Choosing furniture for your living room

Most of our downtime is spent in our living rooms, either relaxing on the sofa, watching TV, playing games or just being with the family. Creating a space that’s warm, cosy and comfortable is key. All of our wooden living room furniture is designed to help you do just that, whether your space is traditional or contemporary. It also goes without saying that as well as being beautiful and superbly crafted, it’s also eminently practical and designed for the way we live now.

Planning your space

Whatever the size of your living room, a little forward planning can help you avoid headaches later. As with all rooms, it’s a good idea to make templates of the furniture you’d like so you can see how much floor space it will take up and to try out different layouts. Also, remember to think about access. A lot of our furniture arrives fully assembled so check that you’ll be able to get it where it needs to be without too much difficulty. Think about how you’re going to use the room – do you plan to have lots of storage units or will you be keeping things more minimal? Do you have room for a permanent coffee table or will a nest of tables that’s used occasionally suffice? Consider corner units in smaller rooms to maximise floor space. Do you have a large space that would be benefit from being zoned?

TV Cabinets

I think it’s fair to say that many of us spend a lot of time in front of our TVs these days. And we’re not just watching TV. Modern sets are real home entertainment hubs and allow us to play games, browse the internet, catch up with friends on Skype, listen to the radio and so much more. Our wooden TV units are designed with this in mind so we have a wide range of configurations of drawers, cupboards and shelves to ensure that you can find one that’s right for you and all your equipment. And most of them have holes at the back too, so it’s easy to keep the modern spaghetti of cables organised. Where you put your TV unit is important also. The bigger your screen, the further away you’ll need to sit to enjoy the best viewing position. A corner cabinet might be your best option in a smaller living room. Don’t put your TV directly opposite a window as the light will reflect on your screen. Finally, remember to site your unit near a power supply so that you don’t end up with wires trailing across your floor.

Sideboards

Sideboards are versatile multi-purpose pieces that will work in any room. In a living room they make a great home for all those bits and pieces such as stationery, directories, spare cables, paperwork – you name it. Amongst our range we’ve everything from tall boys to maximise space to extra-wide sideboards that make a great focal point as well as swallowing up a huge amount of stuff to keep you clutter-free. And of course, their surfaces offer a great space to display family photographs, vases of flowers or favourite ornaments to really add personality to your room. A sideboard doesn’t always have to match the rest of your furniture either – it can make a real statement. Choose a painted sideboard to add contrast to darker furniture. Or choose a more exotic piece from one of our sheesham ranges to soften a contemporary space.

Bookcases

The most important thing to consider when buying a bookcase is how many books you have, and then what kind. If you have lots of oversize art books, for example, then you will probably need a bookcase with adjustable shelves to accommodate the taller volumes. Tall, narrow bookcases are perfect for smaller rooms and low, wide bookcases will fit neatly under windows. But maybe you’re not much of a reader and want to use a bookcase for display purposes. Consider the contemporary modular cubes from our Cuba Oak and Sheesham ranges – they’re great for breaking up open-plan spaces too.

Coffee Tables

If you have space, a coffee table will be a useful and versatile addition to your living room. If you just want somewhere to keep your remote to hand and a place to put down your glass of wine then keep it simple. But if you want to make your space work a bit harder and store games, cushions, magazines and newspapers, then consider one with a lift-up lid or one with several drawers. Don’t buy a coffee table that’s too big – make sure there’s plenty of room to walk around it without you forever bashing into it. If your living room is on the small side then a nest of tables may be your best option as they can be moved away and stored on a compact footprint when not in use.

CD/DVD Storage

If you’re one of those people that hasn’t consigned their music collection to the Cloud yet, you might need somewhere to store your CDs and DVDs. Our small but perfectly formed units have the added bonus of being beautiful pieces of furniture in their own right, as well as providing practical storage space.