Planning a Living Room Layout

After you’ve chosen a new apartment home, there’s a lot to get excited about. You have a space all your own, but you also have some new potential headaches. For instance, how do you set up your living room? There are so many possibilities, and each one will dictate what kind of furniture you may need. You may get lucky and start  with spacious, open floor plans like the ones at 82 Flats. Our apartments on the northside of Indianapolis have sleek, modern features that can give you plenty of inspiration for decor. But that still doesn’t help you decide on the best layout. Here are some tips to stop the headache and help you get started! 

Find a Focus

A living room, especially in an apartment, may have to serve multiple purposes from day to day. You may want it to be a retreat, an entertainment space, or just a nice seating area. The focus of the room will dictate the kind of approach you should take for your layout, so check out one of the focuses below to get some ideas and some tips that work for any kind of room. 

A Personal Retreat

If you want your living room to serve as a more Zen space, then you will want to focus on furniture that gives you a sense of comfort and coziness. The best way to achieve this is to make your living room zoned off from the other living areas. You can do this easily without having to worry about walls. You can use dividers, such as woven or painted screens. You can also use a low bookshelf to make it clear this is a different area. Another option is simply positioning your furniture to focus away from other spaces. Pick a focal point for facing your furniture that also emphasizes relaxation. Maybe there’s a painting you want to feature or a nook that has some of your favorite books and photos. The furniture itself should be cushy and eclectic. This is not a space that has to be matchy-matchy because it’s more about you than about other people. 

An Entertainment Space

Do you like to fill your home with guests and laughter, maybe even host a movie night? Then you want your living room to function as an entertainment space. You’ll have to figure out what kind of entertainment you’re most interested in: eating, watching TV, board games, etc. This will dictate your focal point. If you want to use your living space for extra seating during dinner parties, then you’ll want to emphasize seating that focuses around tables. Seating should be flexible and include pieces that function on multiple levels. For example, you could pick nesting tables over traditional end tables so they can be pulled apart and set around to create natural resting places for plates and glasses. You can also use stools that can rotate between being footrests and extra seats during a bigger party. If your focus is watching TV, then your furniture should naturally point in that direction. Again, multipurpose pieces are your friend. You could consider a coffee table with storage to keep remotes, controllers, and more out of sight until it’s party time. 

A Traditional Seating Area

If you want your living room to be a simple seating area, then you should focus on symmetry and simplicity. For example, if your room is long and narrow, you’ll want a more traditional sofa against the long wall with perhaps two smaller chairs directly across, all anchored by a rug. If your room is large on both sides, then you can do two traditional sofas across from one another or one sofa across from two large armchairs. Your focal point could be a large mirror or artwork. As with the personal retreat style, you’ll want to pick pieces that anchor the area. Turn your furniture toward the focal point and away from the rest of the home to keep an intimate feel. Use traditional pieces like tall bookshelves and floor lamps. Their height will designate corners in the room if you’re dealing with a more open floor plan. 

General Tips

If you’re unsure what your focus is right now, there are some tips that work no matter what!.

*To keep your space feeling open and airy, use lighter colors and a limited palette.

*Mirrors are a great way to make a space feel larger and bounce natural light around your room

*Don’t be afraid to pull furniture away from walls and use angles to create different shapes.

*Before you buy any furniture pieces, you can use butcher paper to cut out their general dimensions and then play around with them on the floor (much easier on your back, too)

*After you have a general layout, take a walk through the space to make sure your footpaths are functional.

Are you looking for apartments for rent in Indianapolis that already have great layouts to work with? Take a tour of 82 Flats at the Crossing. Our 10 different floor plans feature modern, stylish elements that will make your living room layout easy to design. When you’re ready for a fresh start in one of our apartment homes, give us a call at 855-566-1097