Top Tips - Decorating a Sitting Room
Whether designing a small city living room, a family snug or a drawing room, there are some important things to consider. Here are some tips for designing and decorating a sitting room that you will actually use.
Purpose is key. Before embarking on any sort of interior project, you must think about the room in question and its uses. Consider how you live and how you pass the time at home. A sitting room, for example, might be used during the day for writing, taking calls or – in today’s modern age – working from home. At night, however, it might also need to be a place to entertain guests before dinner or somewhere for the whole family to relax and watch television. In more modest houses, this sort of versatility in a single room is vital and will mean that you and your home are prepared for almost any occasion.
With the room and its functions firmly in mind, you can begin to think about furniture and its placement. If a sitting room is to serve both as a social space when gathering with friends and as a place to unwind in front of the latest drama series at the end of a long day, it is important that the furniture within it lends itself to both activities. For example, rather than centring everything around a television, try to group at least some of the furniture convivially in groups so that, when sat down, guests can face towards one another – this will aid conservation. Consider too concealing a television within a bookshelf, sideboard or wall-mounted cabinet so that, when not in use, its large blank screen does not lurk in the corner like an uninvited guest at a party. ‘Frame televisions’, which hide the screen in the guise of an oil painting, are now all the rage and are certainly an option, but I myself remain somewhat unconvinced by their camouflage, particularly in more formal settings.
A furniture plan is often led by the architectural features of a room and, in many cases, something like a fireplace will provide a natural focal point around which to group one’s seating. This is far from a set rule, however, and there are instances when the architecture of a room – even the doors and windows – can make laying out one's furniture a challenge. On these occasions, it can be useful to ‘forget’ about whatever component is causing trouble and experiment with the arrangement of furniture, before reintroducing the ‘sore thumb’ and evaluating the room as a whole. This is more easily done on paper than in situ and can save you from shifting a heavy sofa or table more times than necessary.
Seating should always be accompanied by other furniture to create a truly comfortable environment. Tables are essential as they not only mean somewhere to put your drink, but they also accommodate table lamps which are far more atmospheric (and flattering) than overhead pendants or spotlights and also provide task-appropriate lighting for more focused activities such as reading or finishing a crossword. Every guest should be within easy reach of these most basic of amenities.
Where possible, bring furniture off the walls and towards the centre of the room. This will help to break up the space, especially in larger rooms where multiple seating areas are preferable to one vast area that leaves your guests stranded miles apart from one another. Think about how you interact with others; you want to be at a conversational distance, not shouting across a room from a sofa on the opposite wall to your companion.
In addition to the obvious elements of a sitting room (that is to say, the seating), you will likely need to house a plethora of personal possessions, such as books, board games and even glassware so storage is key. Creating an approximate inventory of what needs to stored is useful both for determining the amount of space and type of storage you require. Drawers, whether in a desk or a separate chest, are ideal for board games and stationery whilst books are most at home on shelves. Dressers and glass-fronted cabinets lend themselves to storing glassware or more decorative items and help to make a feature of them in the room. An ottoman is also handy for less frequently used items and the top doubles up as an extra drinks table. Use awkward alcoves for built-in rather than free-standing storage but ensure that the doors and drawer fronts can be opened fully. Items should be tucked away so as not to add clutter but should be easy to access when required so give this due consideration to get it right and save yourself a great deal of unnecessary frustration in the future.
A further word on lighting – just as your furniture arrangement should be adaptable to the various uses of the room, so too should the lighting. Different, adjustable levels of light create the most comfortable rooms. Whilst lamps and wall sconces are preferable, overhead lighting does have its place. Be careful not to punctuate the ceiling with an inordinate number of spotlights, however, as this can create a rather clinical feel. Think carefully about what type of lighting will be most useful and where. Recessed spotlights can work well in built-in bookshelves or alcoves, but a single pendant or a table lamp is more appropriate over a desk or centre table.
In terms of decoration, a sitting room should feel comfortable, something which can largely be achieved with a generous number of soft furnishings and other objects. Bring colour and pattern to a scheme through the addition of cushions on sofas and armchairs, but not so many that you cannot sit down. Break up blank walls with paintings, decorative plates or, in darker rooms, with mirrors. The density of a wall’s hang is largely a matter of taste but, if you prefer a sparser display, it is important that your paintings do not look as if they are floating aimlessly; hanging a standalone pictures in relation to a piece of furniture often helps to ‘ground’ them.
Any room in your home should have a personality, as should every individual, so reflect this in its decoration. If you have a collection of something, whether that be paperweights, tea caddies or Staffordshire dogs, display it and it will become a talking point with your guests. Do not take this as an opportunity to clutter surfaces unnecessarily, however. You will want to clean your house every now and then, and you won’t thank yourself if there are endless trinkets to be dusted in the process. Remember, comfort comes not just from the squishiness of your sofa but also from the efficient and ease with which you can live, work and move about in your home.
