A living room is that space in a house where the whole family tends to get together for a chat and talk about how their day went, or even to relax after a long and tiring day. It is this space where you will have the most amount of memories when all your friends and family gather for a drink, and also a space to host your movie nights. So, how do we create sociable spaces in your living room to make all these memories cozier and more special:
Ensure enough seating for all
To enable socializing, you need to look at how many people your living space can hold and create a seating to not only accommodate the people living in the house, but also to have some extra seating when you have guests over. The seating can be arranged along the fireplace – television area, but it should take into consideration how interaction will take place between all the seating spaces.
Wall paint
According to the theme you select for your space, you could consider creating either one accent wall with a bright or deep colour, or also have a neutral colour like beige running in all the walls of your living room.
Lighting and comfort
The lighting in your living room will help set the mood or the theme you are going for. You can have warm lights installed and use light regulators to adjust the brightness according to the mood. Along with ceiling lights, you can also choose to add in a floor lamp or table lamps according to the space you are in.
Accent Seating
Along with your comfy sofa you will be adding, to add a splash of colour and warmth. You can chose to add in an accent seating with a patterned fabric, with an ottoman to be able to put your feet up and relax. Alternatively, you can also choose to put a recliner sofa for your comfort.
Soft touches
After the seating and lighting is fixed, you should consider adding throws for sofa (or a blanket to use for a cold day), some pillows and a painting if there is space. This will make the space warmer and inviting. If you plan to go for a neutral colour scheme, adding a splash of paint will bring just the perfect amount of contrast you need.
Flow and connect
Although your living space will be where all the memories are made, you should also consider how this will flow into other spaces in your house. Ideally having kitchen or dining near your living room, try to have a more open connectivity so it gives more spaces for people to socialize. Also, getting your snacks in and out, even food laid on the dining table for your guests to enjoy will be easier if these spaces are in harmony.
Along with this, having a connection with the outdoors, your back garden would be a bonus. Using clear separations like bifolding, crystal or French doors will help make your space feel bigger and also have a nice connect with the greenery on the outdoors. You can also open these clear doors to make your sociable size bigger on a nice sunny day.
A bar
You can choose to create a sort of mini bar according to the space you have and ensure enough side tables for people to rest their drink and food on. This bar could even be a hidden/ foldable space which opens to reveal the drinks and gives a shelf to create your cocktails and mocktails to get the party started.
Sound system
To ensure a cozy movie night after a long day at work, or a nice karaoke session with friends and family, or even have the background music playing in your living room while you relax during the weekends in your home, you can consider adding an adequate sound system for the size of your space. This would be the cherry on top while you plan to create sociable spaces.
Final touches
To add your personalization to your living room, you can add some wooden shelves to make the space warmer, and to add your photographs and other decoration pieces. You can also add some plants (real or artificial) on these shelves. A fruit bowl, a vase and some scented candles can be something you can keep in mind while adding the final touches when creating sociable spaces.
