The living room which is today considered as a no longer holds the formal touch it used to in the earlier days, and thus is more relaxed now. Unlike the yesteryears when the living room was the formal extension of its counterpart – the dining room. As the name shifts from ‘drawing room’ to ‘living room’ this space which opens up to our guests has seen a gradual shift from a formal room to a casual one, making it equally challenging and flexible for homeowners to buy furniture and decorate this room.
Drawing Room shape:
Since the living/ drawing room is a space where a family spends a significant amount of time, it is important to make this room one of largest, if not the biggest room of one’s house.
Like any other room, the challenge most homeowners face is invariably the aspects of designing the size and shape of livings rooms, to provide enough wall space for furniture placement. While many may not have the luxury of having a rectangular drawing room which is traditionally considered an ideal shape due to the ease of furniture planning; whereas, square rooms present a tougher challenge due to equal length walls.
Having said that, with the innovative shapes and sizes of furniture available in the today, shapes of drawing rooms whatever they may be, no longer remains a constraint and can still be beautifully and tastefully done-up. Take a look at the furniture available on UrbanLadder.com, India’s leading online furniture store and you will realize what I mean – there is furniture of various sizes, and can fit any drawing room irrespective of their shape and size
Drawing Room Proportions:
For the benefit of this article, let’s get a little conventional and see what a good size living/ drawing room should be:
- For a small footage house, a drawing room of 11 to 12 feet in width and 15 to 16 feet in length can be good to play around and should give some flexibility to choose and arrange the furniture without looking cluttered.
- For a midsize house, a drawing room of 13 to 14 feet in width, 16 to 18 feet in length can give you the liberty to separate your formal living room from the dining area.
- Larger drawing rooms, say of, 15 to 18 feet (plus) in width, 20 to 22 feet (plus) in length is an ideal size for the purpose of a large in a luxury home. Large living/ drawing rooms though gives you the easy to fill space with larger sized furniture, sometimes if not planned properly the entire setup may go haywire and the room may look either cluttered or have empty pockets.
Sofa sizes and a few examples:
There is a tempting array of sofas in the to chose from. All you need to do is determine whether you want to go for a contemporary setting or you want to stand your ground with a traditional style.
Just to give you a headstart, you can easily spot a contemporary sofa by its low back and small arms. It is often low to the ground, on exposed metal or wooden legs. Seriously a cool option against a traditional sofa, resplendent with scroll arms, a buttoned back, decorative turned legs and polished brass castors.
Since a contemporary sofa allows plenty of space around it unless you have a very big drawing/ living room, go for a compact, boxy design which needn’t be pushed up against the wall, and doesn’t crowd other furniture.
Styling drawing rooms with benches:
Most of the time, we see benches outdoors, but these days, benches are not just for outdoor use. They can even be perfect accent furniture in living rooms too. What makes benches a good accessory for the drawing room is that they are slim and can save spaces. So whether your space is small, midsize or large getting a bench is a good idea. Placed under a window or in a seating area, a bench is a perfect decorative accent for the living room. Benches also provide additional seating and can be moved around to where they are needed. Those with space hidden under the seat are also great for added storage. Benches can be purchased in a wide variety of styles, from traditional to modern, as well as finishes and fabrics.
Accessorizing your Drawing Room with Coffee Tables:
I had once read that ‘a living room without a coffee table is a lot like a supermodel without lipstick, undone.’ Very true! Just like the lipstick can complete the look of a supermodel, so can a perfect coffee table to your drawing/ living room. While it is perhaps the last piece of the living room furniture you would add, the perfect coffee table will not only complete the look, it can also be used as storage or for display.
The thumb rule, however, is to choose a coffee table after you have chosen all the seating of your drawing/ living room because you need to pick just the right one to fill the gap. Because the options are endless, homemakers ideally have a tough time to select one. Should you go for a brass base with a glass top, or round wood with tapered legs, or with drawers or no drawers, etc.? But help is at hand. We have handpicked a couple of coffee tables that will fit not only your space, but also your budget.
