After a long day, nothing beats coming into your home and taking off your shoes. The living room is the ideal place to kick back and relax with the furniture you love. This room can be a personal retreat or a gathering spot for your family. Because of this, you'll want to make sure that you purchase the right pieces. To help you out, here are five important things to consider when purchasing furniture for your living room.

Consider the Size of Your Sofa

Your sofa is one of the most important pieces of furniture in the living room. It’s the first thing a guest notices, and it hosts your conversations, TV time, and quiet evenings alone. Your sofa is your primary piece of furniture in the living room, and it’s also a focal point with your fireplace. Note that the purpose of a sofa is to be used to sit on, not really to admire as an object. Your sofa should have enough room for you to sit comfortably with an elbow resting on an armrest. Typically, you can use the dimensions of your living room to determine what size sofa to get. Note that for seating areas, you should have about 18" of clearance between the back of your sofa and a coffee table and about 3' between your sofa and any other seating area in the room.

Think About How You Use Your Living Room

Think about your living room. Do you eat there? Will you entertain guests in the room? What kinds of entertainment will you do in the room? Answers to these questions help narrow your choices, so that you can focus on specific pieces that meet your needs. If your living room occupies an office space and doubles as a home theater for your family or closest friends, consider a sectional with plenty of seating options.

The fabric you select for your sofas also has to blend in with your living room decor. The patterns and colors available can go a long way towards making that happen. However, you’ll need something that will hold up to the demands of your lifestyle.

Take Note of the Amount of Foot Traffic 

Take a look at your floor plan again. See the focal point of the room, which may be a fireplace, an enormous TV, or even a picture window with a fabulous view. Mark the entrance and exit points of the room. Ideally, the furniture should encourage people to look at the focal point, while creating a natural flow of movement through the space. A sectional is ideal for seating people in your room because it offers plenty of space for everyone to sit. At the same time, it should not block the hallway leading to the kitchen—when you think about how many people will use that hallway on any given day, you'll decide that two love seats may be a more sensible choice for your space. Similarly, think about how many side tables you will need so people have access to flat surfaces if they want to set down their drinks.

Consider the Color Scheme of Your Living Room

When deciding on what color to paint the walls and what furniture to select for your living room, take a cue from adjoining rooms. This is especially important if you have an open floor plan. For example, if you have a traditionally-decorated living room, it will look best if your dining room also uses traditional decor. The colors don’t have to match, but they should coordinate. One option is to paint the walls with neutral colors and select furniture in bold accent colors.

A monochromatic color scheme of plain neutrals with a few accent colors creates a serene atmosphere. You can add more color with rugs and throw pillows. Light shades open up the room; darker colors are too dramatic without proper lighting. Choose fabrics that are easy to clean if you have pets or children in your home.

Conclusion

We hope this article proves to be useful when it comes to helping you choose the right pieces for your living room. While this entire process may seem tedious, the information that we’ve laid out above should make it infinitely easier for you to find the right pieces of furniture for your home.

If you’re looking for the best furniture for your home, Owensboro Furniture has got your back. We are a furniture warehouse in Owensboro that offers the highest quality brands hand-picked to ensure quality for a lifetime. Browse through our collections now!