a fireplace. The colours and textures of furniture and features may not always work well with the colour paint you’ve chosen, so try not to miss this trick.
Bear in mind that, generally, cool colours are blues and greens, but also greys.
Warm colours are shades of reds, yellows and browns. The colour purple tends to sit between the two, although is generally on the cool side of the colour wheel – see colour wheel in Colour article. colour
If you’re going to use wallpapers, they can of course have a multitude of colours in them or just one or two hues. However, it is better to have one colour-way within a wallpaper pattern, even if it has a couple of contrasting colours, rather than too many different colours, so, again, try to get samples – most retailers will let you have a small sample.
Think about the colours, textures and types of soft furnishings you already have as well or those that you want to purchase. Don’t forget that if you have your heart set on a particular sofa or chair with certain fabric, cushions in a great colour or curtains and blinds that you love, you may need to work back from there.
Even accessories like pictures and ornaments will affect the balance of colour and pattern, and picking out colours from these can work really well.
When considering the layout of your living room, it’s always a good idea to take measurements. Most rooms aren’t square, although this tends to be more the case in older properties, so a thorough assessment is a sensible thing to do. Take into account that narrow corners and, of course, windows and doorways have to be considered and factored into the layout.
You’ll need to decide which features are the focus points of the room. 
Often, this is a fireplace or TV, depending on your preference or need of living room use, but often both have to be considered. The picture here shows a fireplace with a TV at a good height.
Along with having a focus for your room, you’ll want to think seriously about its use. What activities do you undertake on a daily basis in this space? Generally, most people will need it to be useful for a few purposes. If it’s for watching TV, you’ll want to be comfortable watching TV, so you’ll need an appropriate seating area preferably facing the TV with the TV screen at a level that’s best for you in terms of not straining your neck, back and eyes. Sounds obvious doesn’t it, but it’s a consideration that’s often overlooked and you don’t want to be sitting looking sideways all the time. Although sometimes people choose to have a TV over a fireplace, we would suggest considering your eyesight when having to look upwards for long periods, again, with the effect on your neck and posture. It’s always better to take this into account before making definitive decisions.
With the choices of more modern interiors that may not include a fireplace or may have a smaller woodburner, (whether real or artificial), modern fire or underfloor heating, for example, the choice for location of a TV is simpler, especially for smaller rooms.
You’ll also need to work out if there is enough space to be able to move around with ease and prevent congestion, especially if there are going to be a few people using the room. So don’t be seduced into thinking you must have the latest big sofa if this really isn’t going to leave enough space for other furniture to sit with it comfortably. Keeping the room in proportion is much more important – see Furniture article furniture.
If your living room is a thoroughfare to another room, bear in mind the need for an easily negotiable walkway through the furniture. Similarly, if it’s a room that has a door to the garden – French windows for example, you will want it to be easily accessible so you don’t knock into something (bruised knees and ankles come to mind). Remember to allow for the space where the doors open into the room as well and ensure the furniture isn’t impeding on the door when it’s open to its fullest. 
Think about rugs for the same reason; although we’ll discuss this more fully under our future Flooring article.
If you like to read in your living room, make sure you have a comfortable sofa or chair with a good light source behind it. You may have a wall light above that area or of course a good reading lamp, either a standard lamp or table lamp, as long as the bulb is bright enough for reading without straining.
If you like to read in the daytime, a chair near a window is a good idea for natural light, although if it’s a south facing window, the sunlight could become too strong for easy reading. In any case, remember that lighting of whatever kind is important for this pastime.
Books look great on display, as opposed to being hidden in a cupboard and don’t forget to make sure you can get to them easily too, if space allows.
As far as entertainment is concerned, if you have a hi-fi you’ll need it to be comfortable to use, so think about what type of furniture it will sit on and what height would be best. If you have a seating area next to it, it would not need to be too high up, but if you have to put on vinyl records or CDs standing up, it would be better for the hi-fi to be at a height that doesn’t require too much bending. Think about storage of your music too. An appropriately sized cupboard that can take vinyl, for example, and cupboard space or shelving that you can easily fit all your CDs into, whilst being able to find them without too much moving things around, would be preferable. [pictures]
When a children’s play area is a consideration in your living room, it’s always a good idea to have a specific area, if you can, that’s tucked away next to a wall perhaps, so you don’t trip over the toys or, indeed, the children. In any case, having a cupboard specifically for their toys is a must, so you can get them to put their toys away at the end of the day (we all remember having to do this ourselves when we were young).
If space allows, is the living room where you exercise? If so, try to make room for a workout area. Naturally, you can move a coffee table to one side, but you might want to be able to lay out a mat and you don’t want to hit anything while you’re moving or jumping around. [picture]
We’ll talk about pictures and accessories separately, but remember to think about lighting generally in your living room and don’t be afraid to have a few different light fittings. Obviously it’s great if you are starting a room from scratch as then you’ll be able to factor in all the different electric points for your entertainment areas and lighting fittings. However, you’ll need a good main light source, either central in the ceiling or perhaps wall lights, and also lamps in areas where needed – for reading, as already said, when looking for music and books, and also mood lighting – maybe with dimmers. Lights set into the ceiling can also work well over a living room ceiling or part of it (see ‘Lighting’ article) [link] [pictures].
You will, of course, need adequate lighting if you have a desk in the living room and naturally a desk lamp is the best idea or a standard lamp next to the desk, but one which has a strong enough light bulb, so that you don’t strain your eyes. Try to have your desk a little away from the main part of the activity, so it’s more zoned off, if possible. One possible solution is having a screen around the desk [picture] to cordon it off a bit.
That’s it for now about Living Rooms, but do take a look at our Furniture article too. [link to Furniture]
Next… Dining room
First of all, take into account the natural light available and carefully watch how it plays out within the room in question throughout the day – but remember that natural light will change according to the time of year as well. Be aware that it’s how shadows fall too and you will see how shadows themselves can create the drama and effects that you wish to develop.
We have traditionally used a central ceiling light fitting, as it is so good at illuminating the whole space, but downlights can also be used on a 
wall. A wall light can have light streaming from the top and the bottom at the same time, with the choice of lighting available for various areas of a room.
Uplights, whether central, on a wall or as a lamp can illuminate a room well without too much glare. They produce stunning shadows on ceilings and walls that can look particularly atmospheric and offer a good alternative to central lighting where mood lighting is preferred.
Downlights are also the type fitted into ceilings, except the bulbs are fitted directly into the ceiling. They can offer a softer light with a contemporary look. These bulbs are usually set in some sort of formation, but can be in whatever layout you prefer. The bulbs can sometimes be directional too, although you would need to set this up at the outset.
Table, desk and floor lamps are always useful, as they can be easily moved around a room or from room to room. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different wattage, depending on the mood you wish to generate, perhaps with a softer glow.
The light from a fire gives a warm comforting glow too; whether real or flame effect, and remember to consider this in your project. Of course you will need to be aware of the reduced impact when the fire is not being used, as well.
Lighting under wall cabinets or skirting is very attractive and gives an intriguing ambience. Coloured bulbs are also an idea for this alternative and should be considered along with the general colours of the room, but can offer pops of colour in an unexpected way and create a different atmosphere.
Spotlights offer a dramatic look and may be in the form of a floor lamp or downlights. These can be very useful in a kitchen, bathroom and study area too, for example.
These features are specific and are only available for certain light fittings and switches, so need some consideration. However, they can be very effective in creating a very dramatic feel to a room. Dimmers can be purchased for central and wall light fittings. You will need to install a push-on/push-off switch, where one is for the dimmer.
Although the light fitting you choose dictates the type of bulb you can use, it’s always important to try to find an eco-friendly alternative bulb, which last longer and are, therefore, better for your carbon foot-print and more economical for your wallet. LEDs (light emitting diode) are the most energy-efficient bulbs on the market today. They use less energy than CFLs (compact fluorescent light) and last up to 50,000 hours longer.