Choosing Your Living Room Furniture

The living room is the showcase for your home decor, and living room furniture is its foundation. When choosing your living room furniture, remember that foundations are meant to last. The living room furniture you choose now will be around for years to come, so planning and forethought are critical. Here are some tips on choosing living room furniture to build an enduring showcase for your home décor.



Flexibility

Flexibility should be one of your main priorities when choosing your living room furniture. Prominent furniture pieces such as sofas and upholstered chairs are major investments. Look for colors and shapes that will complement a variety of decorative styles and provide you with lasting value for your money. That way when your home decor needs updating a few years later, you can focus your budget on smaller and less expensive decorative accessories. Avoid prints in favor of modern, neutral colors. If you like the shapes of your living room furniture pieces, you can always employ a stylized slipcover to capture the trendy look of the moment, and accentuate with vases, area rugs, and artwork.



Subtlety

Most guides to choosing living room furniture will instruct you to select a visual focal point. The problem is that modern electronics often do that for you. A giant flat-screen television is going to command attention regardless of where you place it, and that will detract from the living room furniture you've so painstakingly chosen. Wooden television cabinets are a superb way to hide stereos and televisions when they're not in use, enhancing the subtlety and sophistication of your living room décor.



Visibility

Ironically, lighting is one of the most overlooked necessities when it comes time to display new living room furniture. Access to multiple lighting sources in your living room will enable you to display your living room furniture in a variety of moods and color tones. When choosing your living room furniture, be mindful of the type of lighting that will best display its aesthetic appeal.



Quality

It's a cliche, but it's true: you get what you pay for. Choosing quality living room furniture may seem like an extravagance now, but five years from now, you'll be thankful you did. Quality craftsmanship and materials will keep living room furniture looking great long after it's been paid off.