Designing your living room can be a major minefield.
Don’t get me wrong; you’re probably doing most of the things right. But there’s always those one or two sneaky things that get in the way of a perfect living room design.
And with the interior design industry in Bangladesh growing at a huge speed, in 2019, you cannot afford to slip up.
As I was saying, designing your living room can be a major minefield…if you don’t know what you are doing.
And Tilottoma Limited, a rising young star in interior design in Bangladesh, will reveal to you – not what you may know about living room design, but 5 things about living room design you don’t know.
And here we go.
Tip #1 – Plan before you start designing
Over our long career in interior design, we have often seen clients do DIY design – without planning for it.
Rather, they just search for ‘living room design tips’ on Google and pick out tips at random.
That’s not how you should go about it.
Design is a holistic process. All the living room design tips you read on Google are fine but without a master design plan, they won’t gel. It’ll become a hotchpotch.
So, sketch out whatever ideas you have. If you have access to 3D Design tools like AutoCAD, use those. If you don’t, just do it with pen and paper.
The sketch doesn’t have to be perfect but it should be proportional. For example, if you’re planning to have a sofa, you should draw it proportional to its actual size.
Otherwise, your design will look perfect on paper, but it won’t work in real life.
Another issue is color. If you have a color sense, fine. But if you don’t, you can consider consulting with someone about colors.
Tip #2 – Lighting
Lighting is an essential element in any design.
And it is something many amateur or DIY designers forget to plan for.
If you’re not surrounded by high buildings, at daytime, you should allow sunlight to flood your living room.
Have at least one mirror that can reflect the light throughout the room, and see to it that none of your furniture blocks sunlight from shining all throughout the room.
For night however you will have to have a lighting system.
Before you buy any bulbs, think about what kind of atmosphere you want to create in your living room.
If you’re looking for a lively atmosphere, go for bright, white light bulbs.
If you’re looking for a more relaxed and soothing design, go for frosted glass bulbs that diffuse the light.
Or, if you have a higher budget, you can go for a light dimming system that will allow you to set the light brightness as you want.
Tip #3 – The Sofa
Sounds surprising?
The sofa is something you don’t know?
Well, obviously, you know that a good living room almost mandatorily needs a sofa. But what you could be doing wrong is how you go about selecting it.
We’ve seen so many clients go for the ‘fanciest’ sofa they see. Twisted legs, curved arms and all that.
Remember, the main purpose of a sofa is for people to be able to sit on it comfortably. And a comfortable sofa has a cosy look of its own that is quite charming.
So, focus on comfort. And keep an eye on size – like we said earlier, you don’t want to get a sofa that you can’t fit like you planned it. Space planning is very important.
Tip #4 – Keep a plant in your living room
A large plant would be the best, but if you can’t fit a large on, get a small one and set it on a tabletop or a window.
An element of nature does a lot to make your living room cheery.
Cacti look good but there’s the danger of someone brushing their bare skin against it and getting stung.
So you should opt for a bonsai of your choice. You can get them for 300-400 Tk.
Or you can go for something more eclectic, like a garlic plant or a money plant in an aquarium.
Tip #5 – Don’t go overboard with Accessories
Everybody knows about living room accessories.
What many people don’t know is when to stop putting more accessories in their living room.
Don’t have so many accessories that your room looks more like an accessories dealership.
And remember, accessories don’t have to be something you bought.
Framed family photos can be accessories. A medal someone won in college can be an accessory.
In fact, personal objects sometimes accessorize a living room a whole lot better than commercially bought ones.
In short,
• Plan your living room design
• Allow for sufficient lighting, and choose the lighting to match your mood
• Introduce an element of the natural world
• Keep a focus on personalization and comfort. Don’t go overboard with ‘style’.
And your living room should be the envy of everyone who enters it!